Israel bombards south Lebanon with internationally banned white phosphorus

Clashes have intensified at the Lebanese border between the Israeli army and Hezbollah forces

News Desk OCT 17, 2023

https://new.thecradle.co/articles/israel-bombards-south-lebanon-with-internationally-banned-white-phosphorus

Israel continued to target Lebanese border villages on 17 October, firing dozens of internationally banned white phosphorus shells on the town of Al-Dhahira and artillery shells along the border.

Over a dozen shells struck the southern Lebanese town of Kfar Kila on 16 October, video footage shared on social media by Al-Jadeed showed. 

“No casualties have been recorded so far as a result of the Israeli bombing on the southern regions,” the Al-Jadeed correspondent said. 

Since the start of the clashes on Lebanon’s border earlier this month, Israel has illegally targeted southern Lebanese towns and villages with white phosphorus bombs numerous times. The illegal chemical has also been used in the ongoing bombardment of Gaza.

The highly toxic chemical agent is known to burn when it encounters oxygen and has had devastating effects on civilians in previous Israeli bombing campaigns against Lebanon and Gaza. 

An anti-tank missile from Lebanon targeted the Israeli settlement of Metulla on the border earlier on Tuesday. 

According to the Israeli army, four militants tried to infiltrate the border from Lebanon into Israel on Tuesday before being killed. Palestinian militants based in south Lebanon have attempted to infiltrate Israeli border settlements in the past few days. 

Crossfire between Hezbollah and Israeli troops on Lebanon’s southern border escalated drastically since the start of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood and the subsequent launch of Israel’s brutal air campaign against the Gaza Strip. 

Since over one week ago, the resistance group has attacked numerous Israeli outposts and positions, including in the occupied Shebaa Farms and elsewhere on the border, with casualties reported among the Israeli army’s ranks.

Tel Aviv has responded with intense artillery shelling and bombardment. On Friday, 13 October, Lebanese photojournalist Issam Abdullah was killed in an Israeli attack. 

Hezbollah’s media page released footage on 16 October of its targeting of an Israeli tank at the Al-Jardah military site. The Al-Jardah site’s surveillance system had been attacked by Hezbollah fighters earlier. 

On Monday morning, Israel announced plans to evacuate 28 northern border settlements in anticipation of a potential escalation with Hezbollah. 

The tense border situation has raised concerns that Hezbollah may fully enter the war between the Gaza resistance and Israel. Observers believe that a ground invasion into the Gaza Strip and an Israeli attempt to dismantle the resistance completely may instigate the full involvement of the Lebanese resistance and the rest of the Resistance Axis. 

“We have no interest in a war in the north; we don’t want to escalate the situation,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Sunday. “If Hezbollah chooses the path of war, it will pay a very heavy price… But if it restrains itself, we’ll respect the situation and keep things the way they are despite shooting from both sides,” he added. 

Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian recently warned that Tehran will be forced to intervene if nothing is done to stop Israel’s relentless targeting of civilians in Gaza. 

“The possibility of preemptive action by the resistance axis is expected in the coming hours … If we don't defend Gaza today, tomorrow we will have to deal with the phosphorus bombs of the regime in our own hospitals,” Amir-Abdollahian told Iranian media on 16 October.