Soldiers and volunteers are battling a massive fire sparked by Israeli bombing overnight in a border village in southern Lebanon, local authorities said. The mayor of the city of Naqoura accused Israel of causing the fire by “phosphorus bombs” it dropped.
“The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), the Lebanese Army and Civil Defense with the help of volunteers are still trying to extinguish the fire that started in the forest area between the villages of Alma al-Shaab and Naqura.”
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#lebanon– #Fire broke out in Alma al-Sha'ab on the border with #Israel, after the Israeli army shelled the area.#wildfires #forestfire #bushfire pic.twitter.com/X1WCR4WqkK— Genesis Watchman Report (@ReportWatchman) October 26, 2023
The fire broke out on the border with Israel after the Israeli army shelled the area.
A French news agency photojournalist saw several houses engulfed in flames, followed by the burning of olive groves in the area. The Israeli military said that in the last 24 hours “neutralized five Hezbollah terrorist cells that tried to open fire” on Israel, and on Wednesday evening announced strikes against targets in southern Lebanon in retaliation for the launch of a surface-to-air missile.
According to the mayor, almost 70% of Alma al-Shaab’s residents have fled the village since the border clashes began.
https://twitter.com/NationalIndNews/status/1717534213816082529
A fire broke out in southern Lebanon as a result of Israeli bombing.
This is not the first time that the Israeli army has used unconventional (prohibited by the UN) weapons. On October 13, Amnesty International published a material in which indicated on Israel’s use of white phosphorus ammunition.
White phosphorus is an incendiary substance primarily used to create a dense smoke screen or to mark targets. When exposed to air, white phosphorus burns at an extremely high temperature and can continue to burn within the tissues of the human body. It causes terrible pain and life-altering injuries and cannot be extinguished with water.
Sderot, Israel – October 9. Photo: Mustafa Haruf/Anadolu Agency, via Getty Images)
On October 9, the Israeli Defense Forces deployed 155 mm M109 howitzers near the city of Sderot, which had previously been attacked by Hamas; the city is located approximately one kilometer from the border fence separating Israel from the Gaza Strip.
Several of these verified photographs show M825 and M825A1 artillery shells, which are also marked D528, which corresponds to the US Department of Defense identification code for white phosphorus-based ammunition.
Simon Tsipis, a fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University, in conversation with RTVI called this message “a provocation or a fake.”
According to Israeli political scientist Simon Tsipis, the Israeli army did not use phosphorus shells during the current conflict due to the lack of “tactical necessity.”
In 2013, Israel said it would no longer use white phosphorus in populated areas except in “extreme cases.”
International law prohibits the use of white phosphorus when civilians are present in the area. However, the history of Israel shows that in the event of a crisis, the security forces of this country usually ignore international laws and regulations, citing “higher necessity.”
Such actions led to high-profile scandals, but usually did not create any special problems for Israel, thanks to US patronage.
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