Under a quilt lined with white stars, with an IV drip in his arm, Mohammed posed in front of his phone's camera, with a vacant look. This young Gazan shares his daily life from Khan Yunis in southern Gaza on Instagram. "Like many residents of Gaza, I'm suffering from an acute viral infection of the respiratory system," he explained in a post published on January 8, 2024. Air and soil pollution, accumulated waste, contaminated drinking water: The war in Gaza is also proving to be a health crisis of extreme proportions.
Israeli bombardment of Gaza is killing hundreds of Palestinians every day. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), more than 25,000 people have thus been killed by successive Israeli offensives since the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, and 85% of the Palestinian enclave's 2.1 million inhabitants have been displaced. But these attacks could also have other, equally deadly consequences for those subjected to them. "Israeli military operations in Gaza are having disastrous consequences, not least because of enormous carbon pollution, whether in the air, water or soil, exposing Palestinians to a wide range of toxic substances," explained Canadian David R. Boyd, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment, to Le Monde. In October, Human Rights Watch revealed that white phosphorus, a flammable, yellowish-looking toxic substance that can burn at temperatures of up to 800°C, had been used by Israel in Gaza and southern Lebanon.
The NGO analyzed a series of images, concluding that "155 mm white phosphorus artillery projectiles" had been used. According to the World Health Organization, anyone who comes into direct contact with white phosphorus is at risk of nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, severe abdominal pain and burning sensations. "Death can occur within 24 to 48 hours due to cardiovascular collapse," according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Israel's use of this substance on Gaza is "a serious violation of international law," added Boyd.
In 2009, Israel admitted to "using munitions containing white phosphorus" during its military offensive against Gaza between December 2008 and January 2009, specifying that they "were not directly aimed at civilian areas."
More than 25,000 tonnes of bombs – equivalent to one and a half times the Hiroshima atomic bomb in terms of explosive quantity – were dropped on the Gaza Strip between October 7 and early November, according to estimates by NGO Euromed Droits, which accused Tel-Aviv of having used "cluster munitions." According to the United Nations Mine Action Service, cluster munitions are a "conventional munition that is designed to disperse or release explosive submunitions each weighing less than 20 kilograms." Due to its particular lethality, use of this type of artillery has been declared illegal by 119 signatory states of the 2008 Oslo Convention, to which Israel is not a party. Moreover, according to the International Red Cross, "large numbers of submunitions often fail to detonate as intended, contaminating large areas with deadly explosive ordnance" and hindering reconstruction. Israel has already used this type of weapon, notably in Lebanon in 2006.
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