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’Israel poisons Palestinian soil, newborns’: researchers*

Mercredi, 23 décembre 2009 - 17h59

Wednesday 23 December 2009

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“The 2006 and 2009 Israeli bombings on Gaza left a high concentration
of toxic metals in soil, which can cause tumors, fertility problems,
and serious effects on newborns, like deformities and genetic
pathologies.”

These are some of the key findings of a recent study by New Weapons
Research Committee (NWRC), an Italy-based group of academics,
physicians and researchers specialized in elaborating risk assessment
surveys on the effects of the newest “non-conventional weapons and
their mid-term effects on residents of areas afflicted by conflicts”.

The metals found are mainly tungsten, mercury, molybdenum, cadmium
and cobalt.

NWRC researchers investigated four craters: two of them formed during
the Jul. 2006 bombings on Beit Hanoun and Jabalia Camp, and another
two emerged as a consequence of the Jan. 2009 bombings on Gaza City suburb Tufah.

They analyzed “the powder remaining inside a shell of the White
Phosphorus bomb THS89D112-003 155MM M825E11 exploded near the Al Wafa hospital in Jan. 2009”.

The scientists compared the levels of concentration of metals in the
craters with those identified in a report on the presence of metals
in the Gaza soil, based on samples collected from 170 locations in 2005.

“The analyses have shown anomalous concentrations of these metals
inside the craters, indicating soil contamination,” says NWRC. “This,
given the precarious living conditions, especially in refugee camps,
increases the risk of exposure to toxic substances, through the skin,
through the lungs and through ingestion.”

Paola Manduca, professor of genetics and researcher at the University
of Genoa, Italy, explained: “Our study indicates an anomalous
presence of toxic elements in the soil.”

“It is essential to intervene at once to limit the effects of the
contamination on people, animals and cultivations”, she stressed.

“We need strategies to help contaminated people. We hope that the
research performed so far by the Goldstone Commission will not only
analyze the abuses of human rights, but also focus on the long-term
effects that the various types of weapons have on the environment and
on population. A rapid collection of data should be carried out.”
>
Israel experimenting new non-conventional arms

In a previous study released on Jan. 9, during the Israeli three-week
war on Gaza, which killed over 1,400 people and injured more than 5,
000, NWRC reported:

“Mounting evidence is emerging that Israel is experimenting new non-
conventional weapons on civilian population in Gaza.”

“It is happening again what we saw in Lebanon two years ago,” said
Manduca. There, “Israel used white phosphorus, Dense Inert Metal
Explosive (DIME), thermo-baric bombs, cluster bombs and uranium
ammunitions, and experimented new weapons. Still today there are
unexploded bombs and radioactivity on the ground,” NWRC spokesperson reported.

Manduca added that the images of dead and wounded people, and
testimonies by witnesses, “show significant resemblance with those
gathered and verified during the July-August war in 2006 in Lebanon”.

Mads Gilbert, Norwegian doctor and member of a non- governmental
organization Norwac, who worked at the Gaza’s largest hospital, Shifa,
denounced also in January that “many (people) arrive with amputations,
with both legs crushed”, and “with wounds which I suspect are
produced by Dime weapons”.

“The images arriving from Gaza seem to confirm these suppositions as
well. The burns suffered by some children in Gaza are very similar to
those documented in 2006 by doctor Hibraim Faraj, a surgeon at the
Hiram hospital in Tyre and by doctor Bachir Cham at the Hospital du
Sur, Sidon,” he said.

“At the moment,” Manduca commented, “we have reports from doctors and
informed witnesses that make us believe that new types of weapons are being tested today in Gaza, apart from those used in 2006. This makes > it necessary for further technical and scientific researches to be
undertaken.”

More evidence

In the last two years, NWRC, together with Lebanese and Palestinian
doctors, produced scientific data using techniques of histology,
scansion electron microscopy and chemical analysis on bioptic samples
from victims of the 2006 Israeli attacks.

The specialists collected “clinical evidence and documentation that
proves the use of thermo-baric bombs in open spaces, DIME and sub-
lethal targeted weapons in 2006 in Lebanon, and DIME and sub-lethal
targeted weapons in Gaza”.

NWRC submitted in 2007 a related report to the UN Human Rights
Council, and in 2008 to the International Citizens Tribunal on War
Crimes in Lebanon and the Italian Parliament’s committee on depleted
uranium.

NWRC has also worked with international scientists who documented the use of uranium ammunitions in Lebanon.

Rain of fire, war crimes: Human Right Watch

Only weeks after, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported from Beit-ul-
Moqaddas on “Israel’s repeated firing of white phosphorus shells over
densely populated areas of Gaza during its recent military campaign
was indiscriminate and is evidence of war crimes”.

