Financial Times: Israel has used white phosphorus in the attack on UNIFIL

According to Isna, according to a confidential report that mentions several cases of attacks by the Zionist regime army on international troops in Lebanon, the occupying army forcibly entered one of the United Nations bases and is suspected of using white phosphorus in this attack, which 15 Injured one of the UN peacekeepers in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

The Financial Times newspaper published this article and wrote: In this report, which was prepared by one of the member countries of these forces and seen by the Financial Times, it shows how the Israeli forces targeted UNIFIL. They damaged several installations and injured soldiers stationed in border military bases in southern Lebanon.

While UNIFIL has considered these incidents as “clear violations of international law”, the Zionist regime has denied the accusations against it of deliberately targeting UNIFIL. The Israeli army has not responded to the request for an explanation.

Claiming that Hezbollah fighters are using UN forces as human shields and that Hezbollah is operating near several UNIFIL bases on the borders of Lebanon and the occupied territories, this regime asked the UN to evacuate its peacekeepers from southern Lebanon for their own safety. UNIFEL and the 50 countries that supply its military are alive from this work.

It is further stated in this article: These attacks brought international condemnations. But Israel has dealt with it. UNIFIL announced last Sunday that an Israeli army bulldozer deliberately destroyed an observation tower and the outer fence of one of the UN positions in Marwahin.

UNIFIL has also publicly released much of what was mentioned in the confidential report, but this report has more details and images showing the extent of damage to military shelters, exterior walls and watchtowers at several bases. .

While most of these incidents occurred in the first few days of the beginning of the Israeli ground operations in southern Lebanon near the UN positions, this report points out that the Israeli forces started firing directly at the UNIFIL bases after October 8.

In one of these attacks on October 10, two UN peacekeepers were injured after a Merkava tank of the Zionist regime fired directly at an observation tower of UNIFIL headquarters in Naqourah.

One of the images of the attack in the aforementioned secret pass shows a large hole in the watch tower that Richard Weir, a senior war and weapons researcher at Human Rights Watch, said was caused by direct fire.

In another attack on October 10, the Israeli army attacked a UN shelter in Lebanon where Italian peacekeepers were sheltering.

This newspaper wrote: In this report, it is stated that the bombardment of the entrance of this shelter was carried out a day before, after the Israeli army’s drone reconnaissance operation and the destruction of the cameras in this place. Images from this report show a large mound of debris falling into a pit in the corner of a building.

The Financial Times wrote: In the early hours of October 13, UNIFIL announced that two Merkava tanks of the Israeli army had destroyed and entered one of its bases. These tanks left the place after 45 minutes after UNIFIL protested. But after an hour, several shots were fired at a distance of about 100 meters north of the base, which brought “smoke suspected of white phosphorus” and covered the base. According to this report, 12 peacekeepers were injured during this attack.

The pictures of this report show the filling of white smoke from the entry of tanks through the doors of the base and into it, damaging the walls of the base, while white smoke is also everywhere.

The Israeli army has confirmed that one of its tanks has retreated “several meters” into the UNIFIL base. But it is claimed that this tank was trying to evacuate wounded soldiers under the fire of attacks. According to its claim, the white smoke was also a smoke screen that was produced for camouflage.

A UNIFIL source said that even if there had been fighting in the area, these tanks “would be able to withstand attacks better than our bases.” So, if they were sheltering, it wasn’t a matter of finding a physical shelter.”

In the final part of this article, this newspaper has mentioned: Human rights groups have collected documents about the use of white phosphorus by the Zionist regime in Lebanon last year. The use of the chemical in populated areas is prohibited under international law, but according to Weir, it is often used as a military tool to obscure visibility or draw out enemy forces.

Earlier, the Zionist regime defended its use of white phosphorus and claimed that it was according to international laws.

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