For two days, Shaymaa Ziara has been seeing messages in WhatsApp group chats from family and friends in Gaza about how to keep themselves safe from white phosphorous bombs that are allegedly part of Israel’s airstrikes on Gaza.

Ziara, who lives in Markham, Ont., said her father, three siblings and pregnant sister-in-law are currently in Gaza, moving from building to building in an effort to avoid the constant bombardments from Israel since hostilities began after Hamas militants launched a stunning and brutal attack in Israel on Saturday.

Videos of white phosphorus munitions allegedly deployed in Gaza have been circulating online for several days.

On Thursday, Human Rights Watch said it has confirmed that these munitions are being used over the Gaza City port using videos posted on Oct. 10 and 11, and interviewing two people from the al-Mina area in Gaza City who described the strikes.

    • NoneOfUrBusiness@kbin.social
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      9 months ago

      They know the West will support them no matter what. This is actually not the first time they use white phosphorus in Gaza, and nobody did anything about it.

      • salton@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        True all of the whinging about possible civilian deaths while hitting the military targets in Gaza but you just aren’t going to convince anyone that is backing Israel to stop. Hamas murdered and took hostage of plenty of other nations that are friendly to Israel. Releasing hostages would probably be the start of some form of talks but we’re nowhere near that even if Hamas is capable of mercy that we are expecting Israel to have.

          • salton@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            Some civilians will die in a war in such a densely populated area. No one has figured out how to completely eliminate that. War sucks.

              • salton@lemmy.world
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                9 months ago

                I don’t think killing civilians is the goal of Israel but it definitely is the goal of Hamas. The civilians could reject Hamas but they actually support them pretty strongly It seems.

                • NoneOfUrBusiness@kbin.social
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                  9 months ago

                  Bro have you heard of Israel giving evacuation locations then bombing those locations? Bombing hospitals? Giving an evacuation order that, even if carried successfully, would cause untold amounts of death and suffering?

            • Madison420@lemmy.world
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              9 months ago

              Well they kinda fucked themselves in accepting Hamas as the legitimate government which means they are in fact bound by international human rights and war crime laws.

        • Franzia@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          9 months ago

          Absolutely. Biden has been a Zionist for longer than I’ve been alive. The western powers can’t be convinced, not because of Hamas recent actions - but because it took a lot less to convince them, and they’ve held those beliefs before through and after Hamas’ most recent attack.

    • salton@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      It’s completely allowed by the rules of war. You’re just not allowed to use it to target civilians themselves. I saw that it was used in an open field near the border where there was heavy fighting against Hamas Terrorists.

        • salton@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          But what? Where are all of the Muslim countries railing against Russia for using it to burn whole villages of Ukraines?

            • salton@lemmy.world
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              9 months ago

              It’s nasty if it gets in contact with humans but that doesn’t mean that it is inherently evil. They haven’t crossed some sort of line in weapons ethics. It’s an accepted tool on the battlefield with multiple uses having nothing to do with directly harming people. It’s like saying water is bad because you drank several gallons and your brain swelled up from the osmotic pressure. Heck even flamethrowers are perfectly fine to use in war.

                • salton@lemmy.world
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                  9 months ago

                  But you’re trying to argue that it passes some ethical boundary even being used in its most mundane things. It’s fine if we differ in that opinion.

  • xenomor@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    Given how closely the US and the Biden administration has aligned itself with the Israel, how rapidly they moved the carrier group into position, and how gleefully and passionately they rushed to Netanyahu‘s side to express complete solidarity, I can only assume that the US is complicit in this and every other war crime taking place.

    • Pyr_Pressure@lemmy.ca
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      9 months ago

      The US is Definitely losing any moral argument they have had against Russia the past year.

      • Franzia@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        9 months ago

        The US doesn’t have and doesn’t need a moral argument. Ukraine has the moral argument, and we support them out of more or less a business interest. What matters most is that we the people support Ukraine - that cynical arms dealing is just an added bonus. (And Ukraine is making much of its own ammunition now!)