Prabowo Suspends Deployment of Board of Peace Peacekeeping Forces to Gaza
JAKARTA — President Prabowo Subianto has stated that Indonesia is suspending the deployment of its Board of Peace (BoP) peacekeeping forces from Indonesia to Gaza, Palestine.
“The plan to send peacekeeping forces to Gaza is currently postponed,” read a statement from the Government Communications Body (Bakom) of the Republic of Indonesia on Monday (16 March 2026).
“All discussions related to BoP are being held in abeyance due to escalating conflict in the Middle East,” the statement continued.
Regarding the resolution of the conflict between the United States-Israel coalition and Iran, which are currently at war, Prabowo has offered himself as a mediator. According to Prabowo, the conflict has created uncertainty and instability for all nations worldwide.
Meanwhile, Prabowo has called on all conflicting parties to be willing to engage in dialogue to end the war. “My advice is always to seek peaceful options,” Prabowo said in the Bakom statement.
Prabowo is convinced that Indonesia can influence BoP from within. “If we are in it (BoP), we can still influence and work towards a long-term solution, which in our view is an independent Palestine, a two-state solution,” Prabowo said.
Defence Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin stated that Indonesia has 20,000 TNI military personnel ready to be deployed to Gaza to join the International Stabilisation Force (ISF). However, because other countries are only sending hundreds of personnel, Indonesia will send 8,000 troops.
“But it turns out that other countries are only sending hundreds. So we are ready with 8,000 personnel,” Sjafrie said when met at the Indonesian Defence Ministry in Central Jakarta on Thursday (12 March 2026).
Nevertheless, Sjafrie could not confirm the departure schedule of TNI forces because he recognised that BoP dynamics remain highly volatile. “The dynamics of BoP are very high at the moment. I think we all follow global developments between Israel, the United States, and Iran. There are quite a few reports that require special attention,” he said.