Brigadier Amitabh Jha, acting UN Peacekeeping Force Commander, passes away at Golan Heights amid tensions with Israel

By R Anil Kumar

• UN Secretary-General António Guterres pays tribute to Indian army officer Brigadier Amitabh Jha, who led UN peacekeeping force

• Indian Army confirmed his death on Tuesday. Jha was also serving as the acting Force Commander of UNDOF after the fall of Assad government

UNITED NATIONS, December 26. Brigadier Amitabh Jha, who was serving as the Deputy Force Commander (DFC) of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) in the Golan Heights, has died due to medical reasons, reported United Nations.

Brigadier Amitabh Jha was serving as Deputy Force Commander of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force from April 2023

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has paid tributes to Brigadier Amitabh Jha of India, who was serving with the UNDOF at Golan Heights, and said he will be remembered for his “leadership and unwavering commitment to United Nations peacekeeping”.

Brigadier Jha was serving as Deputy Force Commander of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) from April 2023 and had recently served as acting Force Commander of UNDOF in complex circumstances, following the fall of the Assad government in Syria.

“He will be remembered for his leadership and unwavering commitment to United Nations peacekeeping, including in the United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) as a Military Observer from 2005 to 2006,” a statement by the spokesman for Guterres said late on Tuesday.

Posted in the conflict-ridden Golan Heights, the place has recently witnessed an escalation in attacks in recent months.

Israel had captured most of the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War.

In 1973, a disengagement agreement was signed between Israel and Syria following the Yom Kippur War. After this the United Nations established a buffer zone in the Golan Heights monitored by UNDOF.

However, increased hostilities between Syria and Israel have led to incidences of firing and shelling raising concerns for peacekeeping forces and civilians living in the area.

The Secretary-General extends his heartfelt condolences to Brigadier Jha’s family and to the Government of India for their loss, the statement added.

Earlier, the Indian Army while paying tributes to Brigadier Jha in a post on X said, “#GeneralUpendraDwivedi #COAS and All Ranks of #IndianArmy express deepest condolences on the untimely demise of Brigadier Amitabh Jha due to medical reasons.”

“Indian Army stands firm with the bereaved family in this hour of grief,” it had added in the post along with Jha’s photo.

According to the UNDOF website, Brigadier Jha joined the UNDOF Mission on April 14, 2023. He was an Infantry Officer & prior to his deployment to UNDOF, had commanded a Brigade in Glaciated Mountainous terrain of India, and a Specialised unit as Commanding Officer.

Jha had a keen interest in reading on “military diplomacy, geopolitics, Indo-Pacific, modern & small wars, sub-conventional warfare & tribes & culture,” it said, adding, he was a keen sports enthusiast, who played troop games and enjoyed backpacking in the mountains.