BEIRUT – Three United Nations peacekeepers from Indonesia were killed in two separate incidents in southern Lebanon after a bloody weekend in which Lebanese journalists and medics were killed in Israeli strikes.
Two peacekeepers were killed on Monday after an explosion from an unknown origin destroyed their vehicle near Bani Hayyan in south Lebanon, the U.N. peacekeeping force UNIFIL said in a statement. Two other soldiers were wounded in the blast.
Earlier, another Indonesian soldier was killed overnight Sunday into Monday when a projectile exploded by one of the group’s positions by the southern Lebanese village of Adchit al-Qusayr. Another peacekeeper was critically injured at the time.
The death on Sunday was the first among the U.N.’s peacekeeping force in the new war between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah which erupted on March 2.
“These are two separate incidents and we are investigating them as two separate incidents,” said UNIFIL’s spokesperson Kandice Ardiel.
In response to the first death, Indonesia’s foreign ministry said on Monday the deceased peacekeeper was one of its citizens and that three others were injured by “indirect artillery fire”.
Indonesia condemned the incident and said any harm to peacekeepers is unacceptable, while reiterating its condemnation “of Israel’s attacks in southern Lebanon.”
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the incidents.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said attacks on peacekeepers are grave violations of international humanitarian law and may amount to war crimes.
“We strongly condemn these unacceptable incidents – peacekeepers must never be a target,” UNIFIL chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix told reporters in a briefing on Monday.
