{"id":366785,"date":"2026-03-31T01:58:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T01:58:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/366785\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T01:58:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T01:58:11","slug":"un-condemns-killing-of-two-more-peacekeepers-in-lebanon-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/366785\/","title":{"rendered":"UN condemns killing of two more peacekeepers in Lebanon"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two Indonesian\u00a0peacekeepers\u00a0were killed on Monday, and two more\u00a0were\u00a0injured, in an explosion that hit a\u00a0UNIFIL<\/a>\u00a0logistics\u00a0convoy, destroying their vehicle.<\/p>\n

The incident took place\u00a0near Bani Hayyan\u00a0in southern Lebanon a day\u00a0after\u00a0another Indonesian\u00a0blue helmet\u00a0was killed when a projectile hit\u00a0the\u00a0mission\u2019s\u00a0base\u00a0in\u00a0Ett\u00a0Taibe\u00a0and exploded.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

A colleague\u00a0\u2013\u00a0who was\u00a0critically injured\u00a0and evacuated to the capital,\u00a0Beirut\u00a0\u2013remains in hospital.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Never a target\u00a0<\/p>\n

UNIFIL is conducting\u00a0investigations\u00a0\u201cto determine the circumstances of these tragic developments,\u201d the head of UN Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, said in New York.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe strongly condemn these unacceptable incidents. Peacekeepers must never be a target,\u201d\u00a0he told journalists\u00a0at a press briefing\u00a0at UN Headquarters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u00a0also\u00a0remain seriously concerned about several aggressive\u00a0behaviour\u00a0incidents against UNIFIL peacekeepers in the past couple of days,\u201d\u00a0he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Widening regional risks\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mr. Lacroix affirmed that UN\u00a0peacekeepers\u00a0\u201cremain on the ground, carrying out\u00a0Security Council<\/a>-mandated tasks, in these extremely dangerous conditions.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tensions continue to rise in the Middle East\u00a0more than a month after the United States and Israel bombed Iran, prompting Iran to carry out retaliatory strikes on several countries in the region.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At the outset, UN\u00a0Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres<\/a>\u00a0warned<\/a>\u00a0that the\u00a0crisis\u00a0risked\u00a0\u201cigniting a chain of events that no one can control\u00a0in the most volatile region of the world.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Determining\u00a0the circumstances\u00a0<\/p>\n

Following the\u00a0deadly shelling\u00a0incident\u00a0on Sunday,\u00a0UNIFIL\u00a0Spokesperson\u00a0Kandice\u00a0Ardiel\u00a0told\u00a0UN News\u00a0that a probe was underway but will take time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the moment, we don’t have a clear idea of exactly what happened, but that\u2019s what the investigation will find out,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce we have that investigation concluded, per usual practice\u00a0we\u2019ll\u00a0share that with the parties. And depending on the result, if we find a party responsible, we will let them know and we will formally protest that to them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Service and sacrifice\u00a0<\/p>\n

More than\u00a08,000\u00a0peacekeepers from\u00a0nearly\u00a050\u00a0countries serve with\u00a0UNIFIL.\u00a0\u00a0These men and women\u00a0\u201cdemonstrate utmost courage and commitment to advancing international peace and security far away from home,\u201d\u00a0said Mr. Lacroix.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The mission\u00a0was\u00a0established\u00a0in 1978 by the\u00a0UN\u00a0Security Council\u00a0to\u00a0confirm the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon, restore\u00a0international peace and security, and\u00a0assist\u00a0the Lebanese Government in ensuring the return of its effective authority in the area.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u00a0has\u00a0played\u00a0an important role\u00a0in advancing peace and security,\u00a0including by\u00a0patrolling the Blue Line\u00a0of separation\u00a0between\u00a0the two countries.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018A very dangerous and volatile situation\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n

Peacekeepers also\u00a0assist\u00a0in implementing\u00a0the\u00a0Security Council\u00a0resolution\u00a0that\u00a0brought an end to\u00a0more than\u00a030 days\u00a0of\u00a0hostilities between Israeli forces and Hezbollah in 2006.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The current\u00a0clashes have led to\u00a0\u201ca multiplicity of violations\u201d of\u00a0resolution 1701 (2006)<\/a>, Mr. Lacroix\u00a0said, citing strikes in both directions across the Blue Line as well as the presence of Israeli forces in Lebanon.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen a great deal of Israeli incursions into South Lebanon in different areas, including near our headquarters in Naqoura, where about a week or so ago, in past days, we had some very violent battles that we could hear taking place,\u201d said Ms. Ardiel.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOur headquarters here was\u00a0impacted\u00a0by bullets, by shrapnel. Rockets even\u00a0impacted\u00a0in\u00a0our headquarters, so it was\u00a0a\u00a0very dangerous\u00a0and volatile\u00a0situation.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

No military solution\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mr. Lacroix\u00a0was adamant that\u00a0hostilities can\u00a0only be resolved through\u00a0diplomatic\u00a0means.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere cannot be a military solution.\u00a0There\u00a0has to\u00a0be a political solution,\u201d he\u00a0said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe framework is there for a political solution –\u00a0resolution 1701<\/a>\u00a0– to which all the parties are still committed, to the best of what we hear from them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two Indonesian\u00a0peacekeepers\u00a0were killed on Monday, and two more\u00a0were\u00a0injured, in an explosion that hit a\u00a0UNIFIL\u00a0logistics\u00a0convoy, destroying their vehicle. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":366786,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,176736,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-366785","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-https-peacekeeping-un-org-sites-default-files-field-image-unifil_peacekeepers-jpg","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-top-news","12":"tag-top-stories","13":"tag-topnews","14":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=366785"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366785\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/366786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=366785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=366785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=366785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}