UNIFIL vows to stay in Lebanon despite several 'deliberate' Israeli attacks

GENEVA (Reuters) - A UNIFIL peacekeeping mission spokesperson on Friday denounced several direct, deliberate attacks by Israeli forces in recent days and said it had found evidence of the possible use of white phosphorous near one of its bases.

"We need to stay, they asked us to move," said UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti by video link from Beirut.

"The devastation and destruction of many villages along the Blue Line, and even beyond, is shocking," he said, referring to a U.N.-mapped line separating Lebanon from Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Asked about the downing of a drone near its ship off the Lebanese coast on Thursday, he said: "The drone was coming from the south but circling around the ship and getting very, very close, a few metres away from the ship."

According to Tenenti, an investigation several months ago had detected "a trace of the possible use of white phosphorous" by the Israeli army close to a UNIFIL base. He added that the U.N. Security Council was aware of the case.

White phosphorus munitions are not banned as a chemical weapon and their use - usually to make smoke screens, mark targets or burn buildings - by the Israeli military is documented.

However, since they can cause serious burns and start fires, international conventions prohibit their use against military targets located among civilians.

(Reporting by Emma Farge, editing by Kirsti Knolle and Miranda Murray)