The Israeli armed forces used artillery shells with white phosphorus while shelling Lebanon's southern border between October 10 and October 16, a prominent international human rights organization said on Tuesday.
"The Israeli army fired artillery shells containing white phosphorus, an incendiary weapon, in military operations along Lebanon’s southern border between 10 and 16 October 2023 [...] One attack on the town of Dhayra on 16 October must be investigated as a war crime because it was an indiscriminate attack that injured at least nine civilians and damaged civilian objects, and was therefore unlawful," Amnesty International said.
White phosphorus is an incendiary substance used to create a smoke screen and mark targets, but if exposed to air, it burns at high temperatures and could cause severe damage to the human body. Its usage is restricted by international humanitarian law, and it should never be fired against civilians.
"With concern growing about an intensification of the hostilities in southern Lebanon, the Israeli army must immediately halt the use of white phosphorus, especially in populated areas, in line with its forgotten 2013 pledge to stop using these weapons. It must abide by its commitment and stop further endangering the lives of civilians in Lebanon," the organization's regional director, Aya Majzoub, was quoted as saying in a statement.
Since mid-October, the Israel Defense Forces and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah have been exchanging cross-border fire regularly.
In the wake of flaring tensions, acting Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati told Sputnik that the authorities were working on maintaining calm inside the country amid the war between Israel and Hamas, and fears over Hezbollah opening a northern front.