Jakarta. A Palestinian envoy to the UN recently said that there was still no need for Indonesia and Malaysia to rush into sending peacekeeping troops to the war-torn Gaza, or at least for now.

Just last month, President-Elect Prabowo Subianto said Indonesia would stand ready to deploy a peacekeeping mission to Gaza if requested by the UN.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim earlier this week announced he welcomed the idea of working with Indonesia's international peacekeeping mission.

The Malaysian leader announced the plans on the social media platform X shortly after having a phone call with Prabowo. The visiting Palestinian Permanent Observer to the UN Riyad Mansour commented Thursday on this plan. According to Mansour, Palestine is currently focusing on ending the Gaza war.

“Most of our energies are concentrated on putting an end to the war. After we end the war, there will be many issues to deal with. … Including Indonesia-Malaysia's readiness to provide security forces to the occupied territory. While we welcome all intentions of those who want to help, we are not at the stage to deal with that issue now,” Mansour told a press briefing in Jakarta.

However, Palestine is keeping the option to have the Indonesian-Malaysian peacekeeping mission open. 

“After we put an end to the war, we will consider all these options with an open mind, to see which ones would be applicable and useful, and what would not be possible. But we are not there yet,” Mansour said.

He added: “We are not excluding the idea, but we are not indulging in the idea that will make us put the cart before the horse.”

It has been almost nine months since the armed conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas escalated last October. The Palestinian death toll has reached over 38,000 people, according to the Gaza health ministry.

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