Shells fired at agrochemical warehouse created toxic plume that has left residents with health problems
An Israeli airstrike on an agrochemical warehouse during last year’s war in Gaza amounted to the “indirect deploying of chemical weapons”, according to aDefence Forces hit the large Khudair Pharmaceutical and Agricultural Tools warehouse in the north of the Gaza Strip on 15 May last year, setting fire to hundreds of tonnes of pesticides, fertilisers, plastics and nylons. The strike created a toxic plume, which engulfed an area of 5.
Within the first hour, the toxic plume from Khudair warehouse had affected an area of approximately 5.7 sq km, with 3,000 homes in its shadow.Legal experts concluded from Al-Haq’s findings that while conventional weapons were used in the bombing, “the shelling of the warehouse, with knowledge of the presence of toxic chemicals stored therein, is tantamount to chemical weapons through indirect means.
On 17 May, two days after the Khudair warehouse was destroyed, the Fomco sponge factory was attacked in a similar manner, causing a large-scale fire. On the same day, over half a dozen other factories and warehouses were also bombed, revealing a pattern of targeted strikes.The international criminal court opened an investigation in 2019 into war crimes allegedly committed by Israeli forces and Palestinian militants in Palestinian territory. Israel disputes the ICC’s jurisdiction.
“For months the smell was unbearable, like a car engine mixed with burnt oil, sewage and cooking gas, so of course we knew it could be harmful,” said her husband, Ihab, 26.
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