{"id":11105,"date":"2026-03-09T15:08:06","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T15:08:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/11105\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T15:08:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T15:08:06","slug":"israel-illegally-using-white-phosphorus-against-civilians-in-lebanon-human-rights-watch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/11105\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel Illegally Using White Phosphorus Against Civilians in Lebanon: Human Rights Watch"},"content":{"rendered":"

Israel is illegally using white phosphorous in civilian areas amid its new onslaught in Lebanon<\/a>, putting residents at risk of death or life-altering injury, according to a report<\/a> released Monday by Human Rights<\/a> Watch.<\/p>\n

The human rights group said it has verified and geolocated seven photos showing airburst white phosphorus munitions being deployed on March 3 over homes in the southern Lebanese town of Yohmor.<\/p>\n

Images also showed civil defense workers<\/a> responding to fires in at least two homes and one car in that area.<\/p>\n

White phosphorus, a chemical substance that ignites when exposed to oxygen, is considered unlawfully indiscriminate under international law<\/a> when deployed in civilian areas, as it can result<\/a> in homes, agricultural areas, and other civilian infrastructure<\/a> catching on fire.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Israeli military\u2019s unlawful use of white phosphorus over residential areas is extremely alarming and will have dire consequences for civilians,\u201d said Ramzi Kaiss, a Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch. \u201cThe incendiary effects<\/a> of white phosphorous can cause death or cruel injuries that result in lifelong suffering.\u201d<\/p>\n

Human Rights Watch said it has not verified whether anyone was in the area at the time the white phosphorus was deployed or whether it resulted in any injuries.<\/p>\n

It is not the first time Israel has been documented deploying white phosphorus in Lebanon. In June 2024, Human Rights Watch verified<\/a> at least 17 instances of the chemical substance being deployed across south Lebanon since October 2023.<\/p>\n

As of May 28, 2024, Lebanon\u2019s Ministry of Public Health<\/a> reported that at least 173 people had suffered<\/a> injuries from white phosphorus since October 2023\u2014including respiratory issues like asphyxiation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIsrael should immediately halt this practice and states providing Israel with weapons, including white phosphorus munitions, should immediately suspend military assistance and arms sales and push Israel to stop firing such munitions in residential areas,\u201d Kaiss said.<\/p>\n

Yohmor was one of more than 100 villages where Israel ordered civilians to “immediately” evacuate last week\u2014orders that have resulted in the mass displacement of more than 300,000 people from their homes, according to a Friday report<\/a> from the Norwegian Refugee Council.<\/p>\n

On March 3, residents of Yohmor and other villages given evacuation orders were told by Avichay Adraee, Israel\u2019s Arabic military spokesperson, that they \u201cshould immediately evacuate [their homes] and move away from the villages to a distance of at least 1,000 meters outside the village to open land.\u201d<\/p>\n

Due to the “sweeping nature” of its orders, Human Rights Watch has warned that “their purpose is not to protect civilians, especially in the context of recent large-scale displacement of civilians in Lebanon.”<\/p>\n

The report notes that between September and November 2024, more than 1.2 million people were displaced<\/a> in Lebanon as a result of attacks across the country. Many, who were able to return home following a ceasefire in November 2024, have been displaced once more.<\/p>\n

Since Israel and the United States<\/a> launched a war against Iran last week, resulting in retaliation from the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah<\/a>, Israel has pushed further<\/a> into Lebanon, carrying out attacks on several villages across southern Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley, and Beirut<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“Contrary to [Israel’s] claims, the strikes are not aimed at military personnel or installations, but rather at residential homes, medical responders, healthcare<\/a> infrastructure, as well as women and children<\/a>,” said Lebanese Health Minister Rakan Nasreddine on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Since March 2, he said that Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon have killed<\/a> 394 people, including 83 children and 42 women, while wounding 1,130 people, including 254 children and 274 women.<\/p>\n

“The number is still increasing,” he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Israel is illegally using white phosphorous in civilian areas amid its new onslaught in Lebanon, putting residents at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11106,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[32],"tags":[2718,3588,4625,196,37,93,6011],"class_list":["post-11105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lebanon","tag-forced-displacement","tag-human-rights-watch","tag-international-law","tag-iran-war","tag-israel","tag-lebanon","tag-white-phosphorus"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116199850192127151","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11105\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}