From VM
Published 1 hour ago, updated 39 minutes ago
A grenade, allegedly white phosphorus, fired by the Israeli army at the Israel-Lebanese border on November 12. Portal/Evelyn Hockstein
When asked about this, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant reiterated on Monday that the army was acting “in accordance with international law.”
“Israel used U.S.-supplied white phosphorus munitions in attacks in southern Lebanon,” the Washington Post claims. At least nine civilians were injured and three were hospitalized in Dheira, on the Israel-Lebanese border. Since October 7 and the Hamas offensive against the Hebrew state that killed 1,200 people in Israel, tensions have increased on the border with Lebanon, where the pro-Iranian Hezbollah is present.
Phosphorus bombs are incendiary weapons whose use against civilians but not against military targets is prohibited, according to a convention signed in Geneva in 1980. The chemical is used to create smoke screens during military operations. When exposed to oxygen, it burns at over 800 °C and ignites immediately. “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 that can even penetrate the bones,” the WHO adds. The smoke released is also harmful to the eyes and respiratory tract.
An unknown delivery date
The American daily, which analyzed grenade fragments found by a journalist in Dheira, states that “the production codes of the batches found on the grenades correspond to the nomenclature used by the American army to classify ammunition produced in the country.” The code for one of the pieces of debris begins “PB-92,” indicating that it was manufactured in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Another photo shows a batch numbered “THS-89,” manufactured in Louisiana in 1989 at a Thiokol Aerospace factory.
One of the bright green residues is printed with the words “WP” – “white phosphorus” – which weapons experts say correspond to “white phosphorus cartridges”, the American daily adds. These are M825 smoke grenades fired from 155mm howitzers. However, it is not possible to know when this ammunition was delivered. The Pentagon spokesman simply stated that the United States had not delivered white phosphorus weapons since October 7th.
These munitions, found in southern Cedar Country, are part of military aid provided by the United States to the Jewish state. According to the USA Facts database, Israel received $225.2 billion in U.S. military aid between 1951 and 2022. Or 71% of all American aid to the Jewish state. Since 2000, more than 86% of annual U.S. aid to Israel has gone toward defense. In 2022, this proportion increased to 99.7%.
The United States is “concerned”
At the end of October, Amnesty International accused Israel of firing grenades containing white phosphorus at the Lebanese border between October 10th and 16th. The organization also calls for the “attack on Dheira” to be investigated as a war crime. Another document published a few days earlier by the NGO Human Rights Watch confirmed that “Israeli forces used white phosphorus during military operations in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip on October 10 and 11, 2023, respectively.”
The United States, which must control the use of weapons by its partners who receive its aid, said on Monday it was “concerned” by the revelations. “When we provide materials such as white phosphorus to another army, we do so so that it can be used in this legitimate manner and in accordance with the law of armed conflict,” the White House Security Council spokesman said. At the same time, his counterpart at the State Department assured that the Biden administration was seeking “additional information.”
“An extreme exception under very specific circumstances”
When asked about this, the Defense Minister of the Jewish state Yoav Gallant simply stated on Monday that the Israeli army was acting “in accordance with international law.” After denying for months that it had used white phosphorus munitions in its offensive on Gaza as part of Operation Cast Lead, Israel finally admitted in a report in July 2009 that it had used them. However, the document states that this use is compatible with international law. “At least one of the shells found in Dheira came from the same batch of white phosphorus that Israel used in 2009,” the Washington Post concludes.
In 2013, in response to a petition filed with Israel's Supreme Court, the Israeli army announced that it would no longer use white phosphorus in populated areas except in two specific situations, details of which were never made public. In the court decision, the judge concluded that the use of white phosphorus was therefore “an extreme exception in very specific circumstances.”
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