{"id":9866,"date":"2026-04-17T17:45:01","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T17:45:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/04\/17\/kosovo-approves-troop-commitment-to-gaza-international-force-pbs\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T17:45:01","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T17:45:01","slug":"kosovo-approves-troop-commitment-to-gaza-international-force-pbs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/04\/17\/kosovo-approves-troop-commitment-to-gaza-international-force-pbs\/","title":{"rendered":"Kosovo approves troop commitment to Gaza international force &#8211; PBS"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Exclusive coverage from Lisa Desjardins and the politics team<br \/>Thank you. Please check your inbox to confirm.<br \/>                 <a class=\"post__byline-name-unhyphenated\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/author\/zana-cimili-associated-press\" itemscope itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/Person\" itemprop=\"author\">                     <span itemprop=\"name\">Zana Cimili, Associated Press<\/span>                 <\/a>                 <a class=\"post__byline-name-hyphenated\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/author\/zana-cimili-associated-press\">                     Zana Cimili, Associated Press                 <\/a>             <br \/>Leave your feedback<br \/>PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) \u2014 Small Balkan nation Kosovo says it wants to commit dozens of its security troops to an international force for Gaza because it appreciates what NATO-led peacekeepers have done for its own security since its 1998-99 conflict with Serbia.<br \/>Kosovo&#8217;s Parliament on Friday overwhelmingly approved in a 89-0 vote an earlier government decision to send the troops to the International Stabilization Force under a U.S.-backed initiative following the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas last year.<br \/>The ISF is yet to deploy to help maintain peace and assist in rebuilding Gaza <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/show\/trump-says-u-s-will-give-10-billion-to-board-of-peace-promising-to-rebuild-gaza\">under U.S. President Donald Trump&#8217;s Board of Peace<\/a>, which Kosovo has joined. Indonesia, Albania and Kazakhstan are among other countries that have promised to participate in ISF.<br \/><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Trump says U.S. will give $10 billion to Board of Peace promising to rebuild Gaza\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/bL9RcSrLoF4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><br \/> <em>Watch the segment in the player above.<\/em><br \/>In Kosovo, contributing to the international force is seen as proof of how far the country has come after declaring independence from Serbia in 2008, a split which Belgrade still does not recognize.<br \/>Belgrade&#8217;s brutal crackdown on Kosovo&#8217;s separatist rebels prompted a NATO intervention in 1999 that forced the Serb troops out of the territory and paved the way for the peacekeepers&#8217; deployment under a KFOR mission.<br \/>&#8220;Our country has been a security consumer, meaning NATO countries have contributed to the security of the Republic of Kosovo,&#8221; Defense Minister Ejup Maqedonci told The Associated Press. &#8220;Today we are entering a phase where we are becoming a provider, or exporter, of security.&#8221;<br \/>Maqedonci said the Kosovo contingent will consist of several dozen officers, including from demining units. The troops will be tasked with providing humanitarian support, security assistance and other duties determined by the mandate of the Gaza force, Maqedonci added.<br \/>&#8220;We are currently in the final preparations phase,&#8221; Maqedonci said. He said a U.S. representative has helped with the preparation, including vaccination of troops, issuing of visas and other technical arrangements.<br \/>Kosovo currently has a security force of some 4,000 personnel that is being trained to become a small, professional military aligned with NATO.<br \/>Musician Milot Hoxha, 43, hailed the plan to participate in the Gaza mission.<br \/>&#8220;We ourselves have gone through such a transition and every small help for us has been very significant,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I believe it will be the same for them, that any kind of help will be positive. I strongly support this decision.&#8221;<br \/>Tensions with Serbia have been simmering ever since the war, with occasional violent incidents. The European Union has mediated negotiations aimed at normalizing relations between Belgrade and Pristina but these efforts have stalled recently.<br \/>The United States and most EU countries have recognized Kosovo as an independent state, while Russia and China have backed Serbia&#8217;s claim on the territory.<br \/>                     Support trusted journalism and civil dialogue.                  <br \/>                 <svg class=\"svg\"><use xlink:href=\"#arrow-left\"><\/use><\/svg><span>Left:<\/span>                 Kosovo Security Forces parade during celebrations to mark the 18th anniversary of independence, in Pristina, Kosovo, in February. Photo by Laura Hasani\/AP Photo     <br \/><span>By<\/span> Samy Magdy, Associated Press<br \/><span>By<\/span> Wafaa Shurafa, Toqa Ezzidin, Cara Anna, Associated Press<br \/><span>By<\/span> Aamer Madhani, Matthew Lee, Associated Press<br \/><span>By<\/span> Farnoush Amiri, Edith M. Lederer, Associated Press<br \/>                 <a class=\"post__byline-name-unhyphenated\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/author\/zana-cimili-associated-press\" itemscope itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/Person\" itemprop=\"author\">                     <span itemprop=\"name\">Zana Cimili, Associated Press<\/span>                 <\/a>                 <a class=\"post__byline-name-hyphenated\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/author\/zana-cimili-associated-press\">                     Zana Cimili, Associated Press                 <\/a>             <br \/>     <span>Support Provided By:<\/span>     <a href=\"https:\/\/help.pbs.org\/support\/solutions\/articles\/5000677869\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Learn more<\/a> <br \/>Subscribe to Here&rsquo;s the Deal, our politics                  newsletter for analysis you won&rsquo;t find anywhere else.<br \/>Thank you. 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Please check your inbox to confirm.<br \/>Support for News Hour Provided By<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/rss\/articles\/CBMimwFBVV95cUxNSFdPdG1UemFLV0s0XzJIZWFleXNGc0txbUhXM3VrTjltV0ZwSzNhbmRvR1hqUnNWT1ZPWmtXVDRPVDQ2UmtPcjFVUnVTX3ZwRjBhaVc5UVVWU2owZkN2c21abV9GNnBjcnJTRXR5cmswV296ZjdyckpkQkRsd003Mm5NbWJ6NWs1ck9pMXUxQVhkVU9wSzBwdkhVa9IBoAFBVV95cUxQSUppaWcwaG05ZURKSlA1Y0tSdTJxU2lJQ2Z3TS1fUFhWYklqUDNoSktBU0hMUlB1ZTZUNWVWZWZiT2RSREg0VmY1VTBQalpBeW8zallEVlZZM3BSTGN6WkJ0Ry15Yk52ZTJENTRLZFY1bDBBRV9QN1BLODYzbWdja1V4bG10ZXJUeE5tT2IzWmNEcmdybnJ0MFRaZUFCR21P?oc=5\">source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Exclusive coverage from Lisa Desjardins and the politics teamThank you. Please check your inbox to confirm. Zana Cimili, Associated Press Zana Cimili, Associated Press Leave your feedbackPRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) \u2014 Small Balkan nation Kosovo says it wants to commit dozens of its security troops to an international force for Gaza because it appreciates what NATO-led [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9867,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-9866","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9866"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9866\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9867"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}