JAKARTA, April 1 (Reuters) – Indonesia has called on the United Nations to conduct an investigation into the deaths of three of its UNIFIL peacekeepers following Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon, a foreign ministry official said in a statement published on Wednesday.
The ministry’s U.N. representative, Umar Hadi, made the statement during an emergency meeting of the Security Council on Tuesday.
“We demand a direct investigation from the U.N., not just Israel’s excuses,” he said.
Indonesia said earlier this week that ongoing Israeli military operations have placed U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon at grave risk.
The Indonesian peacekeepers were killed in two separate incidents in southern Lebanon after a bloody weekend in which Lebanese journalists and medics were also killed in Israeli strikes.
A roadside explosion appeared to have struck the convoy of two Indonesian peacekeepers killed in southern Lebanon on Monday, U.N. peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix said on Tuesday, citing the initial findings of an investigation.
The Israeli military said on Tuesday that its review of an incident involving UNIFIL troops on Monday concluded that Israeli troops did not place an explosive device in the area and that no troops were present there.
Indonesia contributes over 2,700 uniformed personnel to U.N. peacekeeping, among the largest contributors globally, the U.N. said in 2024.
Indonesia has pledged to contribute troops for potential deployment in Gaza as part of the U.N.-mandated multinational International Stabilization Force.
(Reporting by Stanley Widianto; Editing by David Stanway)
