Jakarta: Indonesia has begun training a contingent of up to 8,000 soldiers it plans to send as part of an international peacekeeping force to Gaza, the first firm commitment to a critical element of US President Donald Trump’s postwar reconstruction plan.
Indonesia has experience in peacekeeping operations as one of the top 10 contributors to United Nations missions, including in Lebanon, and has been deeply involved in providing humanitarian aid to Gaza, including funding a hospital.
But many Indonesians are sceptical of President Prabowo Subianto’s plans to join Washington’s proposed Board of Peace and participate in the International Security Force with only vague details so far on how they will operate, seeing it as simply kowtowing to Trump’s agenda as the two countries negotiate a trade deal.
“We need to be careful to ensure that our military personnel are not supporting the Israeli military forces,” said Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat, a Middle East expert with Jakarta’s Center of Economic and Law Studies. “We need to be careful that our military forces are not fighting against wrong actors.” UN peacekeeping forces all have clear and strict mandates, but since the Board of Peace and ISF will operate outside the UN, many wonder how the troops will be used, and who will pay for them. Last year’s ceasefire agreement broadly says that the ISF will “provide support to vetted Palestinian police forces in Gaza” and will “work with Israel and Egypt to help secure border areas.”
Indonesia currently is paid by the UN for the troops it sends to serve as peacekeepers, but people fear it will have to pick up the tab for the troops sent to Gaza, as well as a possible $1 billion payment for a permanent place on the Board of Peace, as outlined in a draft charter.