JAKARTA (Reuters) -Indonesia has trained up to 20,000 troops to take on health and construction-related tasks during a planned peacekeeping operation in the war-torn enclave of Gaza, the defence minister said on Friday.
The world’s most populous Muslim nation, Indonesia is among the countries with which the United States has discussed plans for a multinational stabilisation force in Gaza, which include Azerbaijan, Egypt and Qatar.
Last week, Reuters reported a draft readied by Washington for such a force that would authorise it to “use all necessary measures” to demilitarise Gaza, secure its borders, protect civilians and aid delivery, and support a newly trained Palestinian police force.
Indonesia says there is no decision yet on when troops will be deployed and what mandate they will have, underscoring the uncertainty over establishing an international presence in Gaza.
“We’ve prepared a maximum of 20,000 troops, but the specifications will revolve around health and construction,” Defence Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin told reporters. “We are waiting for further decisions on Gaza peace action.”
President Prabowo Subianto and Jordan’s King Abdullah, who is making a state visit to Indonesia from Friday, would discuss the initiative of U.S. President Donald Trump, he added.
“We’re waiting for the possibilities of a role Indonesia can take for peace efforts.”
He did not say when troops would be deployed or how many, but said the decision would be made by Prabowo.
If there was a United Nations resolution, Prabowo told the U.N. General Assembly in September, Indonesia was prepared to deploy 20,000 or more troops in Gaza to help secure peace.
Indonesia would require a U.N. Security Council mandate to participate, Foreign Minister Sugiono said this month.
Long an advocate of a two-state solution, Indonesia has often condemned Israel’s violence in Gaza and sent humanitarian aid. Indonesia has no diplomatic relations with Israel.
But analysts say Prabowo’s foreign policy stance has shifted slightly, pointing to last month’s U.N. speech that repeated his call for an independent Palestinian state while stressing the need to guarantee Israel’s safety and security.
(Reporting by Stanley Widianto; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
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