JAKARTA - Professor of International Law at the University of Indonesia Hikmahanto Juwana reminded the Indonesian government to first ensure clarity of the mandate before deploying personnel to the International Stabilization Force (ISF) in the Gaza Strip.
Moreover, Indonesia has accepted the offer of the position of Deputy Commander of the ISF, as announced by the ISF Commander, Major General Jasper Jeffers, at a meeting of the Board of Peace (BoP) in Washington DC.
"This mandate is important because it will be known about the scope of its duties, how long it will last, and how much the budget (needed)," said Hikmahanto as reported by ANTARA, Saturday, February 21.
According to Hikmahanto, until now there is still no specific mandate regarding the deployment of ISF, either from the Peace Council or the UN Security Council (UNSC) which ratified the establishment of the Peace Council through Resolution 2803.
Citing a statement from the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Kemlu), the international law expert said the participation of Indonesian personnel must be based on a UN mandate, not the Peace Council.
He also said that Indonesian personnel would be bound by different rules of the game when deployed in the Gaza Strip, especially in perannon-combat, which means they would not face the conflicting parties, as well as emphasizing humanitarian tasks.
"So it must be clear first before the Deputy Commander of the ISF can be determined," said the UI academic.
Similarly, the Founder of the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia (FPCI) Dino Patti Djalal asked for clarity on whether Indonesian personnel in the ISF would wear blue helmets, so that the troops would move under a UN mandate and "as usual, UN peacekeepers".
"Because if not, this means that for the first time the Indonesian peacekeepers did not use blue helmets," said the former deputy foreign minister of the Republic of Indonesia in his written statement in response to the Peace Council meeting on the social media X.
If it is true that Indonesian personnel will not use blue helmets in their duties in Gaza, Dino asked the Indonesian government to explain to the public about this.
During the Peace Council meeting, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto emphasized Indonesia's readiness to contribute 8,000 personnel to maintain the ceasefire and peace in the Gaza Strip through the ISF. He also expressed Indonesia's willingness to increase the number of personnel sent.
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