Shell hits UNIFIL HQ amid fresh Hezbollah-Israel clashes

A shell hit the headquarters of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in south Lebanon on Saturday, its spokesman said in the second such incident since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in Gaza.

"A shell hit inside the base" in Naqoura, said Andrea Tenenti, spokesperson for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, indicating there were "no injuries but some damage."

He said UNIFIL was seeking to verify who fired the shell.

A Lebanese military source, who spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to talk to the media, said "an Israeli shell penetrated the cement wall" around the UNIFIL headquarters.

Since Palestinian militant group Hamas carried out an unprecedented attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7, Lebanon's southern border has seen tit-for-tat exchanges between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah, a Hamas ally.

The shell did not explode, a UNIFIL statement said, adding that "several of our other positions have also sustained damage in the past three weeks" and urging "all parties to immediately cease fire."

On October 15, UNIFIL said its headquarters was struck by a rocket but nobody was hurt.

Hezbollah said it attacked a number of Israeli positions on Saturday, using artillery, guided missiles and other weapons.

Israel's army confirmed that "several anti-tank missile and mortar shell launches" had been fired at its posts along the border, indicating they "fell in open areas."

It said its tanks and artillery were "responding with fire toward the origin of the launches and striking Hezbollah military infrastructure in Lebanon."

Lebanon's official National News Agency (NNA) reported Israeli shelling at several locations along the border, while "a hostile drone" carried out three strikes in an area more than 20 kilometers from the frontier.

The cross-border skirmishes have killed at least 58 people in Lebanon, according to an AFP tally, mostly Hezbollah combatants but also four civilians, including Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah.

At least four people have been killed on the Israeli side, including one civilian.

The unrest has displaced nearly 29,000 people across Lebanon, according to the International Organization for Migration.