RAMALLAH: The Wall Street Journal said on Thursday that the US State Department is investigating the use of white phosphorus by the Israeli occupation forces in its raids on the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.
The newspaper explained that the investigation aims to determine whether the weapons provided by the US to Israel were improperly used to kill civilians.
It added that the US authorities are investigating the air attack on the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip on October 31, which led to the killing of more than 125 Palestinians.
The US newspaper pointed out that investigators suspect that Israel may have used a bomb weighing about 907 kilograms in that raid.
Amnesty International said that its Crisis Evidence Laboratory verified that the Israeli military units striking Gaza were equipped with white phosphorus artillery shells.
White phosphorus is a substance that burns at very high temperatures when exposed to air, can continue to burn inside flesh, causes horrific pain and serious injury an
d cannot be extinguished by water.
Phosphorous bombs are internationally prohibited under the Geneva Convention of 1980, which prohibits the use of white phosphorus as an incendiary weapon against humans and the environment.
Since last October 7, the Israeli occupation forces have launched an aggression against the Gaza Strip, resulting in the killing of 28,576 Palestinians and wounding more than 68,291 others, while thousands of missing people remain still under the rubble.
Source: Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA