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Indonesia has said it is preparing to send up to 8,000 troops to Gaza to be part of a peacekeeping force under Donald Trump’s Middle East plan.
The announcement by the army chief of staff, Gen Maruli Simanjuntak, makes Indonesia the first country to deliver a specific commitment to the international stabilisation force (ISF) envisaged as part of the second phase of the Trump plan.
Israeli public radio reported on Tuesday morning that a site in south Gaza, between Rafah and Khan Younis, had been designated for a barracks for the Indonesian force.
The arrival of Indonesian peacekeepers in Gaza would be historic, as the first outside force on the territory since 1967. It would also put the world’s most populous Islamic country at the heart of the Middle East’s most intractable conflict.
Maruli said he expected an army brigade, between 5,000 and 8,000 troops, to be sent but emphasised that the mission was still in the planning stages. “It’s all still being negotiated, not certain. So there’s no certainty on the number until now,” Maruli said.
The potential role of an international force has been hazy since Trump suggested it as part of his ceasefire plan in September last year. Suggested troop contributors, Indonesia included, have been reluctant to put their forces in the position of trying to disarm Hamas on Israel’s behalf. Violence has reduced under a ceasefire announced in October, but there is still near-daily Israeli bombardment, and more than 500 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire was declared.
Gen Maruli’s remarks suggested that he envisaged Indonesian troops would play a supporting role. “We’ve started training people who could potentially become peacemakers. So, we’re preparing engineering and health units like that,” the army chief said.
According to a version of the Trump plan put forward at the World Economic Forum in Davos last month by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, an interim administration run by Palestinian technocrats would take on daily governance of Gaza, including the disarming of Hamas, with the help of a Palestinian police force being trained in Jordan and Egypt.
The deployment of a significant number of foreign soldiers, particularly those from an Islamic country, is likely to be fiercely opposed by the powerful far-right wing of Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition, who will see it as a step towards the realisation of a Palestinian state, which has already been recognised by more than 80% of UN member states.
Israeli extremists, inside and outside the government, want to force the Palestinian population out of Gaza and build Israeli settlements there.
Netanyahu was due to fly to Washington on Tuesday for talks with Trump on Iran, Gaza and other regional issues, as rival actors seek to shape the US president’s views on how his ambitious but vague peace plan will be implemented.
Indonesia’s president, Prabowo Subianto, has agreed to join the “board of peace”, a Trump-run collection of world leaders who are supposed to oversee the peace process in Gaza, and potentially other conflict zones around the world. The board’s first full meeting has been scheduled for Thursday next week, and Prabowo has reportedly been invited.
When the peace plan was first unveiled last September, Prabowo made an initial offer of 20,000 troops for the ISF. The president and former army general has been keen to raise Indonesia’s profile on the world stage. However, there is anxiety among some Indonesian observers that the country could become embroiled in a situation it cannot control.
“Ultimately, Indonesia’s decision to join Trump’s [board of peace] is a diplomatic gamble that is only worthwhile if it produces real influence rather than mere symbolism,” a commentary in the Jakarta Globe said. It argued that if Indonesia could help shape the board of peace without being used for the interests of others, the board could have humanitarian benefits. But it added: “If not, Indonesia risks becoming part of a diplomatic problem larger than the conflict it seeks to end.”
