Four months after the signing of an agreement to establish a multinational force in Gaza, Indonesia has become the first country to officially announce it is preparing to send troops to the Strip on a peacekeeping mission.
Indonesia said its military is preparing up to 8,000 soldiers for possible deployment to Gaza, a move officials said reflects President Prabowo Subianto’s ambition to play a more significant role in international security. Indonesia is the world’s largest Muslim-majority country.
Senior military officials stressed, however, that the plan remains at an early stage. They said the number of troops and the timeline for any deployment have not yet been finalized and that any Indonesian presence would focus exclusively on engineering and medical units.
The announcement followed a joint meeting of Indonesia’s military and police leadership with President Prabowo in Jakarta.
During a speech at the United Nations General Assembly in September 2025, Prabowo said Indonesia was prepared to deploy “20,000 peacekeeping troops or even more” to help secure peace in Gaza or other conflict zones. In practice, Indonesian officials now say any deployment to Gaza, if it takes place at all, would be significantly smaller.
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Indonesian air force airdrops humanitarian aid during the war
(Photo: Amir Cohen/ Reuters)
The decision was made under U.S. pressure, according to Israeli officials, and is also tied to Jakarta’s interest in strengthening ties with U.S. President Donald Trump and providing employment for thousands of Indonesian families.
This would not be Indonesia’s first involvement in Gaza during the war. In coordination with Israel, Indonesian air force planes carried out humanitarian aid airdrops over Gaza amid international allegations of starvation in the Strip.
Prabowo was among dozens of world leaders who attended a summit in Egypt on Gaza’s future, co-chaired by Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi. Indonesia has also recently joined what has been described as Trump’s “peace council.”
The Indonesian president has said his country would be open to establishing relations with Israel if Israel were to recognize a Palestinian state.