Haaretz, one of Israel’s most widely read newspapers, lays it out in an editorial

Morally and in terms of international law, so long as there is no sovereign rule in the Gaza Strip, Israel is responsible for the fate of 1.5 million civilians there. More importantly, disease, poverty and unemployment are the fertilizer in the greenhouse that grows the desperation and the radicalism that brought Hamas to power. Israel is the one that will reap the hatred and fear that Operation Cast Lead will sow in the hearts of the children of Gaza. These are the neighbors with whom Israel will have to reach a peace agreement and live next to for generations to come.

And no wonder. The allegations that the IDF is using banned white phosphorus are increasing. Some reports are that the shelling of the UN headquarters in Gaza was done with the deep-burning chemical jell. Greg Mitchell at Editor and Publisher includes this:

This just in from Reuters:

“A warehouse in a U.N. compound in Gaza that came under Israeli fire on Thursday was apparently hit by white-phosphorus shells, U.N. humanitarian affairs chief John Holmes said. ‘The main warehouse was badly damaged by what appeared to be white-phosphorus shells,’ Holmes told reporters at a news briefing in New York. ‘Those on the ground don’t have any doubt that’s what they were. If you were looking for confirmation, that looks like it to me.’”

The Times of London reports today:

“The Israeli military has denied using white phosphorus shells in the Gaza offensive, although an investigation by The Times has revealed that dozens of Palestinians in Gaza have sustained serious injuries from the substance, which burns at extremely high temperatures. The Geneva Convention of 1980 proscribes the use of white phosphorus as a weapon of war in civilian areas, although it can be used to create a smokescreen. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said today that all weapons used in Gaza were ‘within the scope of international law.’”

In fact, the International Red Cross has stated that Israel is certainly using it and Israel’s response was a non-denial, a spokesman explaining that the military “wishes to reiterate that it uses weapons in compliance with international law, while strictly observing that they be used in accordance with the type of combat and its characteristics.”

The use of white phosphorus as an illuminating device only is okayed by international law but such use is extremely risky and dangerous to civilians. The fires it sets cannot be put out with the usual water or fire extinguishers.

Today, at least two United Nations officials have flatly declared that three or more white phosphorous shells were part of the attack today that set a UN building and compound ablaze in Gaza City.