Senior military officials from Uganda and Burundi visited Israel last week to discuss the possibility of deploying troops to the Gaza Strip as part of the planned international force, AP reported Monday. According to the report, Uganda has committed to sending approximately 1,200 troops and has already begun selecting personnel for the mission.
Burundi, meanwhile, has yet to make a final decision, although a military official told AP that the delegation that visited Israel expressed interest in joining the force. The talks come amid several recent moves by Uganda that have been viewed as positive gestures toward Israel. Earlier this month, a memorial honoring Lt. Col. Yoni Netanyahu, who was killed during the 1976 Entebbe operation, was unveiled at Entebbe’s old airport. Ugandan military commander Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba attended the ceremony.
The planned international force in Gaza is expected to consist of approximately 20,000 personnel under the command of American Maj. Gen. Jasper Jeffers. At this stage, however, commitments remain far short of that target. In addition to Uganda’s pledge of 1,200 troops, Morocco has committed to sending up to 500 personnel, while Kosovo, Kazakhstan and Albania have together pledged only around 80. Indonesia, which had planned to deploy 8,000 troops, has frozen the move.