In fact, HRW released on March 25 its 71-page report “Rain of Fire:
Israel’s Unlawful Use of White Phosphorus in Gaza”, which provides
witness accounts of the devastating effects that white phosphorus
munitions had on civilians and civilian property in Gaza.

“Human Rights Watch researchers in Gaza immediately after hostilities
ended found spent shells, canister liners, and dozens of burnt felt
wedges containing white phosphorus on city streets, apartment roofs,
residential courtyards, and at a United Nations school,” it informs.

The report also presents “ballistics evidence, photographs, and
satellite imagery, as well as documents from the Israeli military and
government”. >
Militaries use white phosphorus primarily to obscure their operations
on the ground by creating thick smoke. It can also be used as an
incendiary weapon, according to HRW.

“In Gaza, the Israeli military didn’t just use white phosphorus in
open areas as a screen for its troops,” said Fred Abrahams, senior
emergencies researcher at HRW and co-author of the report.

White phosphorus on densely populated areas

“It fired white phosphorus repeatedly over densely populated areas,
even when its troops weren’t in the area and safer smoke shells were
available. As a result, civilians needlessly suffered and died.”

The report documents a pattern or policy of white phosphorus use that
Human Rights Watch says must have required the approval of senior
military officers.

“On February 1, HRW submitted detailed questions to the Israel
Defense Forces (IDF) about its white phosphorus use in Gaza. The IDF
did not provide responses, citing an internal inquiry being conducted
by the Southern Command.”

In the recent Gaza operations, it adds, “Israeli forces frequently
air-burst white phosphorus in 155mm artillery shells in and near
populated areas”.

“Each air-burst shell spreads 116 burning white phosphorus wedges in
a radius extending up to 125 meters from the blast point.”

White phosphorus ignites and burns on contact with oxygen, and
continues burning at up to 1500 degrees Fahrenheit (816 degrees
Celsius) until nothing is left or the oxygen supply is cut. When
white phosphorus comes into contact with skin it creates intense and
persistent burns, according to HRW.

Israel Defense Ministry knew

The Human Rights Watch report concludes “the IDF repeatedly exploded
it unlawfully over populated neighborhoods, killing and wounding
civilians and damaging civilian structures, including a school, a
market, a humanitarian aid warehouse, and a hospital”.

“Israel at first denied it was using white phosphorus in Gaza but,
facing mounting evidence to the contrary, said that it was using all
weapons in compliance with international law. Later it announced an
internal investigation into possible improper white phosphorus use.”

HRW stressed “The IDF knew that white phosphorus poses life-
threatening dangers to civilians”.

A medical report prepared during the recent hostilities by the
Israeli ministry of health said that white phosphorus “can cause
serious injury and death when it comes into contact with the skin, is
inhaled or is swallowed”, it reports.

“Burns on less than 10 percent of the body can be fatal because of
damage to the liver, kidneys, and heart, the ministry report says.
Infection is common and the body’s absorption of the chemical can
cause serious damage to internal organs, as well as death.”

All of the white phosphorus shells that Human Rights Watch found were
manufactured in the United States in 1989 by Thiokol Aerospace, which
was running the Louisiana Army Ammunition Plant at the time.

“On January 4, Reuters photographed IDF artillery units handling
projectiles whose markings indicate that they were produced in the
United States at the Pine Bluff Arsenal in September 1991,” the
reports informs.

Deliberately or recklessly, but used

To explain the high number of civilian casualties in Gaza, Israeli
officials have repeatedly blamed Hamas for using civilians as “human
shields” and for fighting from civilian sites.

In the cases documented in the report, Human Rights Watch found no
evidence of Hamas using human shields in the vicinity at the time of
the attacks. In some areas Palestinian fighters appear to have been
present, but this does not justify the indiscriminate use of white
phosphorus in a populated area.

HRW said that for multiple reasons it concluded that the IDF had
deliberately or recklessly used white phosphorus munitions in
violation of the laws of war.

“First, the repeated use of air-burst white phosphorus in populated
areas until the last days of the operation reveals a pattern or
policy of conduct rather than incidental or accidental usage. Second,
the IDF was well aware of the effects of white phosphorus and the
dangers it poses to civilians. Third, the IDF failed to use safer
available alternatives for smokescreens.”

The laws of war obligate states to investigate impartially allegations
of war crimes. The evidence available demands that Israel investigate
and prosecute as appropriate those who ordered or carried out
unlawful attacks using white phosphorus munitions, Human Rights Watch > said.

The United States government, which supplied Israel with its white
phosphorus munitions, should also conduct an investigation to
determine whether Israel used it in violation of the laws of war,
Human Rights Watch concluded.