Blue helmets

Three UN peacekeepers were killed in southern Lebanon since the weekend, all Indonesian nationals, according to Indonesian and UN officials. The Security Council called an emergency meeting. On Monday, a Lebanese soldier was killed and five wounded by "a direct Israeli attack on an army checkpoint" on the Qlaileh-Tyre road.

More than 1,200 people have been killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon over the past month, including at least 124 children and 42 health workers. The WHO reported nine paramedics killed and seven wounded in five separate attacks on Saturday. Defence Minister Katz said Israel will destroy border towns in southern Lebanon. The Lebanese government called the operation "a new occupation".

Killing UN peacekeepers is a line few countries cross without severe diplomatic consequences. Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim country and one of the main troop contributors to UNIFIL. Israel has insisted Hezbollah uses medical facilities and rescue vehicles for military purposes. But the blue helmets are not Hezbollah. They are the physical presence of the multilateral system. And three of them are dead.