UN Bases Under Israeli Fire
Targets or Collateral Damage?
Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) tanks fired on UN bases in southern Lebanon, in the context of what Israel has called “targeted” raids against Hezbollah. International peacekeeping soldiers from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) were injured, and the mission’s surveillance systems on the border were hit. The UN has called these attacks “deliberate”, saying they may amount to war crimes. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said these charges are “completely false”, and the IDF insisted the raids are not “directed at UNIFIL posts, forces, or infrastructure”.
A detailed analysis of visual evidence acquired through open-source investigation and official accounts from both IDF and UNIFIL shows that at least four of these Israeli military operations have hit directly inside or immediately next to clearly identified UN posts that operate under the mandate of United Nations Security Council resolution 1701.
By striking UNIFIL’s surveillance capabilities and infrastructure, the IDF is hindering the UN’s ability to carry out humanitarian missions and monitor military activities by all parties, both of which UNIFIL is tasked with under UN resolutions. Footage and photos from the area available through satellite imagery, eyewitness media and official sources also show that the IDF appears to be clearing the area along the de facto border, or Blue Line, as part of its operation “Northern Arrows” against Hezbollah operatives, weapons and resources.
"This military activity that is taking place in close proximity to UNIFIL bases, or that is directly targeting the facilities themselves, injuring peacekeepers, are on the one hand deliberate attacks on civilians and therefore, it may amount to war crimes", says Human Rights Watch Lebanon researcher Ramzi Kaiss. "But at the same time, they're also impeding UNIFIL’s ability to perform their humanitarian function, which is having many other effects on people in the south, including people's ability to access healthcare care, to access basic services, and humanitarian aid that UNIFIL is entrusted with enabling its delivery".
European governments, who have thousands of troops stationed along the Israel-Lebanon border, have said strikes on UNIFIL positions are “unacceptable”. The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has also said these incidents are “a breach of international law, international humanitarian law, and may constitute a war crime”. Guterres had previously been declared “persona non grata” by Foreign Minister Israel Katz over what he described as a failure to condemn Iran's missile attacks and antisemitic and anti-Israel conduct. Relations between the UN and Israel have been frayed since the Gaza war started a year ago.
Prime Minister Netanyahu has asked UNIFIL to withdraw five kilometres into Lebanon from the current de facto border, to “keep out of harm’s way”, while Israeli commando and paratrooper brigades operate inside Lebanese territory for the first time in nearly two decades.
Courtesy of IDF
Courtesy of IDF
“We don’t know what their intentions are”, says Middle East expert Vanessa Newby, an assistant professor at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs of Leiden University. "One could be that they want UNIFIL to move back the five kilometers that they've requested, in order to continue their operations on Hezbollah's infrastructure. And that may well mean a lot more bombing, which could of course target civilian infrastructure. And if UNIFIL are not there to observe, there's really no international observation going on in that area of South Lebanon. And the reason we are possibly all a little suspicious is because there have been incidences of cameras being shot out on the UNIFIL compounds. So that's one possibility, that they have plans to make a narrow strip of land on the blue line, almost uninhabitable".
The United Nations and officials in troop-contributing countries say the monitoring by the Blue Helmets is needed now more than ever. “The devastation and destruction of many villages along the Blue Line, and even beyond, is shocking”, said UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti.
The Attacks on UNIFIL Bases - Operation "Northern Arrows"
On the last day in September, UNIFIL said it had received notification from Israel of its plans to enter Lebanon as part of its military operation “Northern Arrows” against Hezbollah capabilities in the region.
A week later, on October 6, UNIFIL confirmed IDF activity “immediately adjacent” to its position 6-52, near the town of Maroun al-Ras, a post staffed by Irish peacekeepers. Over the following two weeks, up to and including October 22, there were eight more statements from the UN mission, detailing incidents in which its bases were “deliberately” fired upon or damaged by IDF machinery, “forcibly” entered, and subjected to smoke exposure that left 15 peacekeepers in need of medical treatment. Five other UN peacekeepers in Lebanon have been hospitalised for injuries sustained in falls from observation towers and a shooting, UNIFIL said.
Between October 9 and October 22, five UNIFIL observation towers were directly struck or damaged, with four of the incidents directly attributed by UNIFIL to Israeli forces, and one where there was no mention of the origin of the attack.
IDF bulldozers damaged the walls at two bases, and the monitoring cameras at two positions came under Israeli fire, the UN mission said.
