Sorry snooper but i feel i can add to this... Court asked to ban use of flechettes in Gaza
By Itim
Two human rights groups lodged a joint petition with the High Court yesterday, demanding that the Israel Defense Forces be barred from using flechette missiles in the Gaza Strip. The petition was presented by attorneys Yossi Arnon and Yossi Tzur for the Palestinian Center for Human Rights and Physicians for Human Rights .
The petition argues that flechette missiles are banned under international law, since they cause "unnecessary human suffering" and because they are "indiscriminate" weapons. Use of the weapons is another example of Israel's disregard for the lives and safety of Palestinian civilians, the petitioners claimed.
The petition states that flechette missiles were originally developed by the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, when top military officials were searching for an efficient weapon to use against Viet Cong forces hiding in the jungle.
A flechette missile contains thousands of 4-centimeter darts. When the missile is fired from a tank and explodes in mid-air, the darts are dispersed over a 300-meter area.
According to the petition, Israel purchased the flechette missiles from the U.S. in 1973, and used them extensively in southern Lebanon. At the outbreak of the intifada in 2000, the Southern Command of the IDF decided that it would use the missiles in the Gaza Strip, while the Central Command preferred not to use missiles in the West Bank.
According to the petitioners, the flechette has been widely used in the intifada, leading to the deaths of at least 10 Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip.
