Direct proof of use
Amnesty International's Crisis Evidence Lab documented M825 and M825A1 artillery shells in Israeli positions near Sderot during the opening week of the 2023 Israel-Hamas War. Amnesty reported that on 9 October 2023 Israeli forces positioned M109 155 mm howitzers near Sderot, about one kilometre from the Gaza border fence, and that verified photos from the area showed M825 and M825A1 white-phosphorus artillery shells.
The Gaza use evidence comes from verified video of airburst white-phosphorus artillery. Amnesty geolocated an 11 October 2023 attack at Gaza harbour and nearby hotels and reported additional video of artillery shells bursting in mid-air and releasing smoke-producing particles consistent with M825 and M825A1 shells. Human Rights Watch separately verified videos from 11 October showing multiple airbursts of artillery-fired white phosphorus over Gaza City port.
Sources: Amnesty Gaza White Phosphorus Evidence Lab, HRW Gaza Lebanon White Phosphorus Report
Timeline
The earliest documented milestone is 9 October 2023, when Amnesty placed Israeli M109 howitzers and M825/M825A1 shells near Sderot. That evidence supports possession and deployment next to a firing platform in the Gaza border area, not by itself a fired-round incident.
The direct-use milestone is 11 October 2023. Amnesty and Human Rights Watch both verified open-source video from Gaza City showing airburst white-phosphorus artillery use over the port area. Amnesty's account links the observed smoke-producing airbursts to M825 and M825A1 characteristics, while HRW identifies the munitions used in the port strike as airburst 155 mm white-phosphorus artillery projectiles.
On 13 November 2023, OSMP recorded a separate M825A1 artillery-gun projectile entry in Israel. The OSMP record lists the item as a 155 mm smoke munition, whole and unfunctioned, with M825A1 as the tentative model, adding munition-identification context from the same war period.
Sources: Amnesty Gaza White Phosphorus Evidence Lab, HRW Gaza Lebanon White Phosphorus Report, OSMP 579
Documented role in Gaza
The documented role was artillery-delivered smoke or obscuration with white phosphorus, fired from the Israeli side of the conflict. Amnesty's verified Sderot imagery ties M825/M825A1 shells to Israeli M109 155 mm howitzers, and its geolocation work placed the observed airbursts at Gaza harbour and in the Zeitoun area of Gaza City. Human Rights Watch also reported witness descriptions of explosions in the sky followed by white lines falling earthward during the Gaza City port attack.
ARES describes M825-series projectiles as 155 mm white-phosphorus smoke rounds that disperse 116 white-phosphorus-impregnated felt wedges, with the M825-series visual signature involving many small smoke elements falling and burning. ARES also notes that the primary purpose of M825-series white-phosphorus carrier projectiles is marking or screening. This technical context supports the identification and role, while the conflict-use claim rests on the Amnesty, HRW, and OSMP conflict records.
The public sources used here do not identify the exact Israeli firing battery or a complete list of targets. HRW attributed a civilian-risk and legal concern to airburst white phosphorus in populated Gaza, while Amnesty said many of the documented uses in civilian areas may be considered unlawful indiscriminate attacks; those are source-attributed assessments rather than independent catalog judgments.
Sources: Amnesty Gaza White Phosphorus Evidence Lab, HRW Gaza Lebanon White Phosphorus Report, ARES M825 WP and M150 HC Identification
