The Israeli military unlawfully used artillery-fired white phosphorus munitions over homes on March 3, 2026, in the southern Lebanese town of Yohmor, Human Rights Watch said today.

Human Rights Watch verified and geolocated eight images showing airburst white phosphorus munitions being deployed over a residential part of the town and civil defense workers responding to fires in at least two homes and one car in that area.

“The Israeli military’s unlawful use of white phosphorus over residential areas is extremely alarming and will have dire consequences for civilians,” said Ramzi Kaiss, Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The incendiary effectsof white phosphorous can cause death or cruel injuries that result in lifelong suffering.”

White phosphorus is a chemical substance dispersed in artillery shells, bombs, and rockets that ignites when exposed to oxygen. It can set homes, agricultural areas, and other civilian objects on fire. Under international humanitarian law, the use of airburst white phosphorus is unlawfully indiscriminate in populated areas and does not meet the legal requirement to take all feasible precautions to avoid civilian harm.

Human Rights Watch verified and geolocated an image posted on social media the morning of March 3, showing at least two artillery-delivered white phosphorus munitions being airburst over a residential neighborhood in the town of Yohmor in southern Lebanon. Human Rights Watch identified the shape of the smoke cloud caused by the airbursts in the picture as entirely consistent with the “knuckle” made by the expelling and bursting charges of the M825-series 155mm artillery projectile that contains white phosphorous.

Read More: Israel Unlawfully Using White Phosphorus