Weapons Surgeon says Israel used white phosphorus

A London surgeon has described witnessing a "massacre unfold" during 43 days spent under bombardment in Gaza, saying the destruction of the Palestinian health system was a military objective of the war.

- Gonora Abdul

Speaking at a press conference in London, Prof Ghassan Abu-Sittah, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon, who will later give evidence to Scotland Yard, told of horrific scenes at al-Ahli Arab and Dar al-Shifa hospitals as they ceased to function and said he witnessed the use of white phosphorus munitions. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have denied using such weapons.

"Having seen this massacre unfold, the creation of an uninhabitable Gaza Strip was the aim and the destruction of all the components of modern life at which the health system lies was the main military objective," said Abu-Sittah, who has a practice in west London and has worked in Gaza since 2009, as well as during wars across Yemen, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.