Jakarta. Indonesia has called out Israel for its military actions on Tuesday after Jakarta’s peacekeepers were killed in southern Lebanon.

Three Indonesian soldiers serving with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) had recently lost their lives in two separate blasts, all occurring within less than 24 hours.  The UNIFIL is now probing into the attacks that have taken place as the fighting between Israeli forces and Iran-backed Lebanese militants Hezbollah, raged on. Amid a climbing death toll, Indonesia — the world’s top contributor to the mission — described the “recurrence of such heinous attacks” as “utterly unacceptable”. 

“This cannot be treated as an isolated occurrence, but reflects a rapidly deteriorating security environment in southern Lebanon, where ongoing Israeli military operations have placed UN peacekeepers at grave risk,” a statement by the Indonesian Foreign Ministry reads.

Indonesia had also requested an emergency UN Security Council meeting on the peacekeeping mission. France — a critic of the attacks and a permanent member of the council — has made a similar request. If this plan actually comes to fruition, the US — an ally to Israel — will likely be in the same room. Just like France, the US, as a permanent member, can exercise the so-called veto power that will prevent any binding resolutions from passing.

Indonesian lawmakers have proposed that the government should consider pulling the UNIFIL troops out of southern Lebanon. In a recent press conference, Foreign Minister Sugiono had said that further discussions were still needed before arriving at a decision. However, Sugiono’s statement came at a time when the attack had only claimed one individual. 

Muhammad Waffaa Kharisma, an international relations analyst at the think tank CSIS Indonesia, said that the decision had put the government in a bind. Any decision made would depend on Jakarta’s objective.

“What is Indonesia’s priority? Is it maintaining its legitimate involvement [by doubling down on efforts] in multilateral missions where the UN and blue helmets are irreplaceable? Or does Indonesia seek to make a political statement of distrust by withdrawing its contingent?” Waffaa told the Jakarta Globe.

“This is a dilemma that Indonesia should solve by deciding what its goals are. It will be difficult if Indonesia shies away from pushing back against Israel. Our foreign minister has only condemned the act so far. [Pushing them back] must be part of the entire effort.”

On late Sunday (March 29), an Indonesian peacekeeper Farizal Rhomadhon was slain when a projectile fell into a UNIFIL position close to the town of Adchit Al Qusayr. Two Indonesian blue helmets — Zulmi Aditya Iskandar and Muhammad Nur Ichwan — lost their lives when an explosion hit a convoy vehicle close to Bani Haiyyan municipality the very next morning. The strikes have left several other Indonesian personnel wounded.

Indonesia contributed 755 peacekeepers to the UNIFIL as of March 30.

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