Israel is suspected of using white phosphorus munitions manufactured by the United States in an attack carried out in southern Lebanon in October that wounded at least nine people, the report said yesterday. The Washington Post, which analyzed fragments found in Dhayra, a small Lebanese town. Three of the injured had to be hospitalized. It should be recalled that Israel and Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shia militia, have been involved in intense firefights after the start of the current war in the Gaza Strip on October 7.
This complaint from the North American newspaper is also based on reports from residents of Dhayra, who said that the attack on the village on October 16 lasted for hours and prevented them from leaving their homes until the next day, with some complaining. breathing for days after the attack. “The emergency services told us to put something soaked in water on our faces, which helped a little. I could no longer see my finger in front of my face. The whole village turned white,” he said. The Washington Post Uday Abu Sari, a 29-year-old farmer.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), white phosphorus burns immediately when it comes into contact with oxygen and can only be used by the military to illuminate the battlefield. This substance causes deep and severe burns, can even damage bones and its smoke is harmful to the eyes and respiratory tract.
On October 12, Human Rights Watch had already reported that “Israel used white phosphorus in military operations in Gaza and Lebanon, putting civilians at risk of serious and long-lasting injuries.” Photos and videos verified by Amnesty International and also reviewed by The Washington Post show the characteristic ribbons of white phosphorus smoke falling over Dhayra on October 16.
According to the same newspaper, the North American origin of the ammunition was also verified by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. And he adds that the same production codes also appear on white phosphorus cartridges deployed next to Israeli artillery in the town of Sderot, near the Gaza Strip, in an October 9 photo.
The United States reminded Israel yesterday that the white phosphorus munitions it has supplied to its military can only be used to illuminate the battlefield and not to attack people.
The warning message was sent by White House Security Council spokesman John Kirby following the publication of the investigation into the matter The Washington Post.
“We’ve seen this information and we’re certainly concerned about it. We’re going to ask to find out a little more about what happened,” Kirby responded when asked about the subject during a press conference aboard the presidential plane, Air Force One.
This official also said it is “important to remember” that the only “legitimate use” of white phosphorus on the battlefield is to illuminate the area. “Every time we supply elements such as white phosphorus to another military, it is with the belief that it will be used for legitimate purposes and in accordance with the law,” he stated.
Faced with these accusations, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said only that the army is operating “in accordance with international law.”
Exchange of accusations at the UN
The Israeli and Palestinian delegations to the UN yesterday accused each other of violating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip, during celebrations of the 75th anniversary of that foundational text.
According to the Palestinian Territories delegation, there is “nothing to celebrate” on the 75th anniversary, when “some states decided to exclude Palestinians from the rights of the rest of humanity.” “In the past two months, 7,000 Palestinian children have died, two million people have been displaced, hungry and terrified, in a genocidal war that violates the 1948 declaration,” the delegation said in its intervention.
Israel, through its ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Meirav Eilon Shahar, assured that one of Tel Aviv’s responsibilities in the field of human rights is “the protection of its people, and the elimination of terrorist organizations whose aim is to end lives “.
The ambassador added that following the October 7 attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on Israeli territory, there had been a “rise in anti-Semitism,” which Israel will combat “with an institutional policy of zero tolerance” regarding hate speech statements. , to incitement to violence against Jews and the spread of fake news.
Source: DN
