In the joint statement, the countries urged the UN Security Council to conduct a thorough investigation into the incidents in Southern Lebanon that killed three Indonesian peacekeepers and wounded several others, including from France, Ghana, Nepal, and Poland.

The Foreign Ministry in Jakarta said 73 countries and UN observer nations supported the statement, delivered by Indonesia’s permanent representative to the UN, Umar Hadi, in New York.

"The safety and security of UN peacekeepers are non-negotiable. We urge the UN Security Council to use all available instruments to strengthen protection for peacekeeping forces amid an increasingly dangerous situation," the ministry quoted Umar as saying.

"Troop-contributing countries also call for an end to violence in Lebanon, de-escalation of tensions, and encourage all parties to return to the negotiating table to achieve a peaceful settlement," it added.

Three Indonesian peacekeepers died in two separate blasts in southern Lebanon in late March.

A third blast less than a week later -- inside a UN facility in southern Lebanon -- injured three more Indonesian soldiers.

The deadly incidents sparked calls from Indonesian authorities for an investigation and security guarantees for peacekeeping forces.

The Foreign Ministry has called the attacks "unacceptable".

It urged the UN Security Council "to immediately convene a meeting of troop-contributing countries to UNIFIL (the UN Interim Force in Lebanon) to conduct a review and take measures to enhance the protection of personnel serving with UN Interim Force in Lebanon".

The UN said that preliminary findings from its probe into the deaths of three Indonesian peacekeepers in Lebanon last month show one was killed by an Israeli tank projectile and two by an improvised explosive device most likely placed by Hezbollah.

"These are preliminary findings, based on initial physical evidence," U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told a news briefing last week, adding that a full investigation was continuing which included engagement with the parties concerned.

Dujarric called the incidents "unacceptable" and said they could amount to war crimes under international law.

He added the United Nations had requested that the cases be investigated and prosecuted by national authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice.

President Prabowo Subianto has said he "strongly condemns every heinous act that undermines peace and causes the deaths of our nation's soldiers".

Popular

America's currency is the Global South's problem

Acid attack ‘threat’ to young generation’s freedom

Indonesia’s data center boom raises alarm over water use