Hamas wants Russia to push Palestinian president toward unity government for post-war Gaza
Hamas wants Russia to push Palestinian president toward unity government for post-war Gaza/node/2576590/middle-east
Hamas wants Russia to push Palestinian president toward unity government for post-war Gaza
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin at a welcoming ceremony at the BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia on Oct. 23, 2024. (AP)
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Updated 24 October 2024
Reuters
Hamas wants Russia to push Palestinian president toward unity government for post-war Gaza
The Palestinian Authority, the governing body of the occupied Palestinian territories, is controlled by Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah political faction
Updated 24 October 2024
Reuters
MOSCOW: Palestinian militant group Hamas wants Russia to push Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to begin negotiations on a national unity government for post-war Gaza, a senior Hamas official told the RIA state news agency after talks in Moscow.
Mousa Abu Marzouk, a Hamas politburo member, met Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov in Moscow.
“We discussed issues related to Palestinian national unity and the creation of a government that should govern the Gaza Strip after the war,” Marzouk was quoted as saying by RIA.
Marzouk said that Hamas had asked Russia to encourage Abbas, who is attending the BRICS summit in Kazan, to start negotiations about a unity government, RIA reported.
Abbas is head of the Palestinian Authority (PA), the governing body of the occupied Palestinian territories.
The PA was set up three decades ago under the interim peace agreement known as the Oslo Accords and exercises limited governance over parts of the occupied West Bank, which Palestinians want as the core of a future independent state.
The PA, controlled by Abbas’ Fatah political faction, has long had a strained relationship with Hamas, the Islamist movement that runs Gaza, and the two factions fought a brief war before Fatah was expelled from the territory in 2007.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has expressed strong opposition to the PA being involved in running Gaza.
Mistrust and fear: The complex story behind strained Syria-Lebanon relations
Updated 8 sec ago
BEIRUT: A lot has happened in just a year on both sides of the Lebanon-Syria border. A lightning offensive by Islamist insurgents in Syria toppled longtime autocrat Bashar Assad and brought a new government in place in Damascus. In Lebanon, a bruising war with Israel dealt a serious blow to Hezbollah — the Iran-backed and Assad-allied Shiite Lebanese militant group that had until recently been a powerful force in the Middle East — and a US-negotiated deal has brought a fragile ceasefire. Still, even after the fall of the 54-year Assad family rule, relations between Beirut and Damascus remain tense — as they have been for decades past, with Syria long failing to treat its smaller neighbor as a sovereign nation. Recent skirmishes along the border have killed and wounded several people, both fighters and civilians, including a four-year-old Lebanese girl. Beirut and Damascus have somewhat coordinated on border security, but attempts to reset political relations have been slow. Despite visits to Syria by two heads of Lebanon’s government, no Syrian official has visited Lebanon. Here is what’s behind the complicated relations. A coldness that goes way back Many Syrians have resented Hezbollah for wading into Syria’s civil war in defense of Assad’s government. Assad’s fall sent them home, but many Lebanese now fear cross-border attacks by Syria’s Islamic militants. There are new restrictions on Lebanese entering Syria, and Lebanon has maintained tough restrictions on Syrians entering Lebanon. The Lebanese also fear that Damascus could try to bring Lebanon under a new Syrian tutelage. Syrians have long seen Lebanon as a staging ground for anti-Syria activities, including hosting opposition figures before Hafez Assad — Bashar Assad’s father — ascended to power in a bloodless 1970 coup. In 1976, Assad senior sent his troops to Lebanon, allegedly to bring peace as Lebanon was hurtling into a civil war that lasted until 1990. Once that ended, Syrian forces — much like a colonial power — remained in Lebanon for another 15 years. A signature of the Assad family rule, Syria’s dreaded security agents disappeared and tortured dissidents to keep the country under their control. They did the same in Lebanon. “Syrians feel that Lebanon is the main gateway for conspiracies against them,” says Lebanese political analyst Ali Hamadeh. Turbulent times It took until 2008 for the two countries to agree to open diplomatic missions, marking Syria’s first official recognition of Lebanon as an independent state since it gained independence from France in 1943. The move came after the 2005 truck-bombing assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri that many blamed on Damascus. Two months later, Syria pulled its troops out of Lebanon under international pressure, ending 29 years of near-complete domination of its neighbor. When Syria’s own civil war erupted in 2011, hundreds of thousands of Syrians fled across the border, making crisis-hit Lebanon the host of the highest per capita population of refugees in the world. Once in Lebanon, the refugees complained about discrimination, including curfews for Syrian citizens in some areas. Hezbollah, meanwhile, rushed thousands of its fighters into Syria in 2013 to shore up Assad, worried that its supply lines from Iran could dry up. And as much as the Lebanese are divided over their country’s internal politics, Syria’s war divided them further into those supporting Assad’s government and those opposing it. Distrust and deadlock A key obstacle to warming relations has been the fate of about 2,000 Syrians in Lebanese prisons, including some 800 held over attacks and shootings, many without trial. Damascus is asking Beirut to hand them over to continue their prison terms in Syria, but Lebanese judicial officials say Beirut won’t release any attackers and that each must be studied and resolved separately. In July, family members of the detainees rallied along a border crossing, demanding their relatives be freed. The protest came amid reports that Syrian troops could deploy foreign fighters in Lebanon, which Damascus officials denied. Another obstacle is Lebanon’s demand that Syrian refugees go back home now that Assad is gone. About 716,000 Syrian refugees are registered with the UN refugee agency, while hundreds of thousands more are unregistered in Lebanon, which has a population of about 5 million. Syria is also demanding the return of billions of dollars worth of deposits of Syrians trapped in Lebanese banks since Lebanon’s historic financial meltdown in 2019. The worst post-Assad border skirmishes came in mid-March, when Syrian authorities said Hezbollah members crossed the border and kidnapped and killed three Syrian soldiers. The Lebanese government and army said the clash was between smugglers and that Hezbollah wasn’t involved. Days later, Lebanese and Syrian defense ministers flew to and signed an agreement on border demarcation and boosting their coordination. In July, rumors spread in Lebanon, claiming the northern city of Tripoli would be given to Syria in return for Syria giving up the Golan Heights to Israel. And though officials dismissed the rumors, they illustrate the level of distrust between the neighbors. Beirut was also angered by Syria’s appointment this year of a Lebanese army officer — Abdullah Shehadeh, who defected in 2014 from Lebanon to join Syrian insurgents — as the head of security in Syria’s central province of Homs that borders northeastern Lebanon. In Syria, few were aware of Shehadeh’s real name — he was simply known by his nom de guerre, Abu Youssef the Lebanese. Syrian security officials confirmed the appointment. What’s ahead Analysts say an important step would be for the two neighbors to work jointly to boost security against cross-border smuggling. A US-backed plan that was recently adopted by the Lebanese government calls for moving toward full demarcation of the border. Radwan Ziadeh, a senior fellow at the Arab Center in Washington, says the best way forward would be for Syria and Lebanon to address each problem between them individually — not as a package deal. That way, tensions would be reduced gradually, he said and downplayed recent comments by prominent Syrian anti-Assad figures who claimed Lebanon is part of Syria and should return to it. “These are individual voices that do not represent the Syrian state,” Zaideh said.
