Israel accused of using white phosphorus in Lebanon as potential for all-out war ratchets up
The potential for all-out war between Israel and Lebanon seems to have dramatically moved up a notch – or more – over the past few days.
And the Israeli prime minister has done nothing to dissuade that notion – telling his troops on the northern border with Lebanon on Wednesday that they are prepared for “very strong action” inside Lebanon.
“Yesterday the land was burning here,” Benjamin Netanyahu said in Kiryat Shmona to his audience of soldiers and emergency workers.
“I’m glad you put it out, but the ground was also on fire in Lebanon. Whoever thinks that he will hurt us and we will sit idly by is making a big mistake. We are prepared for a very strong action in the north. One way or another we will restore security to the north.”
Benjamin Netanyahu visits Kiryat Shmona after fires in the area
His words follow days of escalation in the cross-border attacks between the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) and Hezbollah fighters.
There have been large fires in several areas in northern Israel after rockets fired by Hezbollah – and claims of white phosphorus being used by the Israelis on Lebanese towns in the same period.
And both the Israeli and Arab media have been awash with worries and dire warnings about the possibility of all-out war on the Lebanese front.
There are multiple reports of serious diplomatic warnings from several Western envoys about an imminent Israeli attack on Lebanon. “Prepare for war,” one is thought to have told the Lebanese authorities.
The Israeli prime minister is not the only one to be engaging in increasingly tough rhetoric.
A man uses a hose to put out fires near Kiryat Shmona after rocket attacks from Lebanon. Pic: Reuters
His war cabinet met on Tuesday night amid a video message from his security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir who called for war, saying: “Now the IDF’s job is to destroy Hezbollah.”
He added: “They’re burning us here. All Hezbollah strongholds should be burned, they should be destroyed. War!”
The Times of Israel also reported the IDF chief of staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi as saying that Israel is close to making a decision about how to deal with Hezbollah’s daily attacks on the northern border and insisted his soldiers were trained and prepared for an operation across the border.
The spike in cross-border tension comes as the global human rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) released the findings of an investigation saying Israel’s widespread use of white phosphorus in southern Lebanon was “putting civilians at grave risk and contributing to civilian displacement”.
The HRW report verified the use of white phosphorus munitions by Israeli forces in at least 17 municipalities across south Lebanon after focussing on the weeks and months immediately after the Hamas attack inside Israel on 7 October.
It included five municipalities where airburst munitions were unlawfully used over populated residential areas, HRW says.
Israel has been accused of using white phosphorus against Lebanon
The HRW investigation states: “Under international humanitarian law, the use of airburst white phosphorus is unlawfully indiscriminate in populated areas and otherwise does not meet the legal requirement to take all feasible precautions to avoid civilian harm.”
In an interview from Beirut, HRW researcher Ramzi Kaiss told Sky News that Israel should immediately stop its use of white phosphorus in populated residential areas and warned its allies: “This documentation should raise the alarm with states that are providing arms to Israel because there is a real risk they are being used in violation of international law – either in Gaza or Lebanon.”
Our team’s own inquiries carried out over several trips to Lebanon and spread over several months back up HRW’s investigations.
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We visited a number of border towns and communities in south Lebanon, travelled along the border with UN peacekeepers and visited camps of displaced families and farmers who had fled their homes on the border.
Several people spoke to us about the use of what they believed to be white phosphorus.
One displaced farmer called Mustafa Hijazi told us: “When the phosphorus is fired it drops something like powder, it sprays something which looked yellow and it has a bad smell… all our land in the south is affected by it. In the beginning of the war they [Israelis] dropped a lot of this phosphorus.”
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Displaced farmer Mustafa Hijazi
On another visit to southern border towns, we found residents who did not want to be identified in Kefar Kela who showed us pictures from an attack the night before we arrived.
The images captured on their mobile phones looked very much like white phosphorus being fired from Israel.
One resident told us the villagers believed the Israelis were using it to force the communities to leave the area as well as destroy their farming land.
Suspected white phosphorus
“They’re trying to suffocate us, start fires, and burn all our land,” he said. “Why do they want to hit us? Why do they want to hit a civilian area? Are they even allowed to hit civilian areas?”
On an escorted trip with UN peacekeepers, we witnessed large swathes of burned land ourselves – trees burned through right to the canopy but we were unable to verify on an accompanied trip through volatile areas just who or what had started the fires.
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When we contacted the IDF about our findings and those of Human Rights Watch, a spokesperson vehemently denied the illegal use of white phosphorus.
The statement sent to us said: “The primary smoke-screen shells used by the IDF do not contain white phosphorus. Like many Western militaries, the IDF also possess smoke-screen shells that include white phosphorus that are legal under international law.
“These shells are used by the IDF for creating smoke screens and not for targeting or causing fires and are not defined under law as incendiary weapons.
“IDF procedures require that such shells are not used in densely populated areas, subject to certain exceptions. This complies and goes beyond the requirements of international law.”
Alex was reporting with cameraman Jake Britton, specialist producer Chris Cunningham and Lebanon producer Jihad Junaid
World
Donald Trump ambushes South African president at White House meeting by playing video alleging ‘genocide’
Donald Trump has ambushed South Africa’s president during a White House meeting by playing a video purportedly showing evidence of a “genocide” of white farmers in the African country.
The US president, who was hosting leader Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office, said the footage showed the graves of more than a thousand white farmers and “it’s a terrible sight… I’ve never seen anything like it. Those people are all killed”.
After an initial friendly chat where Mr Trump complimented South African golfers in the room, a montage of clips was played as Mr Ramaphosa sat quietly and mostly expressionless. He later said: “I’d like to know where that is because this [the alleged burial site in the video] I’ve never seen”.
