As Tel Aviv Tribune reported in March, Israel continues to use white phosphorus munitions in southern Lebanon, causing lasting damage and driving out villagers even as Israeli authorities threaten war on their northern border.
A new report released Wednesday by Human Rights Watch (HRW) agrees, showing that white phosphorus attacks “put civilians at risk” and “contribute to displacement.”
More than 92,600 people have been displaced from their villages in southern Lebanon since October 6, according to the International Organization for Migration.
“Israel’s use of white phosphorus munitions in populated areas indiscriminately harms civilians and has led many people to leave their homes,” Ramzi Kaiss, Lebanon researcher at HRW, said in the report.
“The Jaw of Lucifer”
In its investigation, HRW also verified the use of white phosphorus munitions by the Israeli army in at least 17 municipalities in southern Lebanon since October 2023, when the Israeli war on Gaza began.
They verified the illegal use of explosive munitions on populated residential areas in the municipalities of Kfar Kila, Meiss el-Jabal, Boustane, Markaba and Aita al-Shaab.
Injuries caused by white phosphorus can be extremely painful and necrotic. Oxides can reignite in the skin unless burns are covered immediately and kept covered to avoid exposure to oxygen.
Other symptoms can include severe breathing problems, acute lung damage, severe eye damage, second or third degree burns, or even serious bone diseases, such as necrotic “Lucifer’s jaw.”
At least 173 people were injured by exposure to white phosphorus between October and the end of May, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.
These include verified cases of civilians who were rushed to hospital on October 15 for asphyxiation after coming into contact with phosphorus.
And the reported cases of white phosphorus continued into June.
During a March investigation into Israeli use of white phosphorus in southern Lebanon, Lebanese experts told Tel Aviv Tribune that Israel was trying to create a buffer zone by making the region uninhabitable and impossible to farm.
Agriculture accounts for up to 80 percent of southern Lebanon’s gross domestic product (GDP), according to the United Nations.
Tel Aviv Tribune’s investigation found that Israel dropped 117 phosphorous bombs on southern Lebanon, hitting at least 32 towns and villages between October and March.
The affected area extended over almost the entire 100 kilometers of Lebanon’s southern border.
Israel’s repeated use of white phosphorus has angered international rights organizations. On March 19, Oxfam and HRW called on the Biden administration to “immediately suspend arms transfers to Israel.”
Flaws in white phosphorus
The documented use of white phosphorus has renewed calls from rights organizations to close the gaps that see its use in populated areas.
“Israel’s widespread use of white phosphorus in southern Lebanon underscores the need for stronger international law on incendiary weapons,” the HRW report said.
The HRW report urges Lebanon to file a declaration with the International Criminal Court (ICC) to allow investigation and prosecution “for serious international crimes…on Lebanese territory since October 2023.”
Neither Lebanon nor Israel are members of the ICC. The court would need a formal statement from one of the parties to investigate.
Lebanon recently walked back an earlier statement that it would give the ICC jurisdiction to investigate Israeli war crimes on its territory after October 7.
Lebanon’s interim government voted in April for the Foreign Ministry to file such a declaration of jurisdiction.
When the decision was withdrawn, some analysts speculated that the Lebanese parties feared that an ICC investigation would also hold them responsible.
Israel has a history of using white phosphorus in Lebanon, lending credence to the “buffer zone” theory, observers say.
“The Israeli army targeted civilians with white phosphorus during the 1982 invasion, and since October 7, large quantities of white phosphorus have been used on forests, plantations, olive and fruit trees” , said Mohammad Hussein, head of the South Lebanon Agricultural Union. Tel Aviv Tribune in March.
Documented uses of white phosphorus munitions were also documented during the 1982 Israeli siege of West Beirut.
After rights groups accused Israel of war crimes for its use of white phosphorus during its 2008-2009 Gaza offensive, the Israeli military said it would stop using it as a screening munition. smoke in built-up areas, with few exceptions.
“Stricter international standards against the use of white phosphorous are needed to ensure these weapons do not continue to endanger civilians,” Kaiss said.
“Israel’s recent use of white phosphorus in Lebanon should motivate other countries to take immediate steps to achieve this goal.”
