5/6/2024–|Last updated: 6/5/202412:18 AM (Mecca time)
Human Rights Watch announced on Wednesday that the Israeli army has used white phosphorus munitions to bomb at least 17 towns in southern Lebanon since last October, endangering the lives of civilians and contributing to their displacement.
The organization – with its headquarters in New York – said that it had verified the use of white phosphorus by Israeli forces in at least 17 towns in southern Lebanon, 5 of which were illegally used aerial explosive ordnance over populated residential areas.
White phosphorus – according to a statement by the international human rights organization – is a chemical substance used in artillery shells, bombs and missiles. It ignites when exposed to oxygen, and its incendiary effects cause death or severe injuries that lead to lifelong suffering.
Explosive white phosphorus can also set fire to homes, agricultural areas, and other civilian objects, and the use of this substance (internationally banned) in populated areas is an indiscriminate and illegal act, according to the organization.
Human Rights Watch quoted the unnamed mayor of Al-Bustan as saying that two people from the town were taken to a hospital due to suffocation due to inhaling white phosphorus smoke following an attack on October 15. They were civilians who were in their homes, one of them a municipality member and the other a farmer.
Ramzi Qais, the organization’s Lebanon researcher, stressed that Israel’s use of air-explosive white phosphorus shells in populated areas indiscriminately harms civilians and forces many of them to leave their homes.
Qais called on Israeli forces to immediately stop using white phosphorus munitions in populated areas, especially when less harmful alternatives are readily available.
Human Rights Watch confirmed that Israel’s widespread use of white phosphorus in southern Lebanon highlights the need for stronger international law regarding incendiary weapons.
Since the first days of the war on the Gaza Strip, Amnesty International has confirmed that Israel has used white phosphorus bombs in its bombing of the Palestinian Strip, which is crowded with civilians.
Since last October 8, Palestinian and Lebanese factions in Lebanon – including Hezbollah – have exchanged intermittent daily bombardment with the Israeli army across the Blue Line, resulting in hundreds killed and wounded, most of them on the Lebanese side.
The factions say that they stand in solidarity with Gaza, which has been exposed since last October 7 to an Israeli war that left more than 119,000 Palestinians dead and wounded – most of them children and women – and about 10,000 missing, amid deadly famine and massive destruction.