White House Concerned by Israel’s Reported Use of White Phosphorus Shells in Lebanon

The Biden White House acknowledged reports that Israeli forces may have misused U.S.-supplied white phosphorus against Lebanon in at least one cross-border skirmish in October and indicated the U.S. would look into the incident. White phosphorus is a component sometimes used in smoke, illumination, and incendiary munitions. While its use as a smoke-producing agent is not necessarily problematic, the use of white phosphorus as an incendiary weapon could run afoul of Article 1 of Protocol III of the 1980 United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons. White phosphorus ignites when exposed to air at around 86° Fahrenheit and burns at a high temperature....