PBNU Chairman on the Death of Three TNI Soldiers in Lebanon: The Risk of Involvement in Missions
General Chairman of the Nahdlatul Ulama Executive Board (PBNU), Yahya Cholil Staquf, views the deaths of three TNI soldiers participating in the peacekeeping mission in Lebanon as a risk inherent to Indonesia’s involvement in such operations. This statement responds to proposals from various parties urging the government to withdraw Indonesian troops from the Lebanon region.
“I believe that is indeed part of the risk that must be recognised from the outset when we join peacekeeping forces like that. Wherever it happens, soldiers are prepared for it,” said Yahya when met at the PBNU office in Jakarta on Friday, 11 March 2026.
Yahya stated that PBNU does not take a position supporting or opposing the proposal to withdraw soldiers from the conflict zone between Lebanon and Israel. He believes President Prabowo Subianto, as head of state and former soldier, knows the best decision to make.
According to Yahya, the situation in the war zone is highly complex. Every decision must not be based solely on emotions or subjective desires. Additionally, Yahya emphasised that the constitution mandates Indonesia’s involvement in maintaining world order.
“Thus, we do not have the luxury of making decisions merely to indulge subjective emotions because we must seek a way out of the conflict,” said Yahya.
When asked for comment on the lack of explicit condemnation from Prabowo against Israel, which caused the TNI soldiers’ deaths, Yahya urged the public not to localise the war to one side alone. He also asked the public not to view the war from one perspective only, whether from Israel’s or Lebanon’s side.
He then likened the way some Indonesians view the escalation of the war between Israel and Lebanon to watching a football match. “Watching football, if one side scores, we cheer, but if the team we support concedes, we curse and so on,” he said. “So we must not view war like watching football,” he added.
Three Indonesian soldiers died in a series of battles between Israel and Lebanon at the end of March. The UN’s initial investigation found that the death of TNI soldier Farizal Rhomadon was caused by Israeli tank fire in Lebanon on 29 March 2026.
Meanwhile, the deaths of the two other TNI soldiers, Zulmi Aditya Iskandar and Muhammad Nur Ichwan, in Lebanon were caused by an improvised explosive device suspected to have been planted by Hezbollah.
In addition to those three soldiers, eight TNI personnel involved in the peacekeeping mission were injured due to a series of attacks between Israel and Hezbollah.
On that basis, former President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) assessed that the situation in the deployment area for peacekeeping forces is no longer safe. He stated that the area in Lebanon occupied by TNI soldiers, which was originally a blue zone and not a combat area, has now turned into a war zone.
“With this argument, the UN in New York should immediately take firm decisions and steps to stop the UNIFIL assignment or relocate their positions away from the still-burning battlefield,” Yudhoyono said via his X account, @SBYudhoyono, on Sunday, 5 April 2026.