On Sunday, doctors in Gaza hospitals reported that they had treated patients with severe burns consistent with possible exposure to white phosphorus, a chemical agent that can be used for illumination or to create smoke screens but that under the international laws of war is prohibited from use in densely packed urban areas. The doctors could not say definitively that white phosphorus was responsible for the injuries.
Human Rights Watch had charged on Saturday that Israel was using the substance, and its researchers described seeing Israeli artillery batteries firing it into the air above Gaza. The group demanded an end to the practice. White phosphorus, the group said, "can severely burn people and set structures, fields, and other civilian objects in the vicinity on fire."
The Israeli military would not directly address whether it has used white phosphorus in Gaza but said that it "uses weapons in compliance with international law."
The claims on both sides were difficult to verify. Foreign and Israeli journalists have not been permitted to enter Gaza since the war began, except in rare cases in the company of Israeli troops.
