Despite Pressure to Withdraw from UNIFIL Like Malaysia, TNI Headquarters Will Still Send 756 New Personnel to Lebanon

TNI Headquarters has assured that it will still dispatch 756 new personnel as a rotation for the peacekeeping troops in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) mission at the end of May 2026. However, there have recently been calls for Indonesia to withdraw from UNIFIL, similar to the Malaysian government’s action.

Commander of the TNI Peacekeeping Mission Centre, Major General TNI Iwan Bambang Setiawan, stressed that Indonesia’s foreign policy in UN missions is independent and not influenced by anything, including decisions by neighbouring countries.

“We cannot measure it based on other countries’ interests. If Malaysia has its own calculations, we leave that to the Malaysian government,” said Iwan after paying respects at the home of one soldier who fell in Lebanon, Captain Infantry Zulmi Aditya Iskandar, in Cimahi, West Java, on Wednesday (1/4/2026).

Iwan affirmed that Indonesia’s constitutional mandate to maintain world peace will continue as scheduled by UN Headquarters, namely on 22 May 2026. The number of personnel to be sent, he continued, is 756 new personnel to Lebanon, in line with the total quota requested by the UN.

The plan involves repatriating the soldiers currently on duty in Lebanon, who have been serving in the mission area for more than a year.

“On 22 May, the rotation is planned to be carried out soon in accordance with the one-year assignment period in the mission area. They have been there for more than a year,” said the two-star general.