Observer Calls Israel's Claim on Peacekeeper Attack Premature

Professor of International Law at the University of Indonesia, Hikmahanto Juwana, stated that the claim by Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon, who said Hezbollah was responsible for attacking UN peacekeepers (UNIFIL), is premature. “This statement is very premature considering that the investigation will only be conducted by UNIFIL (the UN Peacekeeping Force for Lebanon),” said Hikmahanto in his statement on Wednesday (1/4/2026). He added that Danny Danon’s claim that the Israeli military did not fire near the UNIFIL position is also too early and without evidence. That statement instead gives the impression that Israel is indeed the party that carried out the attack and deliberately injured UNIFIL troops. Therefore, he expressed appreciation to Indonesia’s Permanent Deputy to the UN, Ambassador Umar Hadi, for countering Israel’s arguments. In the emergency session of the UN Security Council, Umar Hadi emphasised that Indonesia does not accept any excuses from Israel and that UNIFIL must independently investigate the attack incident that resulted in the deaths of three TNI soldiers. Prior to this, UNIFIL reported that three Indonesian peacekeepers were killed within less than 24 hours in southern Lebanon. In the incident, two TNI soldiers were killed, while two others were injured, one of them in serious condition, quoted from CBC on Monday. This incident occurred just hours after a separate incident that killed another TNI soldier. He was reported dead when the UNIFIL base was hit by a projectile near the village of Adchit al-Qusayr, which is also in southern Lebanon. UNIFIL stated that it has launched investigations into both incidents.