On the deserted border between Lebanon and Israel, Spanish UN peacekeepers have for more than 10 months effectively been caught in a war zone. "Sometimes we need to shelter because of the shelling... sometimes even inside the bunkers," said Alvaro Gonzalez Gavalda, a Blue Helmet at Base 964 of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). AFP journalists escorted in a UNIFIL convoy passed through villages almost deserted to reach Base 964 of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Surrounded by barbed wire, the base is protected by heavy stone-filled berms and not far from the town of Khiam where dozens of houses have been destroyed or damaged, about five kilometres (three miles) from the border. Over a wall that marks the border, the Israeli town of Metula, also emptied of residents, is clearly visible. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES