Uganda approves Gaza troop deployment under ISF plan

Uganda's parliament has backed President Yoweri Museveni's decision to deploy Ugandan soldiers to the Gaza Strip as part of an International Stabilisation Force under a disarmament agreement reached at the end of July.

The motion supported sending the Uganda People's Defence Forces to Gaza for what it called a peacekeeping mission.

The force would be part of an initiative by the Board of Peace, an organisation created by US President Donald Trump and tasked in part with preparing for the post-war period.

A Board of Peace source told AFP in July that Morocco, Kosovo, Albania and Kazakhstan had also indicated they were willing to join the force. The source said the ISF would secure a “humanitarian zone” intended to accommodate tens of thousands of Palestinians subject to prior vetting, and that Palestinians would then be able to move freely in and out of the area.

The idea of closed humanitarian zones has raised concerns in the humanitarian community.

General Henry Matsiko welcomed Uganda's decision in parliament, saying the Uganda People's Defence Forces were viewed as “the anchor of stability in a sea of turbulence”.

MP Karim Masaba objected, saying the deployment of soldiers to “a very risky place like Gaza” could not be “casually passed”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that Israel had not accepted the latest road map for the Gaza Strip, even after receiving assurances that an Israeli pullout would happen only after Hamas disarms.

Uganda's army chief Muhoozi Kainerugaba, Museveni's son, has repeatedly posted messages supporting Israel in recent months. In January, he wrote on X that “Israel is in our blood” and that Uganda would “always stand by” Israel.

On Saturday, Kainerugaba inaugurated a statue of Yoni Netanyahu, the older brother of Israel's current prime minister, who was killed during the Israeli raid on Entebbe airport in Uganda in 1976.