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Lebanon/Israel: Hezbollah’s Use of Cluster Munitions

Click to expand Image Israelis look at the border with Lebanon from a position in the northern village of Metula on March 5, 2026, after Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel during the ongoing conflict.   © March 2026 Amir Levy/Getty Images (Beirut, September 9, 2026) – Hezbollah unlawfully fired widely banned cluster munitions into a town in northern Israel on March 4, 2026, and again on March 15, Human Rights Watch said today. The attacks, neither of which caused civilian casualties, took place during a major escalation in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah beginning on March 2 as part of the wider war in the region involving Iran and the United States. “Cluster munitions should not be used under any circumstances, and their use may amount to a war crime,” said Patrick Thompson, crisis, conflict and arms researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Not only are they inherently indiscriminate, but unexploded submunitions can kill and injure civilians long after hostilities conclude.” Cluster munitions are fired in rockets, missiles, and projectiles, or dropped from aircraft. They typically disperse in the air, spreading dozens of explosive submunitions, or bomblets, indiscriminately over a large area. Many fail to explode on initial impact, leaving duds that can kill and maim, like landmines, for years or even decades, unless cleared and destroyed. Human Rights Watch researchers visited Metula in May and confirmed the use of cluster munitions, analyzed the impact sites, and interviewed four witnesses. Hezbollah claimed responsibility on social media for rocket attacks against Metula on March 4 and 15, but in response to a Human Rights Watch request for comment, denied using or even possessing cluster munitions. Despite ceasefires that went into effect on April 17 and June 20, Israeli attacks have killed at least 4,381 people in Lebanon since the beginning of the escalation, including 261 children, 399 women, and 135 medical workers, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. Israel has continued to issue orders to Lebanese civilians to leave their homes, displacing over one million people in what may amount to the war crime of forced displacement. Hezbollah rocket attacks in northern Israel between March and June killed two civilians, the Times of Israel reported on June 30. Hezbollah also fired unguided rockets into populated areas in Israel, according to the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. The use of these weapons, which cannot distinguish between military objectives and civilians and civilian objects, is unlawfully indiscriminate and poses a foreseeable and long-lasting danger to civilians, in violation of the laws of war. Human Rights Watch has previously documented Israel’s extensive use of cluster munitions in southern Lebanon and Hezbollah’s use of them in Israel. The Guardian reported that Israel used cluster munitions in southern Lebanon again in 2025. Play Video The March 4 attack struck a residential street on the southern side of Metula near the cemetery. Hagai, 57, whose full name is not used for his safety, lives in the town with his wife and two children, and said that he and his family ran to their shelter outside their house as they heard sirens at around 4 p.m. They had just closed the door when they heard multiple explosions outside. As instructed by the Israeli authorities, they waited 10 minutes before leaving the shelter. But soldiers outside told them to stay inside until the next day as they were clearing the area of submunitions. The submunitions damaged his two cars beyond repair, and a submunition landed on the roof of his house. Twelve windows were damaged, and submunitions cut two water pipes. He fears for his children’s safety. “My son plays basketball here,” he said. “If the ball goes down the hill into the grass, I tell him to leave it. They checked the whole area for unexploded bombs, but who knows, I don’t know how thoroughly they can check the bushes.” Click to expand Image A submunition impact crater outside Hagai’s house where his son plays basketball, May 2026. © 