Minister of Foreign Affairs: The appointment of the Deputy Commander of the ISF is not related to Israeli diplomacy

JAKARTA - Foreign Minister Sugiono stated that the appointment of Indonesia as Deputy Commander of the International Stabilization Force (ISF) was not related to Indonesia's recognition of diplomatic relations with Israel.

Sugiono's statement refuted the assumption regarding the sending of thousands of troops to the Gaza Strip, Palestine, which was considered risky considering that Indonesia currently does not have diplomatic relations with Israel.

"This is not related to the recognition of whether there is a relationship or not. This is a force that is assigned to those who have the mandate to maintain peace, consisting of various elements whose main task is to maintain the situation," said Sugiono when giving a press statement in Washington DC, Friday (20/2) night local time reported by ANTARA.

According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, member countries of the Board of Peace (BoP) that are involved in the ISF have a mandate to send troops to maintain the security situation in Palestine.

In the implementation of the ISF mandate, each participating country has the opportunity to convey the limitations of troop deployment or national caveat.

Indonesia has conveyed this limit to ISF, namely not carrying out military operations and disarmament or demilitarization.

"What we do is to protect civilians on both sides, then engage in humanitarian efforts there and of course there are things that are the rule of engagement that we can do as troops if we are attacked in order to defend ourselves," said Sugiono.

Indonesia, which received the appointment as Deputy Commander of the ISF, also played a role in the operational field as it was one of the countries that deployed the most troops for the peace mission in Palestine.

The appointment is also an award to the Indonesian military which has a good reputation in maintaining peace.

"Because the Indonesian troops are also the most numerous there, this deputy commander of operations is also something of a tribute and appreciation for Indonesia's track record. Then the reputation of Indonesian soldiers in various peacekeeping fields," said Sugiono.

In the first meeting of the Board of Peace held at the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace, Washington DC, Thursday (19/2) morning local time, President Prabowo Subianto reiterated Indonesia's readiness to send 8,000 TNI soldiers to serve with the ISF in Gaza, Palestine.

"The ceasefire (in Gaza) is a real achievement. We praise this achievement and for this we reaffirm our commitment to contribute to sending our soldiers in a significant number of 8,000, even more if needed," said President Prabowo when speaking at the Board of Peace Summit.

Meanwhile, ISF Commander Major General Jasper Jeffers, who comes from the US Armed Forces, stated that the forward projection was 20,000 soldiers and 12,000 police who would serve with the ISF to restore the post-war situation in Gaza.

Major General Jeffers said Rafah, which is in the southern Gaza Strip and borders Egypt, would be the first ISF target.