Human Rights Groups Document 23 Israeli White Phosphorus Strikes in Southern Lebanon
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International say the Israeli army used white phosphorus 23 times in southern Lebanon between early March and late May, calling for tighter international bans.
Human Rights Watch, together with a Harvard Law School human-rights institute, released a 45-page study claiming the Israeli Defense Forces fired white phosphorus munitions in southern Lebanon 23 times between early March and late May. The document highlights the weapon’s capacity to cause deep, life-altering burns and extensive socioeconomic harm, and it calls on the international community to enact stricter regulations that eliminate existing legal gaps.
The report places Israel’s actions in a broader context, citing previous white phosphorus use by the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq and Syria in 2017, the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen in 2016, and earlier Israeli deployments in Gaza in 2008-2009. Amnesty International has also reported multiple instances of Israeli white phosphorus use in the Lebanese conflict. Former Lebanese agriculture minister Abbas Haddzs Hasszan accused Israel of employing white-phosphorus-laden weapons against Hezbollah combatants despite a formal ban, emphasizing the need for renewed global conventions.
