In an investigative report published Friday, The NYT said verified videos and photographs showed white phosphorus munitions being used over the southern city of Nabatieh and near the coastal city of Tyre, as well as the towns of Qlayaa, Khiam, and Yohmor, after Israel ramped up the frequency and volatility of its war on Lebanon once more on 2 March. 

Such attacks renewed concerns among rights groups and legal experts about potential violations of international humanitarian law.

The newspaper reported that, "Distinctive smoke trails from this type of munition were seen as recently as May 30 in Nabatieh, a city of roughly 40,000, in social media footage."

Munitions experts consulted by the newspaper concluded that "the imagery showed artillery projectiles bursting midair in Lebanon, releasing streams of burning white phosphorous below — consistent with previous Israeli uses of American M825A1 shells." These munitions disperse burning white phosphorus wedges over a wide area.

White phosphorus ignites on contact with oxygen and is commonly used by militaries to create smoke screens and battlefield concealment. While its possession and use are not prohibited under international law, deploying it in populated civilian areas can violate the laws of war because of its indiscriminate effects and the severe injuries it can inflict.

The findings add to a growing body of documentation by Lebanese and Palestinians, as well as international rights organizations, who have accused Israel of using white phosphorus in populated civilian areas in Lebanon and Gaza.

Earlier this year, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said it had verified the use of artillery-delivered white phosphorus over a residential neighbourhood in the southern Lebanese town of Yohmor on 3 March 2026. According to HRW, the attack ignited fires in at least two homes and a vehicle and occurred hours after Israeli forces issued evacuation warnings to residents.

The group has previously documented the use of white phosphorus in at least 17 municipalities across southern Lebanon during the 2023-2024 conflict, including five populated residential areas where it said the weapon was used unlawfully.

Amnesty International has, likewise, reported evidence of white phosphorus attacks in southern Lebanon. Amnesty concluded that an October 2023 strike on the border village of Dhayra, which injured at least nine civilians, constituted an indiscriminate attack that should be investigated as a war crime. It has also documented additional incidents in populated areas of southern Lebanon and Gaza.

The NYT investigation noted that environmental experts have warned of long-term contamination risks for farmland, water sources, and ecosystems in areas exposed to repeated phosphorus bombardment.

The issue has also drawn concern from the UN. A confidential report cited by the Financial Times in 2024 documented multiple incidents involving the use of suspected white phosphorus near positions of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), including an October 2024 incident in which 15 peacekeepers were reportedly injured after smoke from suspected white phosphorus drifted into a UN base.

The Israeli occupation forces have killed over 3,5000 Lebanese, wounded more than 10,000, and displaced more than 1.3 million people across Lebanon since 2 March, per the Lebanese health ministry. Recent Israeli operations have expanded across large parts of southern Lebanon, with Israel maintaining military control over significant territory south of the Litani River. 

Israel’s brutal attacks in Lebanon have continued despite a ceasefire framework brokered by Washington between Israel and Lebanon since mid-April..

Earlier on Saturday, an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon killed two Lebanese army personnel, the Lebanese military stated, while the Israeli army warned the population of several towns in southern Lebanon and the western Bekaa to evacuate north of the Zahrani River.

A security source told Al Jazeera that two Lebanese army officers—one of them a brigadier general—and a soldier were killed when an Israeli strike targeted their vehicle on the Khardali road in southern Lebanon. An additional five people, including a paramedic, were killed, and another person was wounded in an Israeli strike on the southern town of Zebdine, Lebanon’s Civil Defence stated.

Al Jazeera also reported Israeli air strikes on the southern towns of Tayr Debba and Shaabiyeh in the Tyre district, Marwaniyeh near Sidon, and Mifdoun in the Nabatieh district.

The NYT report also comes as the Israeli genocidal war on Gaza nears compleyting its third year.

Since the outbreak of the war in Gaza in October 2023, the Israeli occupation forces have killed at least 72,956 Palestinians in the strip, and wounded over 173,000, most of them women and children. 

After October 2025, the Israeli occupation forces have killed more than 1,000 and wounded hundreds others in violation of the ceasefire between Tel Aviv and Hamas, brokered by Cairo, Doha, Ankara, and Washington.

The debate over white phosphorus remains legally complex because the munition is not explicitly banned under international law when used for illumination or smoke-screen purposes. However, legal experts note that its use in populated civilian areas may violate principles of distinction and proportionality under international humanitarian law due to its wide-area effects and inability to discriminate between military and civilian targets.

"Their destructive effects — such as causing fires or severe burns — are seen as a side effect of their use, rather than the main reason a military would use these weapons," Bonnie Docherty, a senior arms adviser at Human Rights Watch, told the NYT.

The humanitarian consequences of white phosphorus use have been highlighted by medical organizations and weapons experts. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the substance can cause severe burns, respiratory injuries, and eye damage. Rights groups say exposure can result in deep tissue burns that penetrate to the bone, while remnants of the substance can reignite when exposed to air.

White phosphorus can also ignite buildings, vehicles, agricultural land, and forests. Lebanese authorities have previously told the United Nations (UN) that hundreds of fires in southern Lebanon were linked to white phosphorus strikes.