The Smell of Burning Flesh in Gaza

The use of white phosphorus as an anti-personnel weapon is a war crime. It was a war crime when US Marines bombed Fallujah, Iraq with the chemical weapon in 2004. It is a war crime when Israel uses white phosphorus (WP, Willy Pete) in the highly concentrated population center of Gaza.
The rules of war allow using WP in open battlefields for either illumination or to create smoke screens. It is specifically prohibited for use against people, either combatants or civilians. It is also prohibited in urban areas. In those latter two uses it is defined as a chemical weapon. Most recently, Israel has bombed the United Nations Gaza compound with Willy Pete destroying the food and medical supplies stored there.

One might think, given the horrors the Jewish people suffered during the Holocaust, that Israel would be reluctant to use weapons that burn people. One would be wrong. It appears Israel is determined to turn the Gaza ghetto into a concentration camp, complete with the smell of burning flesh.