As ISF Deputy Commander, Indonesia to Deploy 8,000 TNI Troops to Gaza Within One to Two Months
President Prabowo Subianto has announced that TNI troops will be deployed to Gaza, Palestine, within one to two months, with 8,000 soldiers set to be sent.
“Perhaps not long, another one to two months,” President Prabowo told reporters after the inaugural Board of Peace Summit for Gaza in Washington DC, United States, on Thursday (19 February) local time.
The 8,000 TNI troops will serve alongside the International Stabilisation Force (ISF), whose members comprise a coalition of Gaza Board of Peace member states. Prabowo also mentioned the possibility of an advance team being deployed to Gaza first.
The advance team would be dispatched in relatively small numbers, as their mission includes mapping the territory and analysing risks ahead of the main TNI contingent’s service with the ISF.
On the same occasion, Prabowo conveyed that Indonesia has been entrusted with the role of ISF Deputy Commander.
“They have asked us to serve as deputy commander,” said President Prabowo.
Indonesia, Prabowo said, will appoint its finest officer to represent the country as ISF Deputy Commander.
“We’ll select someone — we’ll find a good one,” Prabowo said.
At the inaugural Board of Peace Summit held at the Donald J Trump Institute of Peace in Washington DC on Thursday morning local time, Prabowo affirmed that Indonesia would send 8,000 TNI soldiers to serve alongside the ISF in Gaza, Palestine.
“The ceasefire in Gaza is a tangible achievement. We commend this accomplishment and therefore reaffirm our commitment to contribute by sending a significant number of our troops — 8,000, and potentially more if required,” Prabowo said during the Board of Peace Summit.
Meanwhile, ISF Commander Major General Jasper Jeffers of the United States Armed Forces stated that projections indicate 20,000 soldiers and 12,000 police officers will eventually serve with the ISF to restore the post-war situation in Gaza.
Major General Jeffers indicated that Rafah, located in southern Gaza and bordering Egypt, would be the ISF’s first destination.
Thus far, besides Indonesia, other nations set to deploy troops with the ISF include Kazakhstan, Albania, Morocco, and Kosovo.
Egypt and Morocco will also deploy police officers to provide training to police forces in Gaza, Palestine.
The Board of Peace Summit, chaired by President Trump, lasted approximately three hours, during which all representatives from member states and key figures from the Board of Peace’s core structure presented their views and outlined their plans for the recovery and reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, Palestine.