Support Defense Minister Prabowo Send Peace Troops To Gaza, Army Chief Of Staff: TNI AD Ready

Army Chief of Staff General Maruli Simanjuntak. (Nilin-VOI)

JAKARTA - Army Chief of Staff General TNI Maruli Simanjuntak supports the plan of the Minister of Defense (Menhan) Prabowo Subianto to send peacekeepers to Gaza, Palestine. Maruli stated that the Indonesian Army (AD) was ready at any time if President Jokowi and the Minister of Defense asked him to send peace troops to Gaza, Palestine.

"If we (the TNI AD, red) are very ready, the important thing is that the order is there, then the procedure is clear," said Maruli at the Parliament Complex, Senayan, Jakarta, Wednesday, June 12.

Maruli revealed that currently the Indonesian Army has complete defense equipment including the hospital ship needed by the Minister of Defense. Therefore, Maruli emphasized that his party is ready if asked to send troops to Palestine.

"We already have a hospital ship. Our people have been considered great, high skills, in a state of war we make roads, our territory helps our society, which is famous for being good," said General Maruli.

"So there is no such problem," he added.

The point, said Maruli, is that the TNI is ready if President Jokowi or the Minister of Defense orders.

"We have an order, we have prepared it," concluded Maruli.

It is known, at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Saturday, June 1, Prabowo stated that Indonesia was ready to send peacekeepers to Gaza as Indonesia's effort to maintain peace and support the ceasefire immediately.

In addition, Prabowo said that Indonesia is ready to send medical personnel to cover the needs of field hospitals in Gaza with the approval of all parties and will evacuate, receive, and treat around 1,000 patients from Gaza. Prabowo reiterated this commitment at a high-level conference (KTT) Call for Action: Urgent Humanitarian Response for Gaza or Servoking to Act: Humanitarian Emergency Response to Gaza in Jordan, Tuesday, June 11. We are also ready to deploy hospital ships once again and also deploy air assets for aid delivery to Gaza via the airdrop method," Prabowo said in the forum.

In addition, Indonesia is also ready to provide post-traumatic care and education for Gazan children and will be returned when the situation stabilizes again.

"We are also willing to evacuate children and orphans to be given posttraumatic care and school. And to return to Gaza when the situation becomes normal," he said.