Beirut, Lebanon. Three United Nations peacekeepers from Indonesia have been killed in two separate incidents in southern Lebanon, prompting Indonesia to call for an emergency UN Security Council meeting and drawing condemnation from UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
Two incidents investigated by UNIFIL
Two peacekeepers died on Monday after an explosion of unknown origin destroyed their vehicle near Bani Hayyan in southern Lebanon, the UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL said. Two other soldiers were wounded in the blast.
A third Indonesian peacekeeper was killed overnight Sunday into Monday when a projectile struck near a UNIFIL position close to the village of Adchit al-Qusayr. Another peacekeeper was critically injured in that incident.
UNIFIL said it was investigating the two incidents separately.
Indonesia calls for UN Security Council meeting
Indonesia condemned the second attack “in the strongest terms,” saying it reflected “a rapidly deteriorating security environment in southern Lebanon, where ongoing Israeli military operations have placed United Nations peacekeepers at grave risk.”
Foreign Minister Sugiono said he had spoken with Guterres and called for “a swift, thorough, and transparent investigation” into what he described as a “heinous attack.”
Israel reviewing incidents
Israel’s military said early on Tuesday it was aware of both incidents and was reviewing them to determine whether they resulted from Hezbollah or Israeli military activity.
UN condemnation and legal warnings
Guterres said attacks on peacekeepers constituted grave violations of international humanitarian law and said they may amount to war crimes.
“We strongly condemn these unacceptable incidents — peacekeepers must never be a target,” said UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix.
Weekend casualties reported in Lebanon
The peacekeeper deaths followed a weekend of violence in Lebanon. At least 10 paramedics were killed in Israeli strikes over Saturday and Sunday, according to Lebanon’s health ministry. Three journalists died when an Israeli strike hit their car on Saturday.
The Israeli military accused Hezbollah operatives of posing as paramedics and said that some of the journalists killed were embedded with the group’s intelligence or military wing, but it has not publicly provided evidence for those claims. Lebanon’s health ministry denied that any ambulances or health facilities were used for military purposes, and Lebanon’s presidency described the targeted journalists as “civilians performing a professional duty.”
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