White House 'Concerned' at Reports Israel Used White Phosphorus in Lebanon Attack

This picture taken from southern Lebanon shows smoke rising after an Israeli strike between the villages of Qaouzah and Ramia near the border with Israel on December 3, 2023. (Photo by AFP)
This picture taken from southern Lebanon shows smoke rising after an Israeli strike between the villages of Qaouzah and Ramia near the border with Israel on December 3, 2023. (Photo by AFP)
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White House 'Concerned' at Reports Israel Used White Phosphorus in Lebanon Attack

This picture taken from southern Lebanon shows smoke rising after an Israeli strike between the villages of Qaouzah and Ramia near the border with Israel on December 3, 2023. (Photo by AFP)
This picture taken from southern Lebanon shows smoke rising after an Israeli strike between the villages of Qaouzah and Ramia near the border with Israel on December 3, 2023. (Photo by AFP)

The United States is concerned about reports Israel used US-supplied white phosphorus munitions in an October attack in southern Lebanon, White House spokesperson John Kirby said on Monday.

"We've seen the reports. Certainly concerned about that. We'll be asking questions to try to learn a little bit more," Kirby told reporters on Air Force One.

Kirby said white phosphorus has a "legitimate military utility" for illumination and producing smoke to conceal movements, Reuters reported.

"Obviously any time that we provide items like white phosphorus to another military, it is with the full expectation that it will be used in keeping with those legitimate purposes ... and in keeping with the law of armed conflict," he said.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, asked about the report that Israel used white phosphorus in Lebanon, said the Israeli army “and the entire security establishment acts according to international law. That is how we have acted and how we will act."



Iraqi Oil Minister: Kurdistan Region's Oil Exports to Resume Next Week

A view shows the al-Shuaiba oil refinery in southwest Basra, Iraq April 20, 2017. Reuters
A view shows the al-Shuaiba oil refinery in southwest Basra, Iraq April 20, 2017. Reuters
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Iraqi Oil Minister: Kurdistan Region's Oil Exports to Resume Next Week

A view shows the al-Shuaiba oil refinery in southwest Basra, Iraq April 20, 2017. Reuters
A view shows the al-Shuaiba oil refinery in southwest Basra, Iraq April 20, 2017. Reuters

Oil exports from the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region will resume next week, Iraq's oil minister said on Monday, resolving a near two-year dispute as ties between Baghdad and Erbil improve.
The oil flows were halted by Türkiye in March 2023 after the International Chamber of Commerce ordered Ankara to pay Baghdad damages of $1.5 billion for unauthorized pipeline exports by the Kurdistan Regional Government between 2014 and 2018.

"Tomorrow, a delegation from the Ministry of Oil... will visit the Kurdish region to negotiate the mechanism for receiving oil from the region and exporting it. The export process will resume within a week," Oil Minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani told reporters.

According to Reuters, he added that Baghdad would receive 300,000 barrels per day from the region.

Erbil-based Rudaw TV earlier cited Kurdistan's natural resources minister, Kamal Mohammed, as saying oil exports could resume before March as all legal procedures have been completed.

The Iraqi parliament approved a budget amendment this month to subsidize production costs for international oil companies operating in Kurdistan, a move aimed at unblocking northern oil exports.

The resumption is expected to ease economic pressure in the Kurdistan region, where the halt has led to salary delays for public sector workers and cuts to essential services.