"Our Foreign Ministry will manage it," he told local journalists on the sidelines of his meeting with ulemas from the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) here Friday.
Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi recently stated that Indonesia could send its peacekeeping forces to the Gaza Strip on the grounds that this is authorized by a United Nations (UN) mandate.
For this UN mission, Subiyanto revealed that one of the units of TNI that will be deployed to the Palestinian enclave is the engineering battalion, as its personnel can help rebuild destroyed houses and public facilities, such as schools, hospitals, and houses of worship.
Engineers are undoubtedly needed for the reconstruction work, while traumatized victims of war in the Gaza Strip, for instance, would need trauma specialists and psychologists, he explained.
Thus, the qualified members of civil society in Indonesia have opportunities to get involved in TNI's UN peacekeepers to fill in for the required work, he remarked.
Subiyanto, however, did not elaborate on either the procedures or requirements that the qualified members of civil society should meet if they were looking to join the TNI's UN peacekeeping forces in Gaza.
As earlier reported, under the efforts to anticipate a need to deploy UN peacekeepers to Gaza, the TNI has prepared 1,394 personnel for conducting duties such as offering security, reconstructing public facilities, and providing medical services.
Subiyanto also highlighted the TNI's readiness to deliver further humanitarian supplies for Gaza, including a hospital ship, as long as a ceasefire has been implemented and the Indonesian military has received a UN mandate.
A fresh armed conflict erupted between Palestine and Israel following a surprise attack by Hamas on Israel early in the morning of October 7, 2023.
Prior to the assault by Palestinian liberation fighters in Israel, Tel Aviv continued its closure of Gaza crossings.
In response to the unprecedented surprise attack, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared war on Hamas. Since the war began, the Israeli armed forces have killed at least 37,266 Palestinian civilians and injured some 85,102 others as of June 15, according to Al Jazeera.
Al Jazeera reported that many of those killed in Gaza are women and children. The Israeli aggression has also triggered a humanitarian catastrophe.
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Translator: Walda M, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Aditya Eko Sigit Wicaksono
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