An Indonesian peacekeeper serving with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was killed, and at least three others wounded, after a projectile struck a UN position in southern Lebanon on Sunday, as Israel’s war on the country intensifies.
UNIFIL reported that the blast occurred near the town of Adchit al-Qusayr, close to the border with Israel, saying that the origin of the projectile remains under investigation.
Indonesia’s foreign ministry said "indirect artillery fire" killed one of its personnel and wounded three others, while calling for a full investigation into the incident.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved family, and we wish a full and swift recovery to the injured personnel," the ministry said, stressing that the safety and security of UN peacekeepers must be respected "at all times".
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres condemned the killing, saying "no one should ever lose their life serving the cause of peace", and warned that attacks on peacekeepers are "grave violations of international humanitarian law and may constitute a war crime".
The incident took place in an area of sustained Israeli military operations, where forces have been engaged in ongoing clashes with Hezbollah and where UN positions have come under repeated fire since the war widened earlier this month.
The violence has also seen mounting casualties among Israeli soldiers.
The Israeli military on Monday said a soldier was killed a day earlier in combat in southern Lebanon, bringing to six the number of troops killed since fighting with Hezbollah started earlier in March.
"Sergeant Liran Ben Zion, aged 19, from Holon... fell during combat in southern Lebanon," the military said.
On Sunday, six of its soldiers were wounded in three separate incidents in southern Lebanon on Sunday. Two soldiers were seriously injured by an anti-tank missile, while another was seriously wounded and two others hurt when a drone fell near them.
In a third incident, the army said one soldier was moderately injured in what it described as an "operational accident".
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has signalled a further expansion of Israel’s invasion of southern Lebanon, saying he had instructed the military to "further expand the existing security zone in order to finally thwart the threat of invasion and to push the anti-tank missile fire away from our border".
The move reflects what Israeli officials have described as a broader shift in military doctrine, with efforts to push Hezbollah fighters further north and establish depopulated buffer zones inside Lebanese territory.
Israeli airstrikes have also intensified beyond the immediate border area.
Strikes resumed on Beirut’s southern suburbs on Monday, with plumes of smoke rising over the Dahiyeh area after the Israeli military issued warnings for residents to evacuate. The area has been repeatedly targeted during the current war.
Across southern Lebanon, Israeli strikes on towns and villages have continued, with Lebanese authorities reporting increasing numbers of dead and wounded.
The health ministry has accused Israel of targeting civilian infrastructure, including ambulances and medical facilities, as the conflict deepens.
More than 60 people were reported killed over the weekend in Israeli strikes across southern Lebanon, including an ambulance crew and three journalists, as attacks on civilian and emergency personnel mount. Health authorities reported that at least 52 medical workers have now been killed since the war began earlier this month.
Lebanese authorities say more than 1,100 people have now been killed by Israel, including at least 120 children and dozens of women, while between 800,000 and 1 million people have been displaced across the country, in what aid agencies describe as one of the largest waves of internal displacement in Lebanon in recent decades.