UN Peacekeepers killed in Lebanon — India demands urgent global action

In a post on X on Monday, India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Parvathaneni Harish said: "Peacekeepers serve under difficult conditions and are deployed with the backing of a @UN mandate in conflict areas."

He further said: "Peacekeeping is multilateralism in action. The safety and security of the Peacekeepers must be a priority."

"Underlining the centrality of this principle, piloted the UN Security Council resolution 2589, which seeks Accountability for Crimes against Peacekeepers," he said.

Condemning the attack on UN peackeepers, he said: "India joins the international community in condemning the recent attacks on @UN Peacekeepers deployed in UNIFIL. We pay our homage to the fallen Blue Helmets."

The United Nations has condemned two consecutive days of deadly attacks on peacekeepers serving with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), amid rising hostilities between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants.

Two Indonesian peacekeepers were killed on Monday, and two more were injured, in an explosion that hit a UNIFIL logistics convoy, destroying their vehicle.

The incident took place near Bani Hayyan in southern Lebanon a day after another Indonesian blue helmet was killed when a projectile hit the mission’s base in Ett Taibe and exploded. 

A colleague – who was critically injured and evacuated to the capital, Beirut –remains in hospital.

Never a target

UNIFIL is conducting investigations “to determine the circumstances of these tragic developments,” the head of UN Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, said in New York.

“We strongly condemn these unacceptable incidents. Peacekeepers must never be a target,” he told journalists at a press briefing at UN Headquarters.

“We also remain seriously concerned about several aggressive behaviour incidents against UNIFIL peacekeepers in the past couple of days,” he added.

Widening regional risks

Lacroix affirmed that UN peacekeepers “remain on the ground, carrying out Security Council-mandated tasks, in these extremely dangerous conditions.” 

Tensions continue to rise in the Middle East more than a month after the United States and Israel bombed Iran, prompting Iran to carry out retaliatory strikes on several countries in the region.

At the outset, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that the crisis risked “igniting a chain of events that no one can control in the most volatile region of the world.”

Since 2 March, more than 1,200 people in Lebanon have been killed in the escalation in hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, said UN Special Coordinator for the country Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert.

More than 8,000 peacekeepers from nearly 50 countries serve with UNIFIL.