Indonesia may commit nearly 8,000 troops to the proposed multinational peacekeeping force for Gaza that could total about 20,000 soldiers, a spokesperson for President Prabowo Subianto said Tuesday.
The spokesperson added, however, that no deployment terms or areas of operation had been agreed.
Prabowo has been invited to Washington later this month for the first meeting of U.S. President Donald Trump's Board of Peace.
The Southeast Asian country last year committed to ready 20,000 troops for deployment for a Gaza peacekeeping force but it has said it is awaiting more details about the force's mandate before confirming deployment.
"The total number is approximately 20,000 (across countries) ... it is not only Indonesia," presidential spokesman Prasetyo Hadi told journalists Tuesday, adding that the exact number of troops had not been discussed yet, but Indonesia estimated it could offer up to 8,000.
"We are just preparing ourselves in case an agreement is reached and we have to send peacekeeping forces," he said.
Prasetyo also said there would be negotiations before Indonesia paid the $1 billion requested for permanent membership on the Board of Peace. He did not clarify with whom the negotiations would be, and said Indonesia had not yet confirmed Prabowo's attendance at the board meeting.
Separately, Indonesia's Defense Ministry also denied reports in Israeli media that the deployment of Indonesian troops would be in Gaza's Rafah and Khan Younis.
"Indonesia's plans to contribute to peace and humanitarian support in Gaza are still in the preparation and coordination stages," ministry spokesperson Rico Ricardo Sirat told Reuters in a message.
"Operational matters (deployment location, number of personnel, schedule, mechanism) have not yet been finalised and will be announced once an official decision has been made and the necessary international mandate has been clarified," he added.
