The White Phosphorus Files - Week 2 Part 1
White Phosphorus · Part 3 of 4 · 1 of 2
Tuesday was Gaza. Thursday is Lebanon. Same weapon. Same week. Named towns. Named witnesses. Verified.
The October 10 border attack. Dhayra. Ayta ash Shab. Yohmor. US-supplied munitions. 175 documented attacks. 17 municipalities verified. The same denial. The same evidence.
Human Rights Watch. October 12 2023. One day before Gaza.
02 / 08
October 10 2023. South Lebanon border. Airburst white phosphorus over two rural locations. Verified.
Human Rights Watch verified videos taken in Lebanon on October 10 2023 showing multiple airbursts of artillery-fired white phosphorus over two rural locations along the Israel-Lebanon border.
This was one day before the verified Gaza City port attack.
Two fronts.
Same weapon.
Same week.
On October 12, the IDF spokesman denied the use of white phosphorus in south Lebanon and in Gaza during a CNN interview.
Source: Human Rights Watch October 12 2023, Lebanon and Gaza Q&A · IDF spokesman denial, CNN interview October 12 2023
Amnesty International. October 30 2023. US-supplied munitions confirmed.
03 / 08
October 16 2023. Dhayra. Lebanon. An indiscriminate attack. 9 civilians injured. US-supplied munitions. Confirmed.
On October 30 2023, Amnesty International documented that an October 16 attack on the Lebanese border village of Dhayra using white phosphorus munitions was "an indiscriminate attack that injured at least nine civilians and damaged civilian objects."
The Washington Post carried out its own investigation and confirmed the munitions were US-supplied.
The US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby stated on December 13 2023 that the US was "looking into" reports of Israeli use of US-made white phosphorus shells in Lebanon and "asking more questions of our Israeli counterparts."
No further US statement was issued.
Source: Amnesty International October 30 2023, Dhayra attack · The Washington Post, US-supplied munitions investigation · National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby, CNN December 13 2023
October 2023 to July 2024. Scale documented.
04 / 08
175 attacks on south Lebanon. 17 municipalities verified. 600+ hectares burned. 92,600 displaced.
The Lebanese National Council for Scientific Research documented 175 Israeli attacks using white phosphorus from October 2023 to July 2024.
Those attacks sparked fires across more than 600 hectares of farmland.
Human Rights Watch verified use in at least 17 municipalities across south Lebanon.
Human Rights Watch identified five locations where airburst munitions were unlawfully used over populated residential areas.
The named municipalities include Kfar Kila, Meiss el-Jabal, Boustane, Markaba and Aita al-Shaab.
The International Organization for Migration documented 92,600 people displaced.
Green Southerners verified 195 cases from October 2023 to October 2024.
Source: Lebanese National Council for Scientific Research, July 2024 · Human Rights Watch June 5 2024, 17 municipalities · IOM displacement figures June 2024 · Green Southerners, Al Jazeera December 2025, 195 verified cases
Al Jazeera. December 2025. Ayta ash Shab. The Monk Forest.
05 / 08
Ayta ash Shab. Artillery. White phosphorus. Then airstrikes. Then bulldozers after the ceasefire to clear what was left.
The destruction of Ayta ash Shab came in waves documented by Al Jazeera in December 2025.
First artillery fire and white phosphorus shells set the canopy alight and left the undergrowth smouldering.
Airstrikes followed, flattening woodland and scorching orchards.
After the November 27 2024 ceasefire, Israeli troops crossed the frontier with bulldozers.
Trees not consumed by fire and bombs were cleared from their roots.
The Monk Forest, Harj al-Raheb, 16 hectares of woodland on the southern edge of the village and one of the last natural refuges in the border zone, was destroyed.
Green Southerners documented residues of white phosphorus and heavy metals contaminating the soil with long-term risks to agriculture and human health.
Source: Al Jazeera, "Scorching the Monk Forest: Israel's ecocide in southern Lebanon," December 23 2025 · Green Southerners environmental documentation 2024
Human Rights Watch. March 9 2026. Yohmor. Still ongoing.
06 / 08
March 3 2026. Yohmor. Lebanon. Airburst white phosphorus over residential buildings. After the ceasefire.
On March 9 2026, Human Rights Watch reported that Israeli forces used white phosphorus munitions over the southern Lebanese town of Yohmor on March 3 2026.
Airburst shells exploded above residential buildings and ignited fires.
Human Rights Watch verified eight images showing white phosphorus bursts over populated neighbourhoods and civil defence teams responding to fires.
The Israeli military told residents of Yohmor and 50 other villages to evacuate before the attack.
The Israeli military told Reuters it was unaware of and could not confirm the use of white phosphorus shells.
The ceasefire had been in effect since November 27 2024.
Source: Human Rights Watch March 9 2026, "Lebanon: Israel Unlawfully Using White Phosphorus" · Reuters, IDF statement March 2026 · HRW Lebanon researcher Ramzi Kaiss, on-record statement
We are not making a claim. We are asking a question.
07 / 08
175 documented attacks. 17 municipalities verified. US-supplied munitions. Used over civilians. After a ceasefire. The IDF denied it every time. The evidence confirmed it every time. Who investigates this?
Human Rights Watch called on Lebanon to allow the International Criminal Court to investigate.
The US said it was "looking into it" in December 2023.
No further US statement was issued.
Tomorrow: what has followed.
No prosecution.
No referral.
No Security Council resolution.
The gap between what is documented and what consequences have followed.
175 attacks. 17 municipalities. US-supplied. After a ceasefire.
Tomorrow · Friday · Part 2 of 2 · Final Part
The silence. No hearing. No prosecution. No referral. Who holds the gap open.