A closer look at what happened in four of the UN posts affected reveals similarities in the type of targets, methods, and damage inflicted directly on UN installations and soldiers. The level of military planning and damage seen on the ground raises questions over the IDF’s claims of self-defence or inevitable collateral damage as a result of its operations against Hezbollah.
UNIFIL Headquarters in Naqoura
UNIFIL claims IDF tanks deliberately fired upon its headquarters in Naqoura, injuring peacekeepers and damaging surveillance installations and infrastructure. The IDF says it was responding to an “immediate threat” and had given enough warning for the Blue Helmets to remain in protected spaces.
On October 10, two Indonesian peacekeepers spent three days in intensive care after an IDF Merkava tank fired its weapon toward an observation tower at the base, directly hitting it and causing the pair to fall, according to UNIFIL.
The IDF said its personnel had fired upon an "immediate threat against them" on October 11, approximately 50 metres from the UNIFIL post, resulting in the injury of the two peacekeepers. The IDF said that it had instructed the UN forces in the area to remain in "protected spaces" hours before the incident, adding that the evacuation order was in place at the time of fire.
A day later, UNIFIL again reported that IDF artillery had struck the Naqoura base, saying two explosions close to an observation tower injured two Sri Lankan peacekeepers.
A third incident later that day saw a member of the Blue Helmets undergo surgery for a bullet wound "due to ongoing military activity nearby." This time, UNIFIL said it did not know the origin of the gunfire.
A UNIFIL video released on October 17 claimed to show extensive damage inflicted on a base by Israeli forces.
The video reveals structural damage to Observation Post 14, at the west of the base, 30 metres from the installation's perimeter fence and just over two kilometres to the north of the Blue Line.
Analysis of the tower's damage shows that a projectile damaged the observation post on its southeastern-facing side. In UNIFIL's video of the scene, no damage was observed to the north face of the tower, indicating it was hit from a south-south westerly-facing position.
"The damage is consistent with what you'd see from several different variants of tank projectiles fired by a Merkava tank," former US Army senior explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) team member Trevor Ball concluded.
In a video statement documenting the incident on October 25, the Indonesian peacekeepers said the incident occurred after they noticed a "laser beam targeting" them shortly after beginning their rotation at Observation Post 14.
Courtesy of UNIFIL.
Courtesy of UNIFIL.
"We immediately started surveillance and reconnaissance and took the initiative to turn off the lights on the fourth floor and turn on the lights on the second floor, UNIFIL Peacekeeper Private Eggy Arifiyyanto said.
The pair, who have since returned to active duty, said after coordinating with another tower at the base it was confirmed a laser was targeting them.
"We immediately reported it to our higher command, and just after a projectile was launched from a Merkava tank and hit our observation tower right there", Private Arifiyyanto said while pointing at the damaged Observation Post 14.
"When the tank shell exploded inside, we were thrown upward and then tried to find an escape route. I jumped from the fourth floor to the third floor and jumped again to the second floor, rolling over, fearing a second attack. We then made our way to the shelter to be picked up and evacuated by the hospital team," Arifiyyanto said.
While the IDF said it was firing upon an immediate threat in the area, satellite imagery shows no other visible installations within a 350-metre radius outside the base perimeter near the tower.
"I think it's unlikely there was an immediate threat within 50 metres, if there are no structures within 350 metres. If there's no decent cover or concealment, such as trees, brush, or possible tunnels, this makes it even less likely. It is possible though," former US Army explosives expert Ball said.
"There's a lot of reasons the IDF could have perceived a threat, legitimate or not. It could range from UN personnel moving in a way they perceived might be Hezbollah or other militants, or just IDF troops being mistaken, disoriented to where the UNIFIL positions were," he added.
Footage of the immediate aftermath of the attack provided by UNIFIL shows damage to a road and a UN vehicle inside the base. The damage on the road shows a crater several metres wide and over 30 centimetres deep, consistent with the impact of a large explosive shell.
The UN vehicle parked beside the crater appears to have suffered secondary damage rather than a direct hit, with the vehicle's panelling showing several holes, indicating it was hit by shrapnel following an explosion.
"The UNIFIL truck did not suffer a "direct" hit, but some of the damage is from the blast wave of the nearby explosions that caused the craters, as well as the fragmentation from those explosions," Ball said.
Geolocated to the northeast of the base, the crater is over 100 metres inside the northern perimeter fence and over 175 metres from the perimeter to the east.
Satellite imagery indicates no apparent overground installations or targets within 180 metres of the base's north perimeter and none up to 800 metres to the east.
