Malaysia, Indonesia Eye Joint UN Peacekeeping Mission in Gaza

Rabat – Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced on Tuesday that his country is prepared to collaborate with Indonesia to send peacekeeping forces to the Gaza Strip, pending authorization from the United Nations.

Prime Minister Anwar shared details of a recent phone conversation with Indonesia’s President-elect Prabowo Subianto, where they discussed several pressing issues, including the dire situation in Gaza.

Since last October, nearly 38,000 Palestinians have been brutally killed in the region by the Israeli Occupation Forces, leading to a severe humanitarian crisis.

“In our three-minute phone call, we exchanged views on current issues, including Prabowo’s recent efforts on the international stage to promote regional and global peace,” Anwar stated on social media platform X. “I welcomed the idea of Malaysia-Indonesia cooperation in an international peacekeeping mission and the potential for expanding this collaboration to the ASEAN regional level.”

Anwar also conveyed his best wishes for Subianto’s recovery following his recent high-risk leg surgery.

This potential peacekeeping initiative aligns with a statement Indonesia’s defense forces commander made last month.

The commander indicated that Jakarta would prepare a brigade of 1,212 personnel for deployment to the Palestinian enclave, should the UN mandate such an operation.

The IOF’s bloody war on Gaza has drawn widespread international condemnation. Yet Israel has continued its offensive in defiance of global condemnations and a recent UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire, exacerbating the humanitarian disaster in the region.

According to local Palestinian authorities, the violence has resulted in 37,900 Palestinian deaths, most of whom were women and children, and left approximately 87,060 injured.

Gaza has become a field of devastation and dismay, with homes and civilian facilities reduced to rubble, and an alarmingly growing shortage of food, clean water and medicine due to a crippling blockade.

The International Court of Justice has accused Israel of genocide and has recently ordered an immediate halt to military operations in Rafah, where over a million Palestinians sought refuge before the IOF invaded the area on May 6.