FILE – A shell that appears to be white phosphorus from Israeli artillery explodes over a house in al-Bustan, a Lebanese border village with Israel, south Lebanon, on Oct. 15, 2023. The human rights group Amnesty International said Tuesday Oct. 31, 2023 that civilians in southern Lebanon were injured earlier this month when Israeli forces hit a border village with shells containing white phosphorus, a controversial incendiary munition.
Human rights advocates say the use of white phosphorus is illegal under international law when the white-hot chemical substance is fired into populated areas. It can set buildings on fire and burn human flesh down to the bone. Survivors are at risk of infections and organ or respiratory failure, even if their burns are small.
A paramedic shared photos with the The Associated Press of first responders in oxygen masks and helping an elderly man, his face covered with a shirt, out of a burning house and into an ambulance. The Amnesty report is the latest in a series of allegations by human rights groups that Israeli forces have dropped shells containing white phosphorus on densely populated residential areasThe Israeli military said in a statement to the AP earlier this month that the main type of smokescreen shells it uses “do not contain white phosphorous.” But it did not rule out its use in some situations. The military did not immediately respond to inquiries about Tuesday’s Amnesty statement. headtopics.com
Amnesty and Human Rights Watch have also reported an alleged case of white phosphorus shelling in a populated area of the Gaza Strip during the current Israel-Hamas war but have not verified civilian injuries from it.
Amnesty International Says Israeli Forces Wounded Lebanese Civilians with White PhosphorusThe human rights group Amnesty International said Tuesday that civilians in southern Lebanon were injured this month when Israeli forces hit a border village with shells containing white phosphorus, a controversial incendiary munition.The organization said it verified three… Read more ⮕