Israel hit southern Lebanon 191 times with white phosphorus, is that tied to its dreams of a buffer zone?
A shell that appears to be white phosphorus from Israeli artillery explodes over a house in al-Bustan, a Lebanese village along the border with Israel.
Beirut, Lebanon – Israel has intensively used white phosphorus on a strip in southern Lebanon that matches a zone its army has marked as a red “no go” zone on maps it distributes to Lebanese people, telling them not to return to their homes there.
In March, Al Jazeera reported experts’ claims that Israel was trying to make the land uninhabitable through tactics, including the use of white phosphorus.
More than 918 hectares (2,268 acres) have been hit in 191 attacks using the controversial munition since October 8, 2023, according to data collected by Lebanese researcher Ahmad Baydoun and environmental activist group Green Southerners.
Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah have exchanged attacks since October 8, 2023, a disproportionate exchange – with at least four Israeli attacks for each one from the Lebanese side.
How Israel uses white phosphorus
White phosphorus munitions ignite when exposed to oxygen at temperatures above 30 Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) and rain down streaks of dense white smoke mixed with phosphorus oxides.
The fiery fragments continue to burn – on vegetation, buildings, or right through human flesh – until they are fully oxidised or deprived of oxygen.
Israel claims it uses white phosphorus munitions to create a smokescreen on the battlefield yet rights groups say it has deployed it over populated areas, not battlefields, in both Gaza and Lebanon – which violates international humanitarian law.
“The use of white phosphorus in warzones relies on three pillars,” Hamze Attar, a Luxembourg-based defence analyst, told Al Jazeera.
Those three pillars are: using it as a smoke screen to obscure troop advances; clearing fighters and military equipment from wide open spaces; and a rapid response or preemptive action before or after a rocket launch.
Human Rights Watch found at least five cases as of June 2024 where the munitions “were unlawfully used over populated residential areas”.
