Indonesia says proposed Gaza peacekeeping force could total 20,000 troops

JAKARTA, Feb 10 (Reuters) – A proposed multinational peacekeeping force for Gaza could total about 20,000 troops, with Indonesia estimating it could contribute up to 8,000, President Prabowo Subianto’s ‍spokesman said on Tuesday.

The spokesman said, however, that no deployment terms or areas of operation had been agreed.

Prabowo has been invited to Washington later this month for the first meeting of U.S. President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace. The Southeast Asian country last year committed ‌to ready 20,000 troops for deployment for a ‌Gaza peacekeeping force, but it has said it is awaiting more details about the force’s mandate before confirming deployment.

“The total number is approximately 20,000 (across countries) … it is not only Indonesia,” presidential spokesman Prasetyo Hadi told ​journalists on Tuesday, adding that the exact number of troops had not been discussed yet but Indonesia estimated it could ‍offer up to 8,000.

“We are just ​preparing ourselves in case an agreement is reached and ​we have to send peacekeeping forces,” he said.

Prasetyo also said there ‍would be negotiations before Indonesia paid the $1 billion being asked for permanent membership of the Board of Peace. He did not clarify who the negotiations would be with, and said Indonesia had not yet confirmed Prabowo’s attendance at the board meeting.

Separately, ‍Indonesia’s defence ministry also denied reports in Israeli media that the deployment of Indonesian troops would be in Gaza’s Rafah and Khan Younis.

“Indonesia’s ‍plans to contribute ‍to peace and humanitarian support in Gaza ​are still in the preparation and coordination stages,” ​defence ministry ⁠spokesman Rico Ricardo Sirat told Reuters in ‌a message.

“Operational matters (deployment location, number of personnel, schedule, mechanism) have not yet been finalised and will be announced once an official decision has been made and the necessary international mandate has been clarified,” he added.

(Reporting by Stefanno Sulaiman and Ananda Teresia; Writing by Gibran Peshimam, Editing ⁠by William Maclean)