The United Nations peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon said on Friday that the Israeli military’s “deliberate and direct destruction” of its property was a “flagrant violation” of international law.

The 10,000-strong UN mission, known as UNIFIL, is stationed in southern Lebanon to monitor hostilities along the “blue line” that separates Lebanon from Israel.

Since Israel launched a ground campaign across the border against Hezbollah fighters in late September, UNIFIL has repeatedly accused the Israel Defense Forces of deliberately attacking its bases, including by shooting at peacekeepers and by destroying the watchtowers.

Israel has denied that such incidents are deliberate attacks. Israel says UN troops are providing a human shield for Hezbollah fighters and has told UNIFIL to evacuate southern Lebanon for their own safety – a request the force has rejected.

In the latest accusation, UNIFIL said the IDF used excavators and a bulldozer on Thursday to destroy part of a fence and a concrete structure at a UN peacekeeping position in southern Lebanon. The peacekeepers also observed Israeli troops this week removing a barrel marking the Blue Line, it said.

“The IDF’s deliberate and direct destruction of clearly identifiable UNIFIL property is a flagrant violation of international law and resolution 1701,” UNIFIL said, referring to a UN resolution calling for an end to hostilities in southern Lebanon after a previous war.

“Yesterday’s incident, like seven other similar incidents, is not a matter of peacekeeping caught in the crossfire, but of deliberate and direct actions by the IDF,” UNIFIL said.

He said the UN force would remain in Lebanon “despite unacceptable pressure on the mission”.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

The statement came a day after six Malaysian peacekeepers on a UN bus crossing a checkpoint were injured by an Israeli drone strike that killed three Lebanese in a nearby car.

On Friday night, a series of Israeli strikes rocked Beirut’s southern suburbs, according to Reuters witnesses, after Israel issued evacuation orders.

The strikes brought down entire buildings in the densely populated neighborhood that most residents have left in recent weeks.

Separately, the Israeli military said it had located a Hezbollah training center about 200 meters (yards) from a UNIFIL base in southern Lebanon, equipped with study materials and large quantities of weapons.

It said the facility, which it destroyed, contained launchers prepared to fire into Israeli communities.

A UNIFIL spokesman said the Israeli military had not shared any information about an alleged Hezbollah facility.

Israel has accused UNIFIL forces of turning a blind eye as Hezbollah built a network of tunnels and other infrastructure close to the border with northern Israel for more than a decade, often within sight of their bases.

The infrastructure is said to have been part of a Hezbollah plan to carry out an attack on Israel, according to the October 7, 2023 attack on communities in southern Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

The UNIFIL spokesman said UNIFIL regularly reported suspicious locations to the Security Council. The UN Security Council has not asked UNIFIL to disarm any non-state armed group, including Hezbollah, the spokesman said.