White phosphorus is a chemical agent that reacts with oxygen to produce intense heat, light, and thick smoke. While it is often used by militaries to create smoke screens or mark targets, its use in populated areas is highly controversial due to the severe, often life-threatening burns it causes to human skin and its tendency to reignite even after initial attempts to extinguish it.

Reports indicate that white phosphorus has been deployed in southern Lebanon during recent military exchanges. Al Jazeera highlights the substance's destructive nature, emphasizing its capacity to cause deep tissue damage and ignite fires that are difficult to suppress. While international law does not explicitly ban the possession of white phosphorus, its use as an incendiary weapon in civilian-populated areas is restricted under Protocol III of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons.

There is ongoing debate regarding the specific intent behind its use in the region. Some observers argue that its deployment serves as a tactical tool for obscuring troop movements, while human rights organizations have raised concerns that its use in border villages poses an unacceptable risk to non-combatants. The international community remains divided on whether these specific instances constitute a violation of international humanitarian law, with some nations calling for stricter oversight and others maintaining that the substance is being used within the bounds of military necessity.