Human Rights Watch condemned Israel for allegedly utilizing white phosphorus in a southern Lebanese town recently. The New York-based rights group reported that on March 3, 2026, the Israeli military deployed artillery-fired white phosphorus munitions unlawfully over residential areas in Yohmor.
According to HRW, they confirmed the authenticity and location of seven images depicting airburst white phosphorus munitions being used over a residential section of the town, with civil defense personnel extinguishing fires in two homes and a car in that vicinity. White phosphorus, a substance that ignites upon exposure to oxygen, serves purposes such as creating smokescreens and illuminating battle zones. However, it can also function as an incendiary weapon, leading to fires, severe burns, respiratory issues, organ damage, and fatalities.
Israel, despite a ceasefire in 2024, continued targeting Hezbollah with successive strikes across Lebanon and deployed ground forces to border regions following attacks by the Iran-backed group. Urging residents living south of the Litani River to evacuate, the Israeli army maintained its offensive. Lebanese authorities disclosed that at least 394 individuals perished in Israeli assaults, prompting over half a million people to be displaced.
Ramzi Kaiss, HRW’s Lebanon researcher, expressed apprehension over the Israeli military’s alleged unlawful use of white phosphorus in residential zones, emphasizing the catastrophic repercussions for civilians. Kaiss urged Israel to cease this practice immediately and called on nations supplying Israel with arms, including white phosphorus munitions, to suspend military aid and arms sales, pressuring Israel to refrain from deploying such munitions in civilian areas.
Israel has faced allegations from Lebanese authorities and HRW in recent years regarding the controversial deployment of white phosphorus rounds, which purportedly resulted in harm to civilians and the environment. Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that Israeli forces targeted the towns of Khiam and Tal Nahas near the border with artillery and phosphorus shelling. In a separate incident, Lebanon accused Israel of spraying the herbicide glyphosate along their shared border, condemning it as an environmental transgression.