UNIFIL base UNP 6-52 near Maroun Al-Ras
The IDF established a military presence in advance of its operations, in an area immediately adjacent to a clearly marked UN base. It conducted airstrikes in the nearby civilian area of Maroun al-Ras, where IDF soldiers were seen raising Israeli flags.
Satellite imagery captured by Planet Labs before Israel started its Lebanon incursions shows UNP 6-52 near the village of Maroun al-Ras, where about 30 Irish troops were based at the time.
Comparative satellite imagery from October 5 shows a build-up of more than 30 Israeli military vehicles near the UN base. It also shows that roads adjacent to the base had been cleared, and nearby orchards cleared.
These movements of the IDF forces coincided with the release of further footage by the IDF of its Commando Brigade operating in southern Lebanon as part of the ongoing incursion. The IDF claimed on October 8 that the commandos had dismantled infrastructure belonging to Hezbollah, including tunnel shafts and weapons storage facilities. Missile launch facilities and observation posts used by Hezbollah had also been dismantled, the IDF said, adding that “dozens” of militants had been killed.
In response, UNIFIL said it was “deeply concerned” by the IDF’s activities adjacent to 6-52, saying it was “unacceptable to compromise the safety of UN peacekeepers carrying out their Security Council-mandated tasks.”
Further satellite imagery showed the nearby village of Maroun al-Ras, just over two kilometres from 6-52, where Israeli military vehicles could also be observed on October 5.
The ruins of Iran Garden Park, a replica of Jerusalem’s Dome of the Rock, could also be seen, while several fields surrounding the village had also been cleared, similarly to those adjacent to 6-52.
Other videos circulated on social media show Israeli soldiers raising flags in the ruins of the Iran Garden park in Maroun al-Ras.
UNIFIL base UNP 1-31 in Labbouneh
UNIFIL says the IDF fired at its cameras, struck a bunker, and knocked over several walls at an Italian base. The IDF claimed it found a cache of Hezbollah weapons and tunnels metres from the same outpost days later.
The Italian-crewed United Nations base 1-31 in Labbouneh is one of the closest UNIFIL structures to Israel, with its wall almost touching the Blue Line. It was among the first to be directly caught in the line of fire when Israel launched Operation Northern Arrows in Lebanon. Since then, UNP 1-31 has been subject to several incidents involving Israeli troops.
On October 13, the IDF announced it had uncovered “hundreds of weapons, including firearms, grenades, and rocket launchers” in underground compounds “from a few dozen metres up to a few hundred metres from UNIFIL posts situated near the Blue Line”.
In the same statement, the IDF said that over the previous month, approximately 25 missiles and rockets were launched at Israeli communities and IDF troops from these Hezbollah compounds “embedded near UNIFIL posts”. It did not give an exact location for the images released with the statement, showing weapons and tunnel shafts, but we were able to geolocate much of the imagery to the area around 1-31, allowing us to link the events in the IDF statement to updates provided by UNIFIL.
The IDF also released an infographic map described as showing Hezbollah launch areas that were within 300 metres of UNIFIL posts.
Courtesy of IDF.
Courtesy of IDF.
In the days before the IDF’s announcement, UNIFIL had reported several incidents in which its monitoring and communications infrastructure, as well as the perimeter wall of the base itself, were damaged by IDF forces.
According to accounts by UNIFIL, on October 9, the IDF “deliberately fired at and disabled” the perimeter-monitoring cameras at the outpost. The next day, UNIFIL detailed an incident in which IDF soldiers again fired on the UN base, hitting the entrance to a bunker sheltering peacekeepers and damaging vehicles and a communications system. No injuries were reported. An IDF drone was also seen flying inside the base during the incident— all the way up to the bunker entrance, UNIFIL said. The IDF did not release any remarks about this operation, making only general statements about its dozens of strikes against “Hezbollah targets” in southern Lebanon the same day, without giving specific locations.
On October 11 an IDF armoured bulldozer struck the perimeter wall of the base, causing the collapse of several modular concrete barriers, known as T-walls, UNIFIL said. IDF tanks were also moving around close to the base at the time, the UN mission added.
Meanwhile, the IDF statement on its weapons and tunnels discovery was released the same day journalists were touring with the Israeli forces in southern Lebanon. One journalist, who was on the press trip for the Washington Post, wrote that “most of the weapons described had already been removed, and reporters were not allowed to leave the company of Israeli soldiers”.
Footage shared by an Israeli journalist embedded with the Israeli forces in southern Lebanon that day showed a tunnel near to an unspecified UN base in the border region, which we have been able to geolocate as UNP 1-31.
