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ASEAN Beat | Security | Southeast Asia

Indonesia Readies 1,000 Soldiers for Potential Deployment to Gaza in April

Jakarta’s contribution to the U.N. Security Council-mandated International Stabilization Force (ISF) has stirred controversy at home.

The aftermath of Israeli attacks in Khan Yunis, Gaza, July 13, 2024.

One thousand Indonesian troops could be ready for deployment to Gaza by as early as April, a spokesperson for the country’s army said yesterday, as the country gears up to participate in a U.N.-mandated multinational peacekeeping force.

Donny Pramono said that the 1,000 soldiers were part of a larger contingent of 8,000 who will be ready for deployment by June, Reuters reported. He told the news agency that President Prabowo Subianto would make the final decision about the deployment.

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One thousand Indonesian troops could be ready for deployment to Gaza by as early as April, a spokesperson for the country’s army said yesterday, as the country gears up to participate in a U.N.-mandated multinational peacekeeping force.

Donny Pramono said that the 1,000 soldiers were part of a larger contingent of 8,000 who will be ready for deployment by June, Reuters reported. He told the news agency that President Prabowo Subianto would make the final decision about the deployment.

“The departure schedule remains entirely subject to the political decisions of the state and applicable international mechanisms,” he said.

The comments came as Prabowo prepares to travel to the United States for the first official meeting of President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, which will take place in Washington, D.C., on February 19.

In November, the United Nations Security Council voted to create an International Stabilization Force (ISF) that would help implement the Trump administration’s peace plan for Gaza. Prabowo has leapt at the opportunity provided by the ISF to enhance Indonesia’s status as an important player in global affairs, and in Gaza in particular.

Since taking office in late 2024, Prabowo has repeatedly signaled Indonesia’s willingness to support a peace plan for Gaza, and to expand its global peacekeeping footprint. Addressing the U.N. General Assembly back in September, Prabowo said that Indonesia was prepared to “deploy 20,000 or even more of our sons and daughters to help secure peace in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, Libya everywhere peace needs to be enforced and guarded.”

Indonesia’s promised deployment would be by far its largest contribution to a multinational peacekeeping operation in its history. However, the Indonesian National Armed Forces’ participation in the ISF has prompted a vigorous public debate within the country. At the heart of the controversy is the ardent public support for the Palestinian cause, and the fear among many Indonesians that the country’s soldiers will be deployed in a mission that supports Israel’s cleansing of Gaza, or undercuts the rights of the Palestinians.

For years, Indonesia has refused to open diplomatic relations with Israel, and has been outspoken in its criticisms of Tel Aviv – including its assaults on Gaza since the terror attacks of October 7, 2023. As Galuh Maulana Yusuf noted in these pages last week, this makes the deployment of Indonesian troops to Gaza a politically risky proposition for Prabowo’s administration.

“Should ISF actions seem to favor Israeli objectives too heavily, a public outcry could prompt Indonesia to withdraw its brigade, jeopardizing Prabowo’s larger peacekeeping goals,” he argued.

These concerns are compounded by Prabowo’s decision to join U.S. President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, alongside Israel, Turkiye, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and other nations. Ronny P. Sasmita, an international affairs analyst at the Indonesia Strategic and Economics Action Institution, argued in an article for Al Jazeera this week that Indonesia’s involvement in the Board of Peace, which Trump has explicitly positioned as a rival to the U.N., signaled “a significant shift” in Indonesia’s “free and active” foreign policy.

He added, “At a time of intensifying geopolitical volatility, Jakarta appears to be committing itself to a project shaped around a single, deeply polarizing political figure,” he wrote. He added that this “risks weakening the philosophical foundations of its diplomacy, built over decades.”

Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has claimed on numerous occasions that the military’s participation in the ISF would be restricted to non-combatant, humanitarian roles. On Saturday, it said that its participation in the mission was being carried out with the consent of the Palestinian authorities, and should not be interpreted as a move toward normalization of political relations with any party.

“Indonesia consistently rejects all attempts at demographic change or the forced displacement or relocation of the Palestinian people in any form,” the Ministry said, as per Reuters.

Sebastian Strangio is Southeast Asia editor at The Diplomat. 

Indonesia Palestine policy

Indonesia peacekeeping

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