Head of army says potential ‘peacemakers’ being trained, in what would be first outside force in Gaza since 1967
Indonesia has said it is preparing to send up to 8,000 troops to Gaza to be part of a peacekeeping force under Donald Trump’s Middle East plan.
The announcement by the army chief of staff, Gen Maruli Simanjuntak, makes Indonesia the first country to deliver a specific commitment to the international stabilisation force (ISF) envisaged as part of the second phase of the Trump plan.
Israeli public radio reported on Tuesday morning that a site in south Gaza, between Rafah and Khan Younis, had been designated for a barracks for the Indonesian force.
The arrival of Indonesian peacekeepers in Gaza would be historic, as the first outside force on the territory since 1967. It would also put the world’s most populous Islamic country at the heart of the Middle East’s most intractable conflict.
