Israel fired what appears to be white phosphorus on southern Lebanon despite a US-brokered ceasefire. In the footage, taken on April 28, plumes of white smoke drift through a residential area at the foot of a hill - before a mid-air explosion occurs and a new curtain of white smoke appears. “The second round is an air-burst 155mm M825-series projectile that contains white phosphorus,” Mark Hiznay, associate director in the Crisis, Conflict and Arms Division at Human Rights Watch, confirmed to Novara Media. White phosphorus is a toxic substance that ignites when it comes into contact with oxygen, and is capable of inflicting horrific burn injuries and setting buildings on fire. It has some legal uses but firing it in a populated area or at civilian infrastructure is a violation of international humanitarian law. Israel’s military issued an urgent warning on Tuesday to residents in more than a dozen villages and towns in southern Lebanon, urging them to evacuate northward immediately and signalling an imminent attack. The warning said the action was necessary due to Hezbollah’s reported violation of the ceasefire agreement with Israel. It is not known if any of the homes pictured in the video clip were inhabited at the time the munitions were dropped, or if they had been evacuated. Last month Human Rights Watch said Israel unlawfully fired artillery containing white phosphorus over homes in the the southern Lebanese town of Yohmor on 3 March. “The Israeli military’s unlawful use of white phosphorus over residential areas is extremely alarming and will have dire consequences for civilians,” Ramzi Kaiss, Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch, said. “The incendiary effects of white phosphorous can cause death or cruel injuries that result in lifelong suffering.”

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