Israel's Supreme Court urges IDF to review use of phosphorus

Israel's Supreme Court on Sunday handed down a ruling, urging the military to reassess its use of munitions containing white phosphorus, Army Radio reported. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has come under international criticism for using such munitions during its three-week offensive in the Gaza Strip in 2008-2009 to create smoke screens to mask troop movements and to clear brush around trenches used by Palestinian militants. As an incendiary weapon, the material burns fiercely and can cause serious burns or death. In her ruling, Justice Edna Arbel dismissed a petition filed by a U.S.-based human rights group, demanding that the IDF be banned from using white phosphorus in densely populated urban areas. The petitioners claimed that the IDF's "wide-scale and immoral" use of the munitions during the Gaza incursion was indiscriminate and constituted a war crime. Arbel said the petition was dismissed after the state informed the court that the use of smoke-screening munitions had been significantly restricted. However, the ruling noted it is befitting that the military conduct a comprehensive review of its use of white phosphorous, which would include a thorough examination of alternatives. In April, the IDF announced in a statement that it is phasing out artillery shells containing white phosphorus for smoke- screening and would replace them within a year with locally- developed alternatives based on harmless gas, without saying whether the material in its offensive role would also be disbanded.