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Israeli forces used a munition widely banned for its impact on civilians amid their war in Lebanon, new reporting finds as Israel carries out new assaults in Lebanon despite the ceasefire agreement.
Photo evidence of Israeli munitions remnants from three different locations in southern Lebanon suggests that the weapons were cluster munitions, The Guardian reported Wednesday, citing half a dozen arms experts who examined the photos.
These munitions scatter dozens or hundreds of “bomblets” across an area spanning several football fields. For decades, “civilians have paid dearly for [cluster munitions’] unreliability and inaccuracy,” the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has noted, as the weapons are imprecise by definition.
The evidence was found south of the Litani River, in Wadi Zibqin, Wadi Barghouz, and Wadi Deir Siryan, The Guardian found. The publication reports that this is the first evidence of such munitions being used in Lebanon since Israel first used them in its invasion of Lebanon in 2006.
They are especially dangerous as up to 40 percent of submunitions don’t explode on impact, leaving behind unexploded ordnance that could potentially harm civilians later if they come across them.
These munitions can travel far and wide. ICRC has noted that “[t]heir small size, their use of parachutes and ribbons and other features mean that their descent is often affected by weather (wind, air density, etc.) and they may land far from the intended target. “
A 2008 treaty barring the use of the weapons has been signed by 123 states. Lebanon is party to the treaty, but Israel is not, nor is the United States.
Israel’s use of cluster bombs in the 2006 invasion was a major reason for the establishment of the treaty, but Israeli military authorities determined at the time that their use of the weapons was legal.
In recent years, human rights groups have raised alarm over Russian and Ukrainian forces’ extensive use of cluster munitions by both sides in their war, killing and injuring at least dozens of civilians. The U.S.’s widespread use of cluster bombs in its assault of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos represents a major contributor to the legacy of unexploded ordnance left behind by war.
In Lebanon, unexploded bombs from the 2006 invasion were still killing and maiming people years later. Israel dropped four million cluster munitions in the last days of the invasion, and UN officials estimated that up to 1 million of them didn’t explode.
The finding of the munition remnants comes as Israel is escalating its attacks on Lebanon, despite the ceasefire agreement signed nearly a year ago. Israel carried out a wave of air strikes on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Tuesday, Israel struck a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon, killing 13 people, Lebanese health officials said. These attacks come days after Israeli troops fired on UN peacekeepers stationed in southern Lebanon.
Lebanese officials are also filing a complaint to the UN Security Council over Israel’s construction of a concrete wall along Lebanon’s southern border. Officials say that it extends past the UN-established “blue line” that demarcates Lebanon from Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
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