Indonesia says its Gaza peacekeepers would focus on health, infrastructure tasks

Indonesia has trained up to 20,000 troops to take on health and construction-related tasks during a planned peacekeeping operation in the war-torn enclave of Gaza, the defense minister said on Friday.

The world's most populous Muslim nation, Indonesia is among the countries with which the United States has discussed plans for a multinational stabilization force in Gaza, which include Azerbaijan, Egypt and Qatar.

Last week, Reuters reported a draft readied by Washington for such a force that would authorize it to "use all necessary measures" to demilitarize Gaza, secure its borders, protect civilians and aid delivery, and support a newly trained Palestinian police force.

Indonesia says there is no decision yet on when troops will be deployed and what mandate they will have, underscoring the uncertainty over establishing an international presence in Gaza.

"We've prepared a maximum of 20,000 troops, but the specifications will revolve around health and construction," Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin told reporters. "We are waiting for further decisions on Gaza peace action."



Reuters