Indonesia's announcement that it has trained up to 20,000 troops for potential deployment to Gaza sounds impressive—until you examine what "peacekeeping" actually means in the context of an unresolved conflict where the occupying power remains entrenched and the resistance movement retains both popular support and military capacity.
Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin's carefully worded statement that "no decision yet" exists on deployment timing or mandate captures the essential problem. The world's most populous Muslim nation positions itself as ready to act, signaling solidarity with Palestinians and burnishing its credentials as a regional leader. Yet the substantive questions—what would these troops actually do, under whose authority, and with what rules of engagement—remain deliberately vague because honest answers would expose the proposal's contradictions.
The UN mandate mirage
The Indonesian deployment hinges on United Nations Security Council authorization, which Defense Minister Sjamsoeddin correctly identifies as prerequisite. This requirement immediately reveals the first structural obstacle: any robust mandate empowering an International Stabilization Force to demilitarize Gaza, secure borders, and support a new Palestinian police force—as the US-drafted proposal envisions—would require consent from all five permanent UNSC members.
Russia and China have consistently blocked or diluted resolutions perceived as favoring Israeli security objectives while ignoring Palestinian political rights. Arab states that might support a peacekeeping presence will demand guarantees that the force protects Palestinian sovereignty rather than entrenching Israeli control under international cover. The mandate capable of securing universal approval will likely be so constrained as to render the force ineffective.
Historical precedent suggests caution. UNIFIL has operated in southern Lebanon since 1978 with a mandate to confirm Israeli withdrawal and restore Lebanese government authority. Four decades later, Hezbollah maintains an armed presence that UNIFIL observes but cannot prevent. The Lebanese comparison should worry anyone advocating for Gaza deployment—Hezbollah at least operates in a sovereign state with recognized borders, while Gaza's status remains contested and its governance structure unclear.
Members are reading: Why Indonesian peacekeepers would face impossible choices between enforcing Israeli security demands and maintaining legitimacy with Muslim populations—and what this reveals about stabilization forces as political theater.
The perpetual interim
President Prabowo Subianto's public commitment to deploy Indonesian troops "if authorized by the UN" represents sophisticated diplomatic positioning rather than genuine operational planning. Indonesia signals its importance as a Muslim-majority power, demonstrates solidarity that costs nothing while authorization remains hypothetical, and establishes itself as responsible stakeholder willing to contribute to international security.
Yet Indonesia's caution about "no decision yet on when troops will be deployed and what mandate they will have" betrays awareness that the proposal contains more politics than substance. King Abdullah II's visit to Indonesia to discuss Gaza cooperation indicates regional diplomatic coordination—but coordination toward what end remains unclear when the underlying political questions lack answers.
International stabilization forces work best when they separate previously warring parties who have reached exhaustion and accept an imposed settlement. Gaza presents the opposite conditions: an ongoing conflict where neither side accepts the territorial or political status quo, where the stronger party maintains occupation, and where international law and power realities point in opposite directions.
Indonesia's 20,000 trained troops represent impressive preparation for a mission that may never materialize—or if deployed, would discover that peacekeeping cannot substitute for peace.
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