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The Lebanese Ministry of Environment found elevated levels of phosphorus and heavy metals in soils impacted by Israeli munitions, including white phosphorus.
The US Department of Defense (DoD) is not conducting a formal review of the Amnesty International report about Israel’s use of white phosphorous munitions in the conflict in Gaza, Pentagon spokesperson Pat Ryder said on Wednesday.
US official said on Monday. John Kirby, the US National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications, told reporters that the US was aware of the reports and would seek more information from Israel.
Israel used white phosphorous munitions in an attack in southern Lebanon in October, according to reports from The Washington Post — the munitions were supplied by the U.S. What is white phosphorous munitions and why is Amnesty International calling for its use to be investigated as a war crime? What is white phosphorous munitions? The rounds “eject felt wedges saturated with white phosphorous that burns at high temperatures,” and it creates “billowing smoke to obscure troop movements as it falls haphazardly over a wide area,” per the Post.
‘Certainly concerned about that,’ White House spokesman John Kirby said on Monday. It was reported that Israel used US-supplied white phosphorus munitions in an October attack in southern Lebanon.
The cash-strapped Lebanese state has unable to buy its firefighters the proper supplies to fight the increasing number of blazes occurring as a result of the Hezbollah-Israel border clashes.
"No one is left in the village; everyone fled to a different place. We were stuck in our homes, covering our faces with wet blankets to breathe through the smoke from the phosphorus bombs," Ali Sweid, a town resident, told The New Arab.
Israel's war crimes in Gaza have involved the use of the illegal chemical weapon white phosphorus, which causes horrific deformities and death. However, this isn't the first time it has been used, as the Iraqi city of Fallujah knows all too well.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused Israel of using white phosphorus during its military operations as Israeli forces bomb the coastal strip of Gaza and trade fire with Lebanese troops. Researchers from the nongovernmental organization said in a Thursday post they verified the use of white phosphorous, a toxic chemical, in Lebanon and Gaza on…