Three United Nations peacekeepers from Indonesia have been killed in two separate incidents in southern Lebanon, prompting Jakarta to call for an emergency UN Security Council meeting and drawing condemnation from the UN secretary-general, who said attacks on peacekeepers may amount to war crimes.
Two peacekeepers died on Monday after an explosion of unknown origin destroyed their vehicle near Bani Hayyan in south Lebanon, the UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL said. Two other soldiers were wounded in the blast. A third Indonesian peacekeeper had been killed overnight Sunday into Monday when a projectile struck near UNIFIL’s position close to the village of Adchit al-Qusayr; another peacekeeper was critically injured in that incident.
The Sunday death was the first among UNIFIL’s forces since the new war between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah erupted on 2 March.
Indonesia condemned the second attack “in the strongest terms”, saying it “reflects 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 UN Secretary-General António Guterres and called for “a swift, thorough, and transparent investigation” into what he described as a “heinous attack”.
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. UNIFIL said it was investigating the two incidents separately.
Guterres said attacks on peacekeepers constituted grave violations of international humanitarian law. “We strongly condemn these unacceptable incidents — peacekeepers must never be a target,” said UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix.
Journalists and paramedics among the dead
The peacekeeper deaths came after a bloody weekend in Lebanon. At least ten 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 has 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. It has not publicly provided evidence to support 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.”
More than 1,240 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon since the conflict began, according to Lebanese authorities, including more than 120 children, nearly 80 women and dozens of paramedics. More than 400 Hezbollah fighters have been killed since 2 March, according to two sources familiar with the group’s own count.
Lebanon was drawn into the wider regional conflict after Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel in solidarity with Tehran, two days after Iran was struck by Israeli and US forces. Israel has since launched a ground and air offensive, pushing into Lebanese border towns and demolishing homes, and has said it intends to establish a buffer zone extending to the Litani River, some 30 kilometres north of the Israeli border.
(Reuters)