March 25, 2025
JAKARTA – The last time we wrote about the fragile Gaza truce, we questioned how long it might last. And now that we know the answer, we must pick up where we last left off.
The world must put an immediate end to the war of attrition ravaging Gaza. Whatever justifications were once offered for this relentless bloodshed, they have long become indefensible.
Israel’s latest wave of airstrikes has reportedly killed more than 400 people, with 174 of them being children, since the fragile truce collapsed.
These figures add to the staggering toll from the past 17 months, with conservative estimates placing the Palestinian death toll at over 47,000 and others, including The Lancet, estimating that more than 64,000 have perished.
For how long must this bloody cycle be allowed to continue? If peace is truly the goal, then the international community must step up.
We have tried standing back and letting the Semitic tribes resolve their centuries-old disputes alone. We have called on the United Nations to broker peace, to little avail. Even the tireless efforts of goodwill ambassadors and professional negotiators have proven insufficient.
Each effort has, time and again, been undone by a lack of political will on the ground, or by the prioritization of vengeance over justice.
If there is one clear lesson from the past few months, it is that external mediation is no longer optional. It is a necessity.
The bonds of solidarity and shared responsibility forged in the post-colonial era must now be tested. The world must demonstrate that such trust still has power; that collective outrage can be channeled into something meaningful.
Indonesia, a country long respected for its principled support of Palestinian statehood, can and must be part of this response.
President Prabowo Subianto now presides over a military whose scope of operations has been widened by the recent revision of the Indonesian Military (TNI) Law.
This provides a rare opportunity for Indonesia to contribute not just politically, but directly, through peacekeeping. We strongly encourage the government to prepare the largest contingent of Indonesian peacekeepers yet, ready to serve in the Middle East under a credible international mandate.
It would provide a productive role for Indonesia’s large military establishment, parts of which have recently been criticized as being underutilized.
That said, a deployment must be part of a wider, coherent strategy toward a just and durable peace.
First and foremost, there must be international guarantees to prevent Israel from seizing Gaza outright in the absence of Hamas.
The withdrawal of one belligerent cannot become a pretext for annexation. Indonesia must work with like minded countries to ensure that any transition is supervised, inclusive and aimed at restoring legitimate governance, ideally through a united Palestinian front.
To that end, Fatah’s renewed appeal to Hamas to relinquish its exclusive control over Gaza and support a reunified leadership under the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is a crucial opening.
Indonesia should publicly and fervently support this call. Only a unified Palestinian leadership can negotiate with strength and clarity. We must support diplomacy that brings Palestinians together, rather than further divides them.
As we approach another big anniversary of the 1955 Asia-Africa Conference in Bandung, West Java, it is only fitting that Indonesia reaffirm its foundational commitment to self-determination, decolonization and peace.
Palestine remains one of the last post-colonial nations still under occupation. The struggle to liberate it must not be left in the hands of the warring parties alone.
It is time the world stepped in; not just with words, but with real action. And Indonesia must be among the first to answer the call.
We believe that Palestinians and Israelis alike deserve to have peace and to be able to get on with their lives.