Israel uses white phosphorus alternative munition in Lebanon

Israel used a white phosphorus alternative smoke round in south Lebanon on 4 and 6 January, according to video footage analysed by The New Arab and confirmed by the Arms Division of Amnesty International.

Video footage shows Israeli forces firing 155 millimetre M150 smoke rounds on two different occasions in the southern Lebanese city of Khiam.

It is unclear why Israel used the smoke round, but the move followed months of outcry from rights groups concerning the legal and environmental concerns stemming from the use of white phosphorus. 

In one video, 5 canisters can be seen exiting an artillery shell mid-air, which is consistent with the 5-canister M150, rather than the slow-falling strings of white smoke that result from white phosphorus airbursts.

Israeli bomb civilian areas in Khiam in southern Lebanon pic.twitter.com/VLmKtv2F7O

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The smoke rounds appear to be fired in the streets of Khiam rather than on the outskirts of the town as Israel most often does in south Lebanon with white phosphorus rounds.

The M150 artillery shell is a munition developed by the Israeli military to replace white phosphorus-based bombs.

"The M150s contain Hexa-Chloroethane smoke, not WP, and as such, don't have the same potential legal issues. Civilians should still never be targeted, of course, but the use of HC in populated areas is much less problematic," Brian Castner, Amnesty International's senior crisis advisor for arms and military affairs, told TNA.

The munition, while still producing toxic smoke, does not fire in the same indiscriminate manner as white phosphorus shells and poses a lower risk to civilians.

It has on at least one occasion used white phosphorus since, with the Lebanese National News Agency reporting it hit Naqoura in southern Lebanon with white phosphorus rounds on 9 January.

While white phosphorus munitions serve a legitimate purpose if used to create a smokescreen in a military context, their use in civilian areas could be prohibited under international law. White phosphorus sticks to the skin and can cause fatal burns, as well as produces a toxic smoke.

Human rights groups have criticised Israel in the past for using white phosphorus on civilian targets in Gaza and south Lebanon.

Amnesty International said that a 16 October attack on the Lebanese border town of Dheira should be investigated as a war crime due to Israel's use of white phosphorus on civilian areas.

Israel has used white phosphorus in south Lebanon more than 70 times since cross-border fighting between Hezbollah and Israel started on 8 October, burning more than 5 million square meters of forest and farmland.

Israel pledged to stop using white-phosphorus rounds in 2013 and instead transition to the M150 smoke rounds – a pledge that human rights groups say has gone unfulfilled until now.

"Any time that white phosphorus is used in crowded civilian areas, it poses a high risk of excruciating burns and lifelong suffering," said Lama Fakih, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch.