Who Will Serve as Indonesia's Deputy Commander of the ISF?

Indonesian Foreign Minister Sugiono has addressed questions regarding the identity of the TNI member who will serve as Deputy Commander of the International Stabilisation Force (ISF), stating that no decision has yet been made on the appointment.

“It will be discussed first. The TNI will make the selection,” Sugiono said on Saturday (21 February 2026).

According to Sugiono, the ISF will have three deputy commanders. Indonesia was chosen for the Deputy Commander for Operations role owing to its contribution of 8,000 personnel, one of the largest contingents in the force.

“The force commander position is held by the United States. There are three deputy commanders, one of whom is the deputy commander for operations. Because Indonesia’s contingent is among the largest there, we were given the Operations Deputy Commander role,” he said.

Sugiono added that the deputy commander position represents a mark of honour and recognition for the Indonesian military. He also highlighted the track record of Indonesian peacekeeping forces.

“This is also a tribute and recognition of Indonesia’s track record and the reputation of Indonesian soldiers across various peacekeeping theatres. I believe this position will also facilitate our objectives and intentions in deploying forces to the ISF,” he said.

Sugiono previously stated that the deployment of 8,000 TNI personnel to Palestine would be carried out in phases. The peacekeeping forces will initially be stationed in Rafah.

“It will be phased, because as I mentioned, the stages there are also divided into several sectors. The details are not yet finalised, but there will be approximately five sectors. The estimated total force across all sectors will be 20,000 or possibly more. This is something that is progressive in nature,” Sugiono said.

When asked whether the Board of Peace peacekeeping forces would be deployed to Rafah, Sugiono confirmed this but acknowledged that he did not yet have the full details.

“It will start from there (Rafah), as was mentioned yesterday, but the details will come later — what the operations will look like, what the theatre will look like,” he said.