New Delhi, March 9 -- Israeli military "unlawfully" struck a village in southern Lebanon, using artillery shells loaded with white phosphorus, a widely debated incendiary weapon, on March 3, according to a report released on Monday by Human Rights Watch.

The organisation said it examined and geolocated seven images that indicate white phosphorus artillery was used in residential parts of the village of Yohmor in southern Lebanon. The reported strike occurred several hours after the Israeli military had issued evacuation warnings to residents of Yohmor and many other nearby villages in the region.

Avichay Adraee, Israel's Arabic military spokesperson, at 5:27 am earlier that day, released a directive mentioning that residents of Yohmor a...