When the M825-series 155mm artillery projectile bursts, expelling its felt wedges containing white phosphorus, it leaves a distinctive knuckle-shaped plume. That is how Human Rights Watch (HRW) researchers said they were able to verify that Israel was again using the notorious weapon over south Lebanon, reigniting accusations that it is breaking the laws of war.
The New York-based rights group said it had verified and geolocated eight images showing airburst white phosphorus munitions exploding over residential areas in the southern Lebanese town of Yohmor in the opening days of Israel’s assault during the war on Gaza.
Since then, more videos have emerged purporting to show white phosphorus munitions exploding over south Lebanon, and researchers say that with 800,000 Lebanese people displaced from the region after Israeli forces ordered them to leave, many more uses may have gone undocumented.
In the last week, Israeli soldiers have been facing fierce resistance from Hezbollah fighters in south Lebanon, despite an intense bombing campaign. In recent days, Israeli forces have bombed roads, petrol stations, bridges and medical centres in an effort to cut south Lebanon off from the rest of the country.
White phosphorus is a chemical substance dispersed in artillery shells, bombs and rockets that ignites when exposed to oxygen, burning at up to 800C and emitting large quantities of smoke.
Military forces use it as a smokescreen to mask troop movements, mark targets or illuminate terrain at night, and military lawyers argue such uses are entirely legitimate. But its use over civilian areas is controversial – and some claim illegal – because it ignites fires, causes serious burns and emits toxic fumes.
Ahmad Beydoun, an architect and PhD researcher at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, documented and mapped nearly 250 uses of white phosphorus by Israeli forces between October 2023 and November 2024, the last time they launched a full-scale attack on southern Lebanon.
Beydoun, who said his count was a conservative estimate, found that 39% of uses were in residential areas, 17% in agricultural lands and 44% in forested or open terrain. “I think the Israeli army’s thinking is that they use it to burn down fields for visibility, so that people or Hezbollah militants don’t hide under the trees,” he said.
According to a report by the Lebanese non-profit Public Works Studio, white phosphorus was used to burn more than 2,000 hectares (4,940 acres) of southern Lebanese countryside, “including 873 hectares of dense forest with gum trees and vast areas covered with oak and pine trees”.
White phosphorus can also lie hidden in the soil and spontaneously combust when uncovered by farmers, posing a continuing threat if the people of south Lebanon are able to return to their homes.
And the effects can also be systemic, the report warned, as repeated white phosphorus strikes saturate the soil with phosphoric acid along with toxic heavy metals such as cadmium, lead and zinc. Together, the report said, this accumulation “can reduce microbial diversity, deplete soil fertility [and] decrease agricultural productivity”.
A spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces said it could not comment on HRW’s claim that it used white phosphorus illegally over Yohmor. “There may be visual similarities between smoke shells containing white phosphorus and smoke shells that do not, and caution is advised before making factual determinations regarding use of smoke shells with white phosphorus in individual cases based on visuals alone,” the spokesperson said.
Last week Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, reportedly avoided responding directly to HRW’s allegations. “We do everything we can to minimise civilian casualties,” he said at a media briefing at the UN headquarters in New York, according to Anadolu Agency. “That’s why we actually asked the people from southern Lebanon, south of the Litani, to move to the north, to avoid civilian casualties.”
Beydoun said his findings suggested Israel’s military may be using white phosphorus “as a way to maybe start pushing people out” to create a “buffer zone” on the Lebanese side of the border.
“It’s just a practical tool to use to burn fields, I think it’s mostly that,” he said. “It’s mostly for scorching the earth.”
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