Donald Trump meets Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office. Pic: AP
The lights were dimmed in the Oval Office as the videos were shown, including of South African officials allegedly calling for violence against white farmers.
The scene in the heart of the White House administration was reminiscent of Mr Trump’s ambush of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in February.
But later, as he left after around three hours at the White House, Mr Ramaphosa insisted his meeting with Mr Trump went “very well”.
The White House’s official account on X posted the footage that was shown in the Oval Office, saying it was “proof of persecution in South Africa”.
South Africa has rejected the allegation that white people are disproportionately targeted by crime.
The clips included one of a communist politician playing a controversial anti-apartheid song that includes lyrics about killing a farmer.
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Mr Trump accused South Africa of failing to address the killing of white farmers.
“We have many people that feel they’re being persecuted, and they’re coming to the United States. So we take from many… locations, if we feel there’s persecution or genocide going on,” the US president said, referring specifically to white farmers.
He added: “People are fleeing South Africa for their own safety. Their land is being confiscated and in many cases they’re being killed.”
Alluding to people in the videos, Mr Trump said: “These are people that are officials and they’re saying… kill the white farmer and take their land.”
The US president then displayed printed copies of news articles that he said showed white South Africans who had been killed, saying “death, death” as he flipped through them.
He added of one article: “Here’s burial sites all over the place, these are all white farmers that are being buried.”
Mr Trump and Mr Ramaphosa look towards a screen where videos were played. Pic: Reuters
South African leader rejects allegations
Mr Ramaphosa pushed back against Mr Trump’s accusations, by responding: “What you saw, the speeches that were being made, that is not government policy. We have a multi-party democracy in South Africa that allows people to express themselves, political parties to adhere to various policies.
“And in many cases, or in some cases, those policies do not go along with government policy.
“Our government policy is completely, completely against what he [a person in the video montage] was saying, even in the parliament. And they are a small minority party which is allowed to exist in terms of our constitution.”
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Mr Ramaphosa also said of the behaviour alleged by Mr Trump: “We are completely opposed to that.”
The South African leader said there was crime in his country, and the majority of victims were black. Mr Trump cut him off and said: “The farmers are not black.” The South African president responded: “These are concerns we are willing to talk to you about.”
A video was played during the White House meeting. Pic: AP
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Mr Trump has cancelled aid, expelled South Africa’s ambassador and offered refuge to white minority Afrikaners based on racial discrimination claims which Pretoria says are baseless.
Experts in South Africa have said there is no evidence of white people being targeted, although farmers of all races are victims of violent home invasions in a country that suffers from a very high crime rate.
Vladimir Putin has visited Kursk for the first time since his troops ejected Ukrainian forces from the Russian city.
The Russian president met with volunteer organisations and visited a nuclear power plant in the region on Tuesday, the Kremlin said.
Mr Putin said late last month that his forces had ejected Ukrainian troops from the Kursk region, which ended the largest incursion into Russian territory since the Second World War.
Vladimir Putin during his visit in the Kursk region on Tuesday. Pic: Kremlin News/Telegram
Mr Putin visited a nuclear power plant. Pic: Kremlin.ru/Reuters
Ukraine launched its attack in August last year, using swarms of drones and heavy Western weaponry to smash through the Russian border, controlling nearly 540sq m (5,813sq ft) of Kursk at the height of the incursion.
More than 159 Ukrainian drones were shot down over Russian territory, Russia’s defence ministry said on Wednesday.
The majority were over Russia’s western regions, but at least six drones were shot down over the densely populated Moscow region, the ministry added.
The visit in the Kursk region comes as a Russian missile attack killed six soldiers and injured 10 more during training in the Sumy region of Ukraine, according to the country’s national guard.
The commander of the unit has been suspended and an internal investigation has been launched.
The Russian president met with volunteer organisations. Pic: Kremlin News/Telegram
Russia’s defence ministry claimed the attack on the training camp in northeastern Ukraine killed up to 70 Ukrainian servicemen, including 20 instructors.
The attack comes after US President Donald Trump spoke to both Mr Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, urging them to restart ceasefire talks.
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But German defence minister Boris Pistorius said on Wednesday that Mr Trump misjudged his influence on Mr Putin after the call between the American and Russian leaders yielded no progress in Ukraine peace talks.
Europe has since announced new sanctions on Russia over the war in Ukraine. Mr Pistorius said it remained to be seen whether the US would join those measures.
Three people have died after severe thunderstorms caused flooding in the Var region of southeastern France, according to reports.
The rain has also caused widespread damage as Meteo-France, the country’s national weather agency, placed the region under an orange alert for rain, flooding and thunderstorms, French broadcaster BFM TV reported.
Two of those who died were an elderly couple who were in their car as it was swept away by floodwaters in the seaside town of Le Lavandou, France 24 reported.
Meanwhile, the gendarmerie said around 2.30pm local time (1:30pm UK time) that a person had been found drowned in their vehicle in the commune of Vidauban.
Le Lavandou and the commune of Bormes-les-Mimosas were particularly hard hit by the storms.
Gil Bernardi, mayor of Le Lavandou, said during a press conference: “The roads, the bridges, the paving stones, there is no more electricity, water, or wastewater treatment plant. The shock is significant because the phenomenon is truly violent and incomprehensible.
“As we speak, an entire part of the commune is inaccessible.”
Power and water outages were also reported in the town of Cavaliere where 250mm of rain fell in the space of one hour.
A parking lot collapsed in the town, and dozens of people were rescued, according to the authorities.
Around 200 firefighters and 35 gendarmes have reportedly been responding to the floods in Var.
Meteo-France had recorded cumulative rainfall exceeding 10cm as of 10am local time.
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