Gembong Hanung, Jakarta – Jakarta has condemned in the strongest terms the Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon that killed three Indonesian peacekeepers, as the border area became another flashpoint in Israel's war.
The soldier, identified as Chief Pvt. Farizal Rhomadhon, 28, was killed by "indirect artillery fire in the vicinity" of the Indonesian base of the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) near Adchit al-Qusayr on Sunday, the Foreign Ministry in Jakarta confirmed on Monday.
His remains were retrieved at the UNIFIL headquarters, awaiting repatriation.
"We pay our highest respect and highest appreciation to our fallen soldiers," said Foreign Minister Sugiono on the sidelines of a presidential visit to Tokyo, Japan on Monday.
Two other Indonesian Blue Helmets suffered minor injuries and were still receiving treatment at a medical facility operated by the UNIFIL, while another soldier was airlifted to St. George Hospital in Beirut for a serious injury, the Indonesian Military (TNI) confirmed in a press statement.
A day later, in a separate incident in Bani Hayyan in southern Lebanon, two more Indonesian peacekeepers were killed "when an explosion of unknown origin destroyed their vehicle", the UN said. Two other peacekeepers were wounded, one of them seriously.
It is the most serious incident reported so far by the Indonesian contingent at the UNIFIL since Israel's war spread to Lebanon, and the first Indonesian casualties of the expanded US-Israeli war on Iran.
The area became a new flashpoint in the Mideast war in early March after Iran-affiliated armed group Hezbollah started trading rocket fire with Israel after an Israeli strike killed Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
Prior to the war in Iran, the UN peacekeeping operation in Lebanon was in the midst of being wound down. The Indonesian contingent has been a mainstay of patrols near the border.
In a statement early on Monday, the Foreign Ministry "strongly condemned the incident", saying any harm targeting peacekeepers was "unacceptable and undermines collective efforts to maintain peace and stability". It was not the first statement against violence in the region by Indonesia.
The ministry called on "all parties to respect Lebanon's sovereignty and territorial integrity, cease attacks against civilian populations and infrastructure and return to dialogue and diplomacy to prevent further escalation and advance peace".
UNIFIL, which has about 7,300 peacekeepers patrolling the Blue Line demarcation that separates southern Lebanon from northern Israel, said it was launching an investigation on the attack. Sugiono said from Tokyo that Indonesia would await the UNIFIL investigation "to find the origin of this incident".
Dave Laksono, Deputy Chair of House of Representatives Commission I overseeing defense and foreign affairs, said on Monday from Jakarta that the incident should serve as a litmus test for the government "to evaluate the roles of Indonesian troops" in UNIFIL, suggesting a withdrawal if safety and peace cannot be guaranteed.
Indonesia has been regularly sending troops to serve on rotation with UNIFIL since 2006. It is currently the second largest contributor to UNIFIL, with 743 troops and 13 staff officers.
In October 2024, two Indonesian peacekeepers were injured when an Israeli inside of a Merkava battle tank shot at an observation tower in southern Lebanon.
UNFIL has reported that its positions have been hit more than once since the start of the latest fighting, including when three peacekeepers serving with the Ghana contingent were wounded earlier this month, AFP reported.
'A major blow'
The incident amid war in the Middle East has also complicated Indonesia's participation in the United States-led Board of Peace initiative for Gaza, with Jakarta facing growing questions about whether it should press ahead with a plan to send peacekeeping troops under the International Stabilization Force (ISF) to Gaza.
The government had pledged to deploy 8,000 troops to Gaza sometime in April under the ISF, but the government said two weeks ago that the deployment was suspended after Jakarta put all discussions on the Board of Peace on hold due to escalation in the United States war.
Yon Machmudi, a Middle East expert from University of Indonesia, said that the recent Israeli attacks in Lebanon targeting peacekeeping forces should serve as a lesson for Indonesia to closely consider its plan of sending troops to Gaza, saying that Sunday killing was not an isolated case.
"The deployment of Indonesian troops to Gaza must be carefully studied and the decision should not be rushed before there is a withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza," Yon told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
Dafri Agussalim, an international relations expert at Gadjah Mada University, described Israel's increasingly aggressive actions as a "major blow" to Jakarta, which placed its trust in the US by joining the pro-Israel board.
But Defense Ministry spokesperson Brig. Gen. Rico Ricardo Sirait stopped short of giving definitive answers about whether the incident in Lebanon would deter the government from sending peacekeepers to Gaza.
"We are waiting for developments," Rico said on Monday.
International condemnation
UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres turned to X on Monday to condemn Sunday's incident, calling it one instance of "recent incidents that have jeopardized the safety" and "the security of peacekeepers".
The Iranian embassy in Jakarta has described the incident as a "direct consequence of Israel's continued aggression" which was carried out with "complicity and full support from the US".
The death of the Indonesian peacekeeper happened during a bloody weekend in which three Lebanese journalists and 10 paramedics reportedly were killed by Israeli strikes.
Lebanon's health ministry said on Saturday that more than 1,200 people had been killed by Israel since the start of the war, including 124 children and dozens of health workers, AFP reported. (ipa/nvn/tjs)
Source: https://asianews.network/indonesian-un-peacekeeper-killed-some-injured-in-southern-lebanon