“Israel used white phosphorus munitions supplied by the United States in strikes in southern Lebanon” in October, claims the Washington Post. At least nine civilians were injured in Dheira, on the Israeli-Lebanese border, and three were hospitalized. Since October 7, and the Hamas offensive on the Hebrew state which left 1,200 dead in Israel, tensions on the border with Lebanon, where the pro-Iranian Hezbollah is present, have increased.
Phosphorus bombs are incendiary weapons whose use is prohibited against civilians but not against military targets, according to a Convention signed in 1980 in Geneva. The chemical is used to generate smoke screens in military operations. Exposed to oxygen, it burns above 800°C and ignites instantly. “Once ignited, white phosphorus is very difficult to extinguish. It adheres to surfaces, including skin and clothing,” explains the World Health Organization (WHO). It can cause “deep and severe burns, which can even penetrate the bones,” adds the WHO. The smoke released is also harmful to the eyes and respiratory tract.
The American daily, which analyzed fragments of shells found by a journalist in Dheira, details that “the production codes of the batches found on the shells correspond to the nomenclature used by the American army to classify the munitions produced in the country “. The code for one of the pieces of debris begins with “PB-92,” indicating that it was manufactured in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. In another photo, a batch is numbered “THS-89”, that is to say made in 1989 in Louisiana, in a Thiokol Aerospace factory.
Printed on one of the light green residues, the words “WP” – “white phosphorus” – “correspond to white phosphorus cartridges, according to weapons experts,” adds the American daily. These are M825 smoke shells fired by 155mm howitzers. However, it is not possible to know when these munitions were delivered. The Pentagon spokesperson simply stated that the United States had not delivered white phosphorous weapons since October 7.
These munitions found in the south of the Cedar country are part of the military aid granted to the Jewish state by the United States. Between 1951 and 2022, Israel received $225.2 billion in U.S. military aid, according to the USA Facts database. Or 71% of total American aid to the Jewish state. Since 2000, more than 86% of annual US aid to Israel has been for defense. In 2022, this proportion increased to 99.7%.
At the end of October, Amnesty International already accused Israel of having fired shells containing white phosphorus at the Lebanese border between October 10 and 16. The organization also calls for the “attack on Dheira” to be investigated as a war crime. Another document from the NGO Human Rights Watch, published a few days earlier, affirmed “that Israeli forces used white phosphorus during military operations in Lebanon and Gaza, respectively on October 10 and 11, 2023.”
The United States, which must control the use of weapons by its partners who receive their aid, said on Monday that it was “concerned” by these revelations. “When we supply materials such as white phosphorus to another army, it is so that it can be used in this legitimate manner and in accordance with the law of armed conflict,” explained the spokesperson of the Security Council National from the White House. At the same time, his State Department counterpart assured that the Biden administration was seeking “additional information”.
Asked about this on Monday, the Minister of Defense of the Jewish state Yoav Gallant simply stated that the Israeli army operates “in accordance with international law”. In July 2009, after denying for months that it had used white phosphorus munitions during its offensive on Gaza as part of Operation Cast Lead, Israel finally admitted in a report to having used them. But, the document asserted, this use was consistent with international law. “At least one of the shells found in Dheira came from the same batch of white phosphorus used by Israel in 2009,” concludes the Washington Post.
In 2013, in response to a petition filed before Israel’s High Court of Justice, the Israeli army announced that it would no longer use white phosphorus in populated areas, except in two specific types of situations, including Details have never been made public. In the court’s decision, the judge concluded that the use of white phosphorus would therefore be “an extreme exception in very specific circumstances.”