Uganda has unveiled a bronze statue honoring the Israeli commander killed during the 1976 Entebbe airport raid, reigniting a decades-old debate over national sovereignty just as the country prepares a controversial new military deployment to Gaza. The monument, which depicts Lieutenant Colonel Yonatan "Yoni" Netanyahu holding an assault rifle at the site where he died, was erected in early August outside the Old Entebbe Terminal, roughly 40 kilometers from Kampala. General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, Uganda's army chief, commissioned the statue ahead of the 50th anniversary of the Israeli military operation. During the ceremony, Kainerugaba framed the memorial as a symbol of historical reconciliation and the deepening relationship between Kampala and Israel. He praised Netanyahu’s courage and devotion to duty, describing the monument as a tool to preserve memory and teach history to future generations. The memorial’s unveiling took on immediate geopolitical weight when, only days later, Uganda's parliament approved a plan to send troops to Gaza. The soldiers will join the proposed International Stabilisation Force (ISF), a mission central to the Gaza peace framework backed by Washington and authorized by UN Security Council Resolution 2803 in November 2025. The ISF is mandated to protect civilians, secure humanitarian operations, and support vetted Palestinian police as Israeli forces execute phased withdrawals tied to demilitarization. The exact size and timeline of Uganda's Gaza deployment remain unannounced. The government insists its contingent will operate under strict neutrality, comply with international humanitarian law, and avoid taking sides in regional political disputes. The United States has signaled strong support for the initiative, allocating more than $206 million this week to fund the ISF's infrastructure, equipment, and operations. However, the broader Gaza peace plan remains stalled on the ground, with Israeli military strikes continuing despite the established ceasefire. In Kampala, opposition lawmakers have strongly contested the deployment, citing inadequate parliamentary review and the severe dangers of Middle Eastern urban combat. Member of Parliament John Baptist Nambeshe warned colleagues about the extreme difficulty of distinguishing between combatants and civilians in Gaza's densely populated ruins, questioning the risks Ugandan soldiers will face in an active conflict zone. These contemporary military commitments have forced a public reckoning with the July 1976 Entebbe crisis. The standoff began on June 27 when Palestinian and German militants hijacked an Air France flight bound for Paris from Tel Aviv, diverting it to Uganda with the support of then-President Idi Amin. On the night of July 3, Israeli commandos flew thousands of kilometers to storm the airport without Ugandan authorization. The raid rescued 102 hostages and killed the hijackers, but also resulted in the deaths of dozens of Ugandan soldiers and Netanyahu, the sole Israeli commando casualty. While the raid became one of Israel's most celebrated military operations, the Organisation of African Unity and Uganda condemned it at the time as a severe violation of territorial integrity. Former Ugandan state minister for foreign affairs Asuman Kiyingi recently criticized the new statue as troubling, arguing it glorifies foreign military power while ignoring the Ugandan soldiers who died defending the airport. Kiyingi wrote that the state appears willing to honor a commander who breached its borders while offering no comparable national recognition to its own fallen troops. The monument reflects a dramatic shift in diplomatic relations over the past fifty years. After initial post-independence cooperation, Amin severed ties with Israel in 1972, expelled Israeli advisers, and aligned with the Palestinian cause. President Yoweri Museveni subsequently rebuilt security and defense ties after taking power in 1986, eventually hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Entebbe in 2016. Despite this realignment and Museveni's defense of the 1976 rescue, Uganda continues to support Palestinian statehood and back UN resolutions critical of Israeli policies. Uganda’s capacity to deploy troops to complex foreign conflicts stems directly from the combat experience its forces have gathered in Somalia over the past two decades. Because Ugandan troops form a crucial part of the African Union security presence protecting Mogadishu and federal institutions, Kampala's decision to commit military resources to a new Middle Eastern theater directly impacts the troop availability and political focus shaping Somalia's ongoing security transitions.