2026 Human Rights Watch He said the military counted approximately 50 impact craters. The road had been repaved by the time Human Rights Watch researchers arrived, but they identified seven impact craters consistent with submunition impacts, due to their relatively small size and distribution pattern. Human Rights Watch analyzed photographs from a journalist taken before the road was repaved that showed additional craters outside Hagai’s house. Fragmentation from the submunitions affected another house about 50 meters away, damaging windows. The homeowner, who wished to remain anonymous, said there were multiple unexploded submunitions outside her house. On March 4, an Israeli police spokesperson reported from Metula that a cluster munition had struck northern Israel. The report was accompanied by a photograph of what appears to be an unexploded BRB1-type submunition. This submunition is dispensed from a 122mm rocket, which reportedly contains between 45 to 56 BRB1-type submunitions. Human Rights Watch was unable to confirm the location of the photograph, but researchers did not find a version of the photograph online uploaded before March 4. Witness reports of approximately 50 submunition impacts in Metula on March 4 are consistent with numbers reportedly contained in the BRB1 delivery system, as are the craters Human Rights Watch analyzed. These submunitions were previously identified in southern Lebanon in September 2024. A statement from the Cluster Munition Coalition at the time suggested that they were ejected from a storage facility that was attacked. The March 15 attack struck near the town’s entrance. One nearby resident said that she heard multiple near simultaneous explosions. City authorities had notified a residents’ security WhatsApp group that a cluster munition had fallen. The witness said the army told residents not to leave their homes for 24 hours while they cleared explosive hazards. The road was being repaved when Human Rights Watch visited, yet researchers found one crater consistent with a submunition impact. Researchers geolocated a video uploaded to Telegram on March 15 that shows approximately 30 small explosions around the entrance gate consistent with a cluster munition attack. Researchers were able to identify the area as the one where witnesses reported seeing the cluster munition strike. There were no reports of civilian casualties or major damage to infrastructure. The 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions, which has 112 states parties and 12 more states have signed, comprehensively prohibits these weapons and requires clearing contaminated areas and assisting victims. Although Lebanon is a state party, the treaty does not formally bind Hezbollah as a non-state armed group. Nonetheless, Hezbollah is bound by international humanitarian law, otherwise known as the laws of war. International humanitarian law requires parties to a conflict to take constant care during military operations to spare the civilian population, and to “take all feasible precautions” to avoid or minimize the incidental loss of civilian life and damage to civilian objects. International humanitarian law also requires all parties to distinguish between military objectives and civilians and civilian objects, and to target only military objectives. Individuals who commit serious violations of the laws of war with criminal intent—that is, intentionally or recklessly—may be prosecuted for war crimes. As cluster munitions spread submunitions over a wide area and unexploded submunitions pose a danger long after hostilities are over, their use in civilian areas amounts to a violation of the principles of precaution and distinction. Intentionally directing such attacks against the civilian population is a war crime. Israel is not a party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions. It should urgently join the convention and cease the manufacture, transfer, and use of cluster munitions, as well as commit to clearing unexploded cluster munitions in all areas under its effective control. “The use of cluster munitions in civilian areas is a flagrant violation of international law,” Thompson said. “Hezbollah and all parties to the conflict should abide by the laws of war.”

