Gaza War Expands, Ministry Of Foreign Affairs Prepares Strategy For Evacuating Indonesian Citizens In Lebanon

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has begun to prepare a strategy to evacuate Indonesian citizens (WNI) in Lebanon if the Israeli and Hamas wars in the Gaza Strip, which have now spread to Lebanon, worsen.

Tensions on the Lebanese-Israeli border have continued to escalate after Hezbollah and Israel have been shooting each other at the border since October 7, 2023, when Palestinian resistance group Hamas launched an unexpected attack on Israel.

The attack has sparked a conflict involving other armed groups allied with Iran across the Middle East.

Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said the strategy to evacuate Indonesian citizens from Lebanon had begun to be discussed because she considered the large number of Indonesian citizens in the country, namely 217 people.

"Now we don't know what the developing situation will be, but Pak Judha (Director of Indonesian Protection) has started preparing an exit strategy if the situation on the Israeli-Lebanon border worsens which has an impact on Indonesian citizens," Retno said as quoted by ANTARA, Wednesday, December 27.

"From time to time, we have seen not only the situation in Gaza, but also other countries that may be affected by the situation in Gaza," he added.

Retno said that the Indonesian peacekeeping force in Lebanon is still in the country, and so far there has been no change in the mandate of the United Nations (UN) against Indonesian troops in Lebanon.

An Israeli attack on Lebanon hit a resident's house in the southern part of the country on December 21, according to the official Lebanese news agency and a security source, quoted by Reuters.

The attack killed an elderly woman and injured her husband.

The attack was carried out amid Israel's efforts to launch a counter-attack on Hezbollah's targets in Lebanon.

According to Reuters records, the elderly' deaths have increased the death toll among civilians as a result of Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon in recent weeks to about 20 people, including journalists and children.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah said it had lost more than 100 fighters in the current conflict with Israel.