Uganda’s parliament on Thursday approved the potential deployment of Ugandan troops to the Gaza Strip as part of a multinational stabilization force envisioned under U.S. President Donald Trump’s postwar plan for the enclave.
Ugandan Defense Minister Kiryowa Kiwanuka told lawmakers that Trump, through emissaries, asked President Yoweri Museveni in July to consider contributing troops to the force.
“Following the invitation by His Excellency Donald Trump, the President of the Republic of Uganda is ready to deploy in the Gaza Strip the desired Uganda People’s Defence Forces contingent,” Kiwanuka said during the parliamentary debate, according to Reuters.
Lawmakers approved the deployment, although Kiwanuka said a status-of-forces agreement governing the mission would be signed before any troops are sent.
The vote marks the first public acknowledgment by Uganda that it is prepared to participate in the force. Last month, an Israeli official told reporters that “friendly countries,” including Uganda, could take part if the mission is established.
Trump’s Gaza framework, announced after a ceasefire agreement was reached in October, calls for a surge in humanitarian assistance, civilian governance by Palestinian technocrats, the disarmament of Hamas and the withdrawal of Israeli forces.
The proposal also envisions an International Stabilization Force deploying in areas no longer under Israeli control. However, implementation has stalled, and the proposed civilian governing body—known as the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza—has yet to assume any role inside the enclave.
Uganda has extensive experience participating in international peacekeeping missions and currently has troops deployed in Somalia, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist assault on Israel, in which some 1,200 people were murdered and 251 others were abducted into the Strip.