Human Rights WatchHuman Rights Watch•Human Rights Watch9 Sept

White Phosphorus: Recent Use, Inhumane Effects Require New Law

Click to expand Image A white phosphorus munition airbursts over buildings in the town of Khiam in southern Lebanon during an Israeli bombardment on October 31, 2024. © 2024 AFP via Getty Images Recent use of white phosphorus munitions by Israeli forces in Lebanon underscores the need for new international law to regulate these devastating weapons.White phosphorus munitions can inflict excruciating burns and cause lifelong physical, psychological, and socioeconomic harm.Countries should condemn ongoing use of white phosphorus munitions, call for further international talks on the matter, and ensure that international law adequately addresses the weapons’ unacceptable human costs. (New York, September 9, 2026) – Recent use of white phosphorus munitions by Israeli forces in Lebanon underscores the need for new international law to regulate these devastating weapons, Human Rights Watch and the International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School said in a report released today. The groups urged countries to take up the issue at the United Nations General Assembly’s monthlong disarmament meeting in New York in October 2026. The 45-page report, “Uncontrolled Burn: The Inhumane Effects of White Phosphorus Munitions and the Need for Stronger Law,” documents 23 verified incidents of Israeli use in southern Lebanon between March and May 2026. The report also details the horrific harm the munitions have caused in armed conflicts in recent years. White phosphorus munitions, which produce fire when their payload is exposed to oxygen, are not currently regulated by a specific treaty. September 9, 2026 Uncontrolled Burn The Inhumane Effects of White Phosphorus Munitions and the Need for Stronger Law Download the full report in English Annex “White phosphorus munitions can inflict excruciating burns and cause lifelong physical, psychological, and socioeconomic harm,” said Bonnie Docherty, senior arms advisor at Human Rights Watch and lecturer at the International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School. “Countries should condemn ongoing use of white phosphorus munitions, call for further international talks on the matter, and ensure that international law adequately addresses the weapons’ unacceptable human costs.” The findings of the report are based on legal analysis, open-source investigation, 16 in-person and remote interviews, monitoring of diplomatic procedures, and desk research. Additional reported uses of white phosphorus munitions since 2000 include by Israel in Gaza in 2008-2009 and 2023; by US-led coalition forces against the Islamic State (ISIS) in Iraq and Syria in 2017; by Saudi Arabia-led coalition forces in Yemen in 2016; by Ethiopian forces in Somalia in 2007; by NATO forces, primarily from the United States, and anti-government forces in Afghanistan between 2005-2011; and by the United States in Iraq in 2004. White phosphorus munitions burst in the air over populated areas are indiscriminate—that is, they cannot distinguish between combatants and civilians—and thus violate general international humanitarian law. But despite their incendiary effects, white phosphorus munitions are not covered by the 1980 Protocol III to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), which is dedicated to regulating incendiary weapons. Play Video The protocol defines incendiary weapons as being “primarily designed” to set fires and burn people. This definition excludes weapons that are designed for other purposes, even if they produce the same incendiary effects. It does not encompass white phosphorus munitions because they are primarily designed to obscure or illuminate military actions. Human Rights Watch and the Harvard clinic assessed white phosphorus munitions through the lens of the Martens Clause, a provision of international humanitarian law that states that when there is no specific treaty on a topic, civilians and combatants are protected by the principles of humanity and dictates of public conscience. White phosphorus munitions trigger the Martens Clause, the groups said in the report. The inhumane and difficult-to-treat injuries they cause are incompatible with the principles of humanity. White phosphorus can burn people to the bone, and any particles left in a wound can reignite when bandages are removed and they are exposed to oxygen. Objections from countries, international organizations, civil society groups, medical professionals, and financial institutions provide evidence that the munitions run contrary to the dictates of public conscience. Stronger and specific international law is needed to address these issues, Human Rights Watch and the Harvard clinic said. “Diplomats, doctors, UN investigators, and others have expressed outrage at the cruel injuries caused by white phosphorus munitions,” Docherty said. “Countries have adopted treaties on poison gas and blinding lasers because they were inhumane and contrary to public conscience. They should do the same for white phosphorus munitions.” Because white phosphorus munitions are designed to be used for their ability to burn, not for their toxicity, they are not considered chemical weapons and are not covered by the Chemical Weapons Convention. Much of the discussion of white phosphorus munitions thus far has taken place under the auspices of the Convention on Conventional Weapons. Dozens of countries have condemned the harm they cause and called for dedicated discussions on the topic. CCW meetings operate by consensus, however, and Russia and other opponents of stronger law have blocked proposals to set aside time to discuss the humanitarian impacts of incendiary weapons and weapons with incendiary effects as well as the inadequacy of Protocol III. Despite these obstacles, countries that support action against white phosphorus should also raise the issue at the CCW’s five-year Review Conference, scheduled for November 16-20 at the UN in Geneva. “The ultimate goal should be the adoption of strong international law that closes current legal loopholes and stigmatizes the use of white phosphorus munitions,” Docherty said. “A complete ban on production, transfer, and use of these weapons would have the greatest humanitarian benefits.”

Human Rights WatchHuman Rights Watch•Human Rights Watch9 Sept

Lebanese Army intensifies Nabatieh deployment as report says mission excludes Hezbollah disarmament

The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) is intensifying its presence in Nabatieh in southern Lebanon while reinforcing nearby Zawtar al Gharbiyeh, one of the pilot zones of the June 26 Trilateral Framework Between the United States of America, the State of Israel, and the Republic of Lebanon. Lebanese reporting says the Nabatieh mission is intended to contain escalation rather than disarm Hezbollah, even though the framework makes the LAF responsible for implementing a process centered on the verified disarmament and dismantlement of non-state military infrastructure.

Long War JournalLong War Journal•David Daoud8 Sept

Israel claims control of Ali al Taher after weeks of Hezbollah attacks and failed handover efforts

The IDF says it cleared Hezbollah fighters from underground infrastructure in south Lebanon’s Ali al Taher Ridge and achieved operational control above and below ground. Hezbollah denied losing the strategic position. The battle exposed the limits of Lebanese government efforts to secure the site through negotiation and prompted an Iranian threat of direct retaliation.

Long War JournalLong War Journal•David Daoud6 Sept