UN bases in Lebanon hit by artillery more than 100 times in past year, official says

LONDON -- United Nations peacekeeping bases in southern Lebanon have been hit by artillery fire around 100 times since the cross-border war with the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group began in October 2023, an official with the mission said.

Some of the U.N. bases hit have sustained damage within the compounds, Andrea Tenenti, the spokesperson for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, told ABC News shortly before the mission said two of its peacekeepers were injured by Israeli firing on Thursday.

UNIFIL said in a statement that the IDF fired on three bases in southern Lebanon. The attacks included tank fire on an observation tower at the UNIFIL headquarters in Naqoura which injured two peacekeepers. "Any deliberate attack on peacekeepers is a grave violation of international humanitarian law," UNIFIL said.

The IDF Spokesperson's Unit said in a statement to ABC News that it instructed UNIFIL troops to "remain in protected spaces" during their operation in Naqoura, "following which the forces opened fire in the area." The unit did not comment on the two injured UNIFIL peacekeepers. Danny Danon, Israel's ambassador to the U.N., suggested Thursday that UNIFIL troops should move around 3 miles north from their current positions "to avoid danger as fighting intensifies and while the situation along the Blue Line remains volatile as a result of Hezbollah's aggression."

The security situation is "really concerning" for the 2,000 or so U.N. personnel deployed to the south of the country, Tenenti said, with nearby fighting between Israel Defense Forces and Hezbollah troops near-constant.

U.N. commanders are in contact with both the IDF and Hezbollah, but Tenenti said they do not always receive advance warning of attacks.

"We don't always receive information about shelling," he said. "At the moment, it's ongoing. As for the last few days, the level of alert has been very high."

The IDF did not respond to an ABC News' request for comment. IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said this month that Lebanon and UNIFIL have "failed to enforce" a 2006 United Nations Security Council resolution prohibiting Hezbollah's presence in southern Lebanon.

Tenenti said that for the last 48 hours UNIFIL troops have been at their highest of three alert levels. "Level 3 means that you're inside bunkers, you sleep inside the bunkers," he said. "You have to wear protection 24/7, so it's not easy."

Level three reflects "active shelling," he added. "For the last 48 hours, most of the areas in the south of Lebanon in our compounds have been at Level 3."

In Lebanon's no man's land

U.N. troops have been active in Lebanon since 1978, when the U.N. Security Council created UNIFIL to confirm Israel's withdrawal from the area and help Beirut reestablish control.

Since 2006, UNIFIL has been tasked with monitoring the cessation of cross-border hostilities following the last significant cross-border conflict between the IDF and Hezbollah and supporting the planned -- but ultimately unrealized -- Hezbollah withdrawal from the area and the redeployment of the Lebanese Army in its place. That plan was set out by U.N. Security Council resolution 1701.

Israel's nascent military operation into southern Lebanon came after almost a year of cross-border fire. Hezbollah began new attacks on Oct. 8, 2023, in support of Hamas' attack a day earlier in southern Israel.

Hezbollah rockets and drones prompted tens of thousands of Israelis to flee border regions. Their safe return has become a prime war goal for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his government and his political rivals.

UNIFIL is present at 29 positions within around 3 miles of the Israel-Lebanon border, or "Blue Line." Those positions are manned by around 2,000 troops, with the total UNIFIL in-country strength made up of 10,400 personnel drawn from 50 countries.

Advancing Israeli forces asked UNIFIL troops to abandon their positions, but commanders refused. Tenenti said the requests have stopped, though Israeli officials continue to warn that they cannot guarantee the safety of peacekeepers in the area.

"It's important to have the U.N. flag flying close to the Blue Line and our area of operations," Tenenti said. "But definitely the situation now is way more challenging because of the intensity of the shelling, of the bombing that is not only daily, but continuously."

IDF troops and tanks have been fighting right outside the gates of at least one UNIFIL compound. Israeli forces were "a few meters away" from Irish peacekeepers at the Maroun al-Ras compound in southwest Lebanon this week, Tenenti said.

"I understand that some of the IDF troops left the area close to Maroun al-Ras where the Irish troops are positioned, but it's still a concern for all the other contingents and all the other positions along the line," he said.

Their presence, he added, endangers U.N. troops, undermines UNIFIL's ability to enforce its mission and limits its efforts to assist local communities facing evacuation orders and massive Israeli bombardment.

UNIFIL troops are helping those they can, Tenenti said. "I understand that just now we were able to provide water to some of the villages close to the Blue Line," he said. "We are hoping that this will continue, and not only continue but increase."

UNIFIL is also pressing for "humanitarian corridors" and safe access for the Lebanese Red Cross and U.N. agencies to enter into some of the villages, Tenenti added.

Most U.N. positions are prepared with at least two weeks of supplies, Tenenti said, meaning supply missions through the battlefield are required. "So far, we have been able to resupply all the bases, all the positions, whenever there was a need," he said.

UNIFIL commanders inform both sides of planned supply runs, he added. Sometimes one or both sides will warn against the plans. "But on other occasions, we have no response at all. And that's very dangerous," Tenenti said.

Meanwhile, Israel's ground incursion continues to expand under the cover of punishing air and artillery strikes. The IDF's ultimate goals remain unclear.

"The situation is changing by the minute, and so far, the advance is still not too far from the Blue Line," Tenenti said. "Things are changing very, very fast."

ABC News' Camilla Alcini and Ellie Kaufman contributed to this report.