Did Israel use deadly white phosphorus to attack Lebanon village?

White phosphorus is a chemical that reportedly has the power to set buildings on fire and burn human flesh to the bone.

Human Rights Watch, a human rights group, has claimed that Israel "unlawfully" used white phosphorus to attack a village in Lebanon as the war escalated.

The group in a report on Monday said that Israeli military struck residential areas at Yohmor in southern Lebanon with shells that contained white phosphorus, a chemical that reportedly has the power to set buildings on fire, burn human flesh to the bone, and can cause infections, organ or respiratory failure even if the burns are minor.

"The Israeli military unlawfully used artillery-fired white phosphorus munitions over homes on March 3, 2026, in the southern Lebanese town of Yohmor," the New York-based rights group said in the report.

"The Israeli military's unlawful use of white phosphorus over residential areas is extremely alarming and will have dire consequences for civilians," Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch, Ramzi Kaiss said in the report.

"We verified and geolocated seven 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 attack was reportedly carried out after Israel had warned residents of the village to evacuate the area.

Meanwhile, two Israeli soldiers were killed in Lebanon on Sunday. These were the first fatalities among its troops since hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah restarted recently.

Also, Lebanon's health minister on Monday said that 83 children among almost 400 killed in a week of conflict between Hezbollah and Israel.

Clashes have continued along the Israel-Lebanon ⁠frontier amid ⁠heightened tensions between Israel and Hezbollah following the U.S.-Israeli military campaign on Iran.

(With agency inputs)