Israel using phosphorous bombs

2006-10-22 16:42

Jerusalem - Israel has admitted for the first time to using controversial white phosphorus shells against military targets in Southern Lebanon, an Israeli newspaper reported on Sunday.

"The IDF made use of phosphorus shells during the war against Hezbollah in attacks against military targets in open ground," minister for government-parliamentary relations Yakov Edery told lawmakers last week according to the Haaretz daily.

A spokesperson for Edery confirmed the report.

Edery was simply reading the army's response to a query posed earlier by another Israeli lawmaker, Orly Yechzeken told AFP.

"This is not his personal opinion," she said. "This is what the military told us."

'Legitimate'

In his statement to lawmakers, Edery added that the army maintains that phosphorus shells are a legitimate weapon and not forbidden by international law.

"The IDF used this type of munitions according to the rules of international law," Edery reportedly said.

White phosphorus munitions cause severe burns and agonising deaths.

The chemical seeps into the bloodstream and causes respiratory problems and other ailments in victims, which has lead many to demand it be classified as a chemical weapon.

The International Red Cross and other human rights groups have long argued that phosphorus weapons should be banned under the chemical weapons convention.

US leaders went on the defensive after reports surfaced last year that American troops in Iraq had used phosphorus in the battle for Fallujah in 2004.

- AFP