We recently reported on Israel's first use of foul-smelling "skunk bombs" against protesters in the village of Naalin. In a new twist, the Israeli Navy found a use for the odoriferous chemical agent:
The international HROs [Human Rights Observers] also reported the use of a high-powered water cannon that was continuously used against the boats. Not only does this water cannon regularly damage the fishing boats themselves, the HROs have reported that recently the water has contained a foul smelling chemical substance. It is assumed that this substance is the same that has been frequently used by Israeli forces against the non-violent protests against the construction of the annexation barrier in the West Bank villages of Bil'in and Ni'lin.
The conflict between Palestinian fishermen and the Israeli navy has been quietly rumbling on due , due to a blockade imposed since Hamas took over the strip in June 2007. The fishermen want to catch fish and say they need to go out twenty miles to catch sardines; the Israeli Navy want to enforce the blockade and stop them. In the past this has involved firing warning shots from machine-guns, or ramming boats, and a number of deaths have been reported.
As with the challenge of fending off pirates, there are few non-lethal alternatives, so the skunk liquid may provide a valuable new option. According to reports, it really is a synthetic version of the substance sprayed by skunks, which has been under development since 2004 but was only used for the first time this September. If it's as unpleasant as they say –- "an overpowering mix of rotting meat, old socks that haven't been washed for weeks, topped off with the pungent waft of an open sewer" -- drenching a boat should be enough to persuade the crew to give up on the expedition and send them back to port. (Unless they put clothes pegs over their noses? Fishermen may have more resistance to strong smells than most.) In any case, the skunk spray should send a powerful and unmistakable -- but completely non-lethal -- message. That makes it much less hazardous than other types of warning shot across the bows.
Other applications may also be found for skunk technology. You might not be able to clear out a village with skunk bombs dropped from aircraft; but anyone who remained might be labeled as "uncooperative" or worse. And perhaps we might see artillery shells along the lines of the U.S. XM1063 155mm non-lethal howitzer round which may or may not be filled with malodorant.
If successful, we might see it used a lot more places. The Israeli police force plans to commercialise the skunk spray and sell it to law-enforcement agencies around the world, according to a BBC report last month.
Stink bombs have a very long history in warfare, but were abandoned some time ago in favour of more effective weapons, They might yet make a comeback as non-lethals -– but there legal issues to be resolved before they can be used in warfare rather than police actions.
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