UN: Indonesian Peacekeeper in Lebanon Killed by Israeli Fire

The United Nations (UN) has officially confirmed that the death of an Indonesian UNIFIL peacekeeper in Lebanon was caused by fire from an Israeli military tank. This statement refers to the results of a thorough investigation into the incident that occurred at the end of March 2026.

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric revealed that based on evidence from the field, including analysis of the impact location, fragments of a projectile were found at the UN position known as 7-1. This finding is directly related to the fatal incident on 29 March 2026.

“The projectile was a 122mm main gun round fired by an Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) Merkava tank,” Dujarric stated firmly during a press conference on Tuesday (7 April) local time.

The UN report details two separate incidents that claimed the lives of Indonesian peacekeeping personnel amid the escalation of conflict in southern Lebanon:

Regarding the second incident on 30 March, the UN stated that the explosion was most likely triggered by an IED placed by Lebanese fighter group Hezbollah. This demonstrates the extreme danger of the conflict zone for international peacekeeping forces.

Tensions between Israel and Hezbollah have sharply increased since 2 March 2026. The conflict was triggered by Hezbollah rocket attacks on Israeli territory in response to joint US and Israeli military operations against Iran.

In response to those attacks, Israel launched a large-scale military operation covering southern Lebanon, the Beqaa Valley, and the outskirts of Beirut. On 16 March, the Israeli military officially announced the start of a ground operation in southern Lebanon, which has further narrowed the safe space for UNIFIL’s humanitarian and peacekeeping mission.

To date, the UN continues to urge all conflicting parties to respect the safety of peacekeeping personnel and comply with international law amid the increasingly uncertain situation.