Editing Plastic bullet (section)

==Usage—penetrating plastic bullets==

=== Use in Israel ===
Israeli plastic bullets are not baton rounds and are capable of penetrating all body tissue.<ref name=yellin-pbwounds /><ref name = Talmor90>{{cite report
 | last        = Talmor
 | first       = Ronny
 | date        = July 1990
 | title       = The Use of Firearms by the Security Forces in the Occupied Territories
 | url         = https://www.btselem.org/sites/default/files2/publication/199007_use_of_firearms_eng.doc 
 | publisher   = B’Tselem – The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories
 | format      = doc
 | translator=Ralph Mandel
|at=p.14 introduction + definition of riot, p.15 Rules of Engagement, p.17 uprising data, pp. 75,81 MK [[Yair Tsaban]] to defence ministers [[Yitzhak Rabin]] & [[Yitzhak Shamir]]. pp.75-6,84 total young persons killed by plastic bullets April 1989
 | location    = Jerusalem
 | access-date = 2023-03-15
 | quote       = Between the start of the Intifada and the end of May 1990, 630 Palestinians, including 138 children under the age of 16, were shot to death by the Israeli security forces.
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230305220100/https://www.btselem.org/sites/default/files2/publication/199007_use_of_firearms_eng.doc
 | archive-date = 2023-03-05
 | issn        = 0792-4003
 |url-status   = live
}}</ref>

In August 1988, the [[Israeli army]] began using plastic bullets for crowd control by the [[military administration]] of the [[West Bank]] and [[Gaza Strip]]. Israeli Defense Minister [[Yitzhak Rabin]] explained the plastic bullets were intended to cause more injuries to Palestinian rioters. Army commanders hoped that their use would reduce Palestinian stone-throwing, however this did not happen during the first month of their use in which Israeli plastic bullets killed eight Palestinians.<ref name=jta-pv1988/>

In March 1990, an army report - "Uprising Data" -  found 128 "local residents" had been killed by plastic bullets. According to the army [[rules of engagement]] the use of plastic bullets is permitted in case of a "violent [[riot]]", defined as: "a disturbance with the participation of three or more persons, including stone throwing, erection of a barrier or barricade, burning a tire." 
Some of the instructions under Rules of Engagement include:

- Plastic bullet only to be fired under order from commanding officer

- Not to be fired at a range of less than 70 metres

- Aimed below knee

- "Avoid aiming fire at children below the age of 14 and at women."

From April to May 1989, during the early stages of the [[First Intifada]], five young people were killed by plastic bullets fired by [[Israeli army|Israeli soldiers]], four of whom were under 14 years old.<ref name = Talmor90 />

Following a visit to a Nablus Hospital a group of four Israeli doctors reported: "The plastic bullet can penetrate all tissue. Even if the wound caused by the plastic is less severe than that caused by conventional bullets, it is still a very severe wound. The bullet is capable of striking internal organs, and as occurred in cases that were hospitalised in al-Ittihad hospital, the bullet struck the liver, intestines, spleen and blood vessels. It is superfluous to add that such a wound can be fatal."<ref name = Talmor90 />

===Use in Jammu and Kashmir===
India's Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory in Chandigarh has developed plastic bullets designed to be fired from conventional rifles as an alternative to using [[Crowd control in Jammu and Kashmir#Pellet guns|pellet guns]] for crowd control.<ref name="Plastic Bullet DH" />

These plastic bullets—not baton rounds—can be fired from [[AK-47]] and [[INSAS rifle]]s and have been used by Indian security forces for [[crowd control in Jammu and Kashmir]] in India. They are used along with other [[Riot control#Riot control agent (RCA)|riot control agents]] such as [[tear gas]], [[chili grenade]]s, and pellet guns ([[riot shotgun]]s that fire pellet cartridges) by security forces against [[Stone pelting in Kashmir|stone pelting]] protesters during violent clashes in [[Jammu and Kashmir (state)|Jammu and Kashmir]].<ref name="PAVA shell">{{Cite web|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/centre-sends-1-lakh-plastic-bullets-chilli-filled-pava-shells-to-kashmir-valley/story-FvGHCLM1U8S9A7drB439EP.html|title=Centre sends 1 lakh plastic bullets, chilli-filled PAVA shells to Kashmir Valley|last=Ahuja|first=Rajesh|date=20 June 2017|website=Hindustan Times|access-date=4 January 2019}}</ref>

According to Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) officials, the plastic bullets can only be fired in single shot mode and not in [[Burst mode (weapons)|burst mode]].<ref name="PAVA shell" /> The bullets are claimed to penetrate 20mm into human targets.<ref name="Plastic Bullet DH">{{Cite news
| url = https://www.deccanherald.com/national/plastic-bullet-replace-pellets-711359.html
| title = Plastic Bullet to replace the pellets in Kashmir valley
| last = Ray
| first= Kalyan
| date  = 2019-01-04
| work = Deccan Herald
| department = National/North and Central
| location = Bangalore, India
| publisher = The Printers Mysore
| access-date = 2023-03-15
| url-status = dead
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190104231100/https://www.deccanherald.com/national/plastic-bullet-replace-pellets-711359.html
| archive-date=2019-01-04
| quote = The bullets with plastic tips can pierce the skin up to 20 mm}}</ref>

21,000{{Nbsp}}rounds of plastic bullets were sent to Kashmir in 2018 for riot control.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/crpf-sends-21000-less-lethal-plastic-bullets-to-kashmir/articleshow/60988863.cms|title=CRPF sends 21000 "less lethal" plastic bullets to Kashmir|date=14 July 2018|work=The Economic Times|access-date=4 January 2019|agency=PTI}}</ref> A anonymous source at the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs claimed that the use of plastic bullets is based on the list of non-lethal weapons approved by the [[United Nations peacekeeping]] standards for crowd control.<ref name=":12">{{Cite web|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/kashmir-plastic-bullets-pellet-guns-un-peacekeeping-972172-2017-04-18|title=Using plastic bullets in Kashmir drawn from UN peacekeeping standards for crowd control|last=Kaur|first=Kamaljit|date=18 April 2017|website=India Today|access-date=4 January 2019}}</ref>