In the video, the journalist can be heard talking about how the tunnel was uncovered near peacekeepers at a position just a few dozen metres away. The post accompanying the video described the weapons and tunnels in the scene, saying that “under the noses of the UNIFIL soldiers, Hezbollah built and dug military forts - which overlook the settlements of the Western Galilee, and are prepared to raid the settlements of the Galilee”. Journalist Doron Kadosh added in his tweet that the “UNIFIL force saw everything. Now they will no longer be able to hide”.
This video, from another journalist on the press tour of the area, shows the same location and a vertical shaft.
A white UN observation tower is visible in the footage posted by journalists on the tour. Within a similar distance from the tunnels, there is another, darker-coloured observation tower, which we have been able to determine is an Israeli watchtower across the border. This gave us a basis to begin our geolocation to confirm the whereabouts of this base and determine what troops are stationed there.
The UNP 1-31 base goes right up to the Blue Line. In satellite imagery, the sharp U-turned end of the Israeli border wall is visible.
It matches this video posted by an Italian journalist, described as showing the distance from 1-31 to an Israeli observation tower in September 2024. The border wall can be seen curving around before turning back down the hill behind the tower. That video also shows what appears to be an Italian flag painted onto the interior wall of the base, which we will examine later.
We already have evidence that the IDF was operating in the area around UNP 1-31 in the days leading up to Sunday, October 13. The UNIFIL statement on October 11 referenced an IDF Caterpillar — a piece of heavy machinery for digging and moving earth — that damaged the base.
Footage released by the IDF on the evening of October 13, shows an IDF Caterpillar D9 armored bulldozer operating in the background as a soldier talks to camera. The beginning of the clip shows the soldier pointing to the same observation tower seen in the journalists’ footage — which we have determined to be UNP 1-31 – with the Israeli tower also visible in the background.
Israel has used bulldozers for its military for decades. Images of the modified, heavily-armoured versions of the machines are readily available online and feature in news reports about Israel’s invasion of the Gaza Strip. The IDF released this image of a D9 bulldozer at work in southern Lebanon on October 10, without giving a specific location.
The IDF released several other video clips in the same October 13 statement, which described Hezbollah weapons and tunnels discovered by the 146th Division near a UNIFIL base.
Not all of them showed a wide enough view for geolocation to be possible, but a video shot by a drone gave us the clearest look so far at the UNIFIL base near which these Israeli forces were operating that day.
There are several geographic markers by which we were able to confirm this as UNP 1-31, by comparing the view in the drone footage with satellite imagery from around the base. The blocks lining the curved roadway up to the entrance of the base, the positioning of the front walls, and the internal structures seen in the drone footage all match with satellite imagery.
Courtesy of Google Maps
Courtesy of Google Maps
The mural of the Italian flag on the wall, seen in the video shared by Italian journalist Nello Scavo, is also visible near the watchtower.
One of the videos accompanying the IDF statement shows a soldier pointing to the same observation tower seen in the journalists’ footage — which we have determined to be UNP 1-31 – with the Israeli tower also visible in the background.
In the IDF footage, the soldier shows what he describes as connected shafts in the ground, before giving the names of the Israeli communities located down the hillside: Shlomi, Hanita and Ya’ara. UNP 1-31 overlooks these areas.
Courtesy of IDF.
Courtesy of IDF.
This analysis confirms that the IDF was working in close proximity to UNP 1-31 around the time UNIFIL said the base had been fired on and damaged by a bulldozer, damaging its surveillance capabilities. Days later, the IDF announced that it found a cache of weapons and tunnels in the same area, in the vicinity of UNP 1-31
UNIFIL base UNP 5-42
in Ramyah
IDF tanks breach the entrance of the base while evacuating soldiers under enemy fire. IDF & UNIFIL offered differing accounts of the danger posed to UN troops, with 15 soldiers requiring medical treatment.
The incident in Ramyah, near the centre of the Blue Line, gives an example of the differing takes offered by the IDF and UNIFIL about the same event.
The Israeli military released a short statement on Sunday, October 13, recounting an incident in an area they simply described as “southern Lebanon”. They said that earlier that day, a “large barrage of anti-tank missiles” was fired toward IDF troops.
During the attack, several Israeli soldiers were injured. This triggered an evacuation mission for the IDF, with a tank tasked with bringing those injured away from the fighting.
