| When Rockets and Phosphorous Cluster |
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| Ha’aretz |
| Wednesday,
September 13, 2006 |
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"In Lebanon,
we
covered entire villages with cluster bombs, what we did
there was crazy and monstrous," testifies a commander in
the Israel Defense Forces' MLRS (Multiple Launch Rocket
System) unit. Quoting his battalion commander, he said
the IDF fired some 1,800 cluster rockets on Lebanon
during the war and they contained over 1.2 million
cluster bombs. The IDF also used cluster shells fired by
155 mm artillery cannons, so the number of cluster bombs
fired on Lebanon is even higher. At the same time,
soldiers in the artillery corps testified that the IDF
used phosphorous shells, which many experts say is
prohibited by international law. According to the
claims, the overwhelming majority of the weapons
mentioned were fired during the last ten days of the
war.
An unexploded Israeli bomb in the
living room of a Bint Jbeil house |
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The commander asserted that there was
massive use of MLRS rockets despite the fact that they
are known to be very inaccurate - the rockets' deviation
from the target reaches to around 1,200 meters - and
that a substantial percentage do not explode and become
mines. Due to these facts, most experts view cluster
ammunitions as a "non-discerning" weapon that is
prohibited for use in a civilian environment. The
percentage of duds among the rockets fired by the U.S.
army in Iraq reached 30 percent and the United Nations'
land mine removal team in Lebanon claims that the
percentage of duds among the rockets fired by the IDF
reaches some 40 percent. In light of these figures, the
number of duds left behind by the Israeli cluster
rockets in Lebanon is likely to reach half a million.
According to the commander, in order to compensate for
the rockets' imprecision, the order was to "flood" the
area with them. "We have no option of striking an
isolated target, and the commanders know this very
well," he said. He also stated that the reserve soldiers
were surprised by the use of MLRS rockets, because
during their regular army service, they were told these
are the IDF's "judgment day weapons" and intended for
use in a full-scale war.
The commander also said that at least in one case, they
were asked to fire cluster rockets toward "a village's
outskirts" in the early morning: "They told us that this
is a good time because people are coming out of the
mosques and the rockets would deter them." In other
cases, they fired the rockets at a range of less than 15
kilometers, even though the manufacturer's guidelines
state that firing at this range considerably increases
the number of duds. The commander further related that
during IDF training exercises hardly any live rockets
are fired, for fear that they would leave duds behind
and fill the IDF's firing grounds with mines.
After being discharged from his reserve duty, the
commander sent a letter to Defense Minister Amir Peretz
and protested the number of cluster rockets fired in
Lebanon, which "perhaps the generals forgot to mention."
"As far as the duds are concerned," he wrote, "we have
no control over who is hurt. Sooner or later they will
explode in people's hands." He has yet to receive a
response from the defense minister.
At the same time, soldiers are reporting that they fired
phosphorous shells, which are supposed to be used by the
IDF for marking or setting fire to areas, in order to
start fires in Lebanon. The artillery commander says he
saw trucks with phosphorous shells en route to artillery
batteries in the North.
A direct hit from a phosphorous shell causes severe
burns and a painful death. Around a year ago, there was
an international scandal after a television crew
presented harsh pictures of the charred bodies of Iraqis
injured by phosphorous bombs during the course of the
American attack on the city of Fallujah.
International law prohibits the use of weapons that
cause "excessive damage and unnecessary suffering," and
many experts feel that phosphorous is included in this
category. The International Red Cross determined that
international law prohibits the use of phosphorous
against humans. The American "Book of War," published in
1999, which sets down the rules of war for the American
army, states: "The ground war law prohibits the use of
phosphorous against human targets." The pact on
prohibiting or limiting flammable weapons bans the use
of phosphorous against civilian targets and against
military targets found amid large civil populations.
The IDF Spokesperson said: "International law does not
contain a sweeping ban on the use of cluster bombs. The
Conventional Weapons Pact does not stipulate a ban on
the use of inflammatory weapons (i.e., phosphorous - M.R.),
rather it only offers rules for organizing the use of
this weapon. For understandable operational reasons, the
IDF will not comment on a detailed listing of the
weaponry at its disposal. The IDF uses only methods and
weapons that are permitted according to international
law. The firing of artillery in general, including the
firing of artillery to demolish a target, was initiated
in response to firing at the State of Israel only." The
defense minister's bureau said in response that it had
yet to receive an inquiry on the matter of firing
cluster rockets.
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