The government is to ascertain the exact number of Ugandans caught up in the ongoing fighting between Israel and Palestinians, where over 1,500 people have been killed on both sides.
Henry Okello Oryem, the state minister for foreign affairs, has said that the Ugandan mission in Israel does not have figures of how many Ugandans are in their city, which complicates government efforts to rescue them in case of any challenges.
“Ugandans who have gone to Israel, have a tendency of not registering with the Uganda embassy in Israel, and they said that they would use their money to travel abroad, so that is a great challenge,” Oryem stated.
Minister Oryem warns Ugandans to emulate what other countries do with their citizens: they immediately register their travelers, which makes it easy for their government to plan for them.
Solomon Barikurungi, the chairperson of Ugandan society in Israel, said while speaking to the media that they are all safe.
“We are all in one area, and those who go far do not go beyond 10 kilometers,” Barikurungi said.
Barikurungi stated that the advantage is that they all run under bomb shelters for safety and come out after the bombs have exploded, and the truth is that they are fine and safe.
Over thousands of people are reported to be injured, and more than 1087 are being displaced in Gaza, with more numbers expected to increase.
This is after the Hamas military attacked the Israelites while attending a musical festival, killing over 260 people and prompting Israel to declare war too.
The exact cause of the recent Hamas attack remains unclear, but it follows weeks of escalating tensions along the Gaza frontier. The violence erupted shortly after Hamas stated that people needed to end the occupation, accusing Israel of committing crimes across Palestinian territory, especially at the holy site of al-Aqsa in Jerusalem.
The recent surge of violence in Israel and the Gaza Strip has captured the world’s attention. This conflict erupted after Hamas, the ruling militant group in Gaza, launched a multi-front attack on Israel on October 7. As both sides declare war, casualties continue to rise, with thousands of Israeli reservists called into service and Gaza facing intense airstrikes.
