The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) reported on Friday that they had been targeted several times, "five of them deliberately," noting that they had found evidence of possible use of white phosphorus months ago near one of their bases.

A UNIFIL spokesman said the 10,000-strong mission would remain in Lebanon despite multiple Israeli attacks he described as "deliberate" that directly targeted UN forces in the past few days.

The spokesman referred to the possibility of self-defense against Israel as "it can be resorted to, but it is important to calm the tension," stressing that they must remain in Lebanon, and that "the morale of the peacekeeping forces is still very high."

Asked about the downing of a drone near a UNIFIL ship off the coast of Lebanon on Thursday, the spokesman said, "The drone came from the south, circled around our ship and came within a few metres," Reuters reported.

The UN force has previously said it has been repeatedly attacked by Israeli forces in recent days, while Israel has called on the United Nations to move UNIFIL out of the combat zone.

In the middle of this month, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, confirmed that UNIFIL forces would remain in their positions in Lebanon, while the UN Security Council expressed its concern about the positions of those forces being exposed to gunfire, following Israel’s request for them to withdraw.

The Italian Defense Ministry also said in a statement last Wednesday that the 16 European Union member states contributing to UNIFIL believe that different and more effective rules should be followed for the participation of these forces.

The statement added that the European Union's allies also believe that pressure must be exerted to prevent any further attacks by Israeli forces on UNIFIL positions.

The statement also said that "the focal point that emerged from the meeting was the joint readiness to exert maximum political and diplomatic pressure on Israel so that no further incidents occur," and that "Hezbollah must not use UNIFIL personnel as shields in the context of the conflict," according to the statement.