Israel using white phosphorus again in Lebanon

Israel has used white phosphorus, an illegal chemical weapon, over homes in Yohmor al Beqaa, Lebanon.

Israel using chemical weapons again

Human Rights Watch verified and geolocated eight images, which show:

airburst white phosphorus munitions being deployed over a residential part of the town and civil defense workers responding to fires in at least two homes and one car in that area.

As the Canary previously reported, white phosphorus is a chemical substance which ignites instantly upon contact with oxygen. It’s incredibly hard to extinguish and sticks to surfaces like clothes and skin. White phosphorus is extremely harmful to people, no matter the route of exposure. It causes deep and severe burns – often down to the bone, breathing problems, and burning of the eyes and respiratory tract.

The human body can absorb the chemical, causing dysfunction in multiple organs, including the liver, kidneys and heart.

It burns at more than 800 degrees Celsius (nearly 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit). That is high enough to melt metal.

Importantly though:

The incendiary effects of white phosphorous can cause death or cruel injuries that result in lifelong suffering.

The use of chemical weapons in civilian areas is a war crime for exactly this reason. Generations of Lebanese people will now suffer the consequences of Israel’s indiscriminate and illegal attacks.

According to the World Health Organisation:

The use of white phosphorus may violate Protocol III (on the use of incendiary weapons) of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCCW) in one specific instance: if it is used, on purpose, as an incendiary weapon directly against humans in a civilian setting.

War crimes

There is plenty of evidence of Israel’s unlawful use of white phosphorus. Since October 7, Israel has carried out over 1,000 illegal white phosphorus strikes in Gaza.

According to the Euro-Med Monitor, in 40 minutes alone, the IDF launched 300 white phosphorus strikes on a packed residential square in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahia.

That same evening, reports of multiple white phosphorus shells were recorded in a crowded area of Gaza City. Israel launched similar attacks in the Al-Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza, and the Jabalia town and camp in the Strip’s north.

But it’s not just Palestine. Amnesty International reported that the Israeli army fired artillery shells containing white phosphorus along Lebanon’s southern border in October 2023. 

Human Rights Watch also verified Israel’s use of white phosphorus on two locations along the Israel-Lebanon border and over Gaza City’s port.

US origins

As the Canary previously investigated, the US Army supplies Israel with white phosphorus-filled projectiles.

The chemical agent can be deployed through artillery shells, bombs, rockets or grenades.

The white phosphorus itself comes from Israel Chemicals Ltd. (ICL), which has a chemical manufacturing plant in St. Louis.

The US government contracted ICL to produce white phosphorus for the US Army, for:

a 5-year, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity, fixed-price contract at $3,342,150.

ICL has 10 illegal quarries in the occupied West Bank, according to a report by the Israeli Ministry of Interior. Notably, ICL is also operating in the occupied Syrian Golan.

Of course, it is no surprise that a country with a history steeped in colonialism is supplying chemical weapons to a genocidal terrorist state.

Israel’s entire existence is based on colonialism, war crimes, and the displacement of indigenous populations.

So now Israel is once again using illegal chemical weapons to further its terrorist agenda at the expense of indigenous communities – we are not surprised. But Israel knows it can and will get away with it, which is why it’s even more important that international communities take a stand.

Featured image via FRANCE 24 English/ YouTube screenshot