March 31, 2026 | 10:41 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot on Monday, March 30, 2026, condemned Israel's recent attacks on peacekeepers serving with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in Lebanon and called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council.
“France condemns in the strongest possible terms the gunfire that caused the death, on March 29, of an Indonesian UNIFIL peacekeeper and injured three other members of the Force, as well as the explosion that caused the death, on March 30, of two other Indonesian peacekeepers and injured two more members of the Force,” he said in a statement via the US social media company, X, as quoted by Anadolu.
The statement said attacks in the vicinity of UNIFIL peacekeepers are "unacceptable and unjustifiable."
Extending condolences to the fallen soldier and wishes for swift recovery for the injured, France said it stood "in solidarity with Indonesia" while calling for full clarity into the attacks.
Barrot also condemned the incident involving the French contingent of UNIFIL in the Naqoura area.
“These threats to security and acts of intimidation by Israeli army soldiers against UN personnel are unacceptable and unjustifiable, especially since deconfliction procedures had been respected. These condemnations have been conveyed with the utmost firmness to the Israeli ambassador in Paris,” he said.
He urged all parties to respect UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and to ensure the safety of UN personnel. “UNIFIL must be able to fully implement its mandate and exercise complete freedom of movement,” he said.
UNIFIL said two peacekeepers were killed on Monday “when an explosion of unknown origin destroyed their vehicle” near the village of Bani Hayyan in southern Lebanon. Indonesia's Defense Ministry on Tuesday, March 31, 2026, stated that two of its soldiers were killed in the attack on Monday.
On Sunday, UNIFIL said one peacekeeper was killed and another was injured after a projectile hit a UNIFIL position near the town of Adshit al-Qusayr in southern Lebanon.
Lebanon's state news agency, NNA, said Israeli artillery fire targeted the headquarters of the Indonesian UNIFIL unit in the same town, without providing further details.
Indonesia's Foreign Ministry later confirmed that the peacekeeper killed on Sunday was an Indonesian national. It was stated that three other Indonesian peacekeepers from UNIFIL were also injured in the attack, described as "indirect artillery fire."
Read: Minister Sugiono Responds to Calls to Withdraw Indonesian Peacekeepers from Lebanon
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