“An initial review showed that an IDF tank that was trying to evacuate injured soldiers while still under fire backed several metres into a UNIFIL post”, said the IDF statement. “Once the enemy fire stopped, and following the evacuation of the injured soldiers, the tank left the post.”
The Israeli military also confirmed its use of a smoke screen during the incident, “to provide cover for the evacuation of the injured soldiers”. The IDF said it stayed in touch with UNIFIL to “maintain coordination” during the incident, and that “no danger was posed to UNIFIL forces by the IDF activity”.
A UNIFIL statement on the incident offers a different version of events. Without giving a base number, it said that its troops near Ramyah “observed three platoons of IDF soldiers crossing the Blue Line into Lebanon”. At around 4:30 a.m., while the peacekeepers were in shelters, “two IDF Merkava tanks destroyed the position’s main gate and forcibly entered the position”.
The IDF “requested multiple times that the base turn out its lights”, according to UNIFIL. “The tanks left about 45 minutes later after UNIFIL protested through our liaison mechanism, saying that IDF presence was putting peacekeepers in danger.”
Referring to what the Israeli military said was its use of a smoke screen, UNIFIL said that at around 6:40 a.m. the same morning, peacekeepers at the same base said several rounds were fired 100 metres north, which emitted smoke. “Despite putting on protective masks, 15 peacekeepers suffered effects, including skin irritation and gastrointestinal reactions, after the smoke entered the camp.”
The IDF didn’t give an exact location for this base, but UNIFIL did say it was in Ramyah. Our analysis using satellite imagery from the area and comparing it with maps showing UNIFIL’s deployments throughout Lebanon, shows that it is UNP 5-42, an outpost crewed by troops from Ghana.
Courtesy of Google Maps.
Courtesy of Google Maps.
It is another of the closest UNIFIL bases to the Blue Line, similar to 1-31 in that it sits at a point where the Blue Line takes a 90-degree turn.
Courtesy of Google Maps.
Courtesy of Google Maps.
Satellite imagery shows an installation at the other side of the Blue Line. It matches the description of the IDF’s Livna outpost in this Hebrew Wikipedia entry.
On closer inspection of the gate area at the entrance of UNP 5-42, we can see that there is a driveway of nearly 20 metres between the external gate and the inner perimeter wall. The IDF described how its tank “backed several metres into a UNIFIL post”, but made no mention of it knocking down a gate to do so.
Courtesy of Google Maps.
Courtesy of Google Maps.
UNIFIL’s version of the story said that two tanks “destroyed” the position’s main gate and “forcibly entered” the camp. Upon analysing the layout of the entrance of the camp via satellite imagery, we can see that damage would have been caused to the gate in order for the tanks to move more than a metre past the front pier of the driveway.
Israel said its activity did not pose UNIFIL forces any danger. However, the statement from the IDF reported its troops used the driveway of a UNIFIL property to take cover from — or at least wait out — an incoming missile attack.
Why are UN troops
in Lebanon?
Historically, Lebanon has been the most dangerous UN peacekeeping mission, with 337 peacekeepers killed since it was established by the UN Security Council more than 45 years ago, following Israel’s first invasion into southern Lebanon in 1978.
Its mandate, spelled out in UN resolution 1701, was to confirm the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the country, restore international peace and security, and assist the Lebanese government to restore its effective authority in the area. In 2006, this mandate was extended to include "assistance to help ensure humanitarian access to civilian populations and the voluntary and safe return of displaced persons".
In 2000 UNIFIL established the Blue Line along southern Lebanon, to ensure the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces. Since Lebanon and Israel have not agreed on an official border, its 120 kilometres act as a de facto border between the two countries.
The area includes Hezbollah strongholds, and UNIFIL troops are tasked with monitoring border violations and keeping the area secure.
While UNIFIL is a peacekeeping mission, troops can use force in certain circumstances, including self-defence, to protect civilians under the imminent threat of violence and to protect UN personnel facilities and equipment.
UNIFIL’s mandate is renewed annually by the UN Security Council at the request of Lebanon. The Security Council most recently extended the mandate until August 31, 2025.
As of September 2024, UNIFIL's force consists of more than 10,000 peacekeepers from 50 troop-contributing countries. The current UNIFIL mission comprises the highest number of European troop contingents of all peace operations worldwide, with the main contributors being Italy, Spain, Ireland, and France.
Additional reporting by Thais Porto, Tatum Brookes, Eoghan Sweeney, George Powell and Thomas Normann Hougaard of the Eurovision Social Newswire.
Sub-editor Eoghan Sweeney
Web design by Derek Bowler
Published on October 31, 2024
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