A human rights body has accused Israel of using white phosphorus, a controversial incendiary munition, to strike residential areas in southern Lebanon.
In a report released on Monday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the Israeli military “unlawfully" deployed shells containing white phosphorus over residential neighbourhoods in the southern Lebanese village of Yohmor.
According to HRW, the Israeli military used these artillery shells on its March 3 strikes targeting Hezbollah in the ongoingWest Asia conflict. The report is based on the verification and geolocation of seven distinct images, which the rights body claimed showed airburst white phosphorus munitions being deployed directly over homes.
These strikes reportedly took place just hours after the Israeli military had issued evacuation orders for residents of Yohmor and dozens of other villages in southern Lebanon. Visual evidence shows that the shelling caused immediate residential fires, with civil defence workers responding to blazes in at least two homes and one vehicle in the area.
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White phosphorus is a chemical substance that ignites spontaneously upon contact with oxygen. The Israeli military has previously maintained that it uses the substance primarily as a smoke screen to mask troop movements and not to target civilians.
Human rights advocates, however, have argued that its use in populated areas is a clear violation of international law. Ramzi Kaiss, a Lebanon researcher for Human Rights Watch, was quoted in the report as saying the practice was “extremely alarming".
Kaiss warned that firing such “white-hot chemical substances" into residential zones will have “dire consequences for civilians".
“The Israeli military’s unlawful use of white phosphorus over residential areas is extremely alarming and will have dire consequences for civilians," Kaiss, Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch, is quoted in the report.
Organisations like HRW and Amnesty International said the munition was used in Israel’s last war with Hezbollah, over a year ago, on numerous occasions in southern Lebanon while civilians were still present.
Source: World News in news18.com, World Latest News, World News