Trump administration wants to end the UN peacekeeping in Lebanon. Europe is pushing back/node/2612063/middle-east
Trump administration wants to end the UN peacekeeping in Lebanon. Europe is pushing back
The divide is the latest issue to vex relations between the US and several of its key partners as the Trump administration moves drastically to pare down its foreign affairs priorities and budget
The multinational force has played a significant role in monitoring the security situation in southern Lebanon for decades, including during the war last year
Updated 17 August 2025
AP
WASHINGTON: The future of UN peacekeepers in Lebanon has split the United States and its European allies, raising implications for security in the Middle East and becoming the latest snag to vex relations between the US and key partners like France, Britain and Italy.
At issue is the peacekeeping operation known as UNIFIL, whose mandate expires at the end of August and will need to be renewed by the UN Security Council to continue. It was created to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon after Israel’s 1978 invasion, and its mission was expanded following the monthlong 2006 war between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah.
The multinational force has played a significant role in monitoring the security situation in southern Lebanon for decades, including during the Israel-Hezbollah war last year, but has drawn criticism from both sides and numerous US lawmakers, some of whom now hold prominent roles in President Donald Trump’s administration or wield new influence with the White House.
Trump administration political appointees came into office this year with the aim of shutting down UNIFIL as soon as possible. They regard the operation as an ineffectual waste of money that is merely delaying the goal of eliminating Hezbollah’s influence and restoring full security control to the Lebanese Armed Forces that the government says it is not yet capable of doing.
After securing major cuts in US funding to the peacekeeping force, Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed off early last week on a plan that would wind down and end UNIFIL in the next six months, according to Trump administration officials and congressional aides familiar with the discussions.
It’s another step as the Trump administration drastically pares back its foreign affairs priorities and budget, including expressing skepticism of international alliances and cutting funding to UN agencies and missions. The transatlantic divide also has been apparent on issues ranging from Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza and the Russia-Ukraine conflict to trade, technology and free speech issues.
Europeans push back against a quick end to UN peacekeeping in Lebanon
Israel has for years sought an end to UNIFIL’s mandate, and renewal votes have often come after weeks of political wrangling. Now, the stakes are particularly high after last year’s war and more vigorous opposition in Washington.
European nations, notably France and Italy, have objected to winding down UNIFIL. With the support of Tom Barrack, US ambassador to Turkiye and envoy to Lebanon, they successfully lobbied Rubio and others to support a one-year extension of the peacekeeping mandate followed by a time-certain wind-down period of six months, according to the administration officials and congressional aides, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private diplomatic negotiations.
Israel also reluctantly agreed to an extension, they said.
The European argument was that prematurely ending UNIFIL before the Lebanese army is able to fully secure the border area would create a vacuum that Hezbollah could easily exploit.
The French noted that when a UN peacekeeping mission in Mali was terminated before government troops were ready to deal with security threats, Islamic extremists moved in.
With the US easing off, the issue ahead of the UN vote expected at the end of August now appears to be resistance by France and others to setting a firm deadline for the operation to end after the one-year extension, according to the officials and congressional aides.
French officials did not respond to requests for comment.
The final French draft resolution, obtained by The Associated Press, does not include a date for UNIFIL’s withdrawal, which US officials say is required for their support. Instead, it would extend the peacekeeping mission for one year and indicates the UN Security Council’s “intention to work on a withdrawal.”
But even if the mandate is renewed, the peacekeeping mission might be scaled down for financial reasons, with the UN system likely facing drastic budget cuts, said a UN official, who was not authorized to comment to the media and spoke on condition of anonymity.
One of the US officials said an option being considered was reducing UNIFIL’s numbers while boosting its technological means to monitor the situation on the ground.
The peacekeeping force has faced criticism
There are about 10,000 peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, while the Lebanese army has around 6,000 soldiers, a number that is supposed to increase to 10,000.
Hezbollah supporters in Lebanon have frequently accused the UN mission of collusion with Israel and sometimes attacked peacekeepers on patrol. Israel, meanwhile, has accused the peacekeepers of turning a blind eye to Hezbollah’s military activities in southern Lebanon and lobbied for its mandate to end.
Sarit Zehavi, a former Israeli military intelligence analyst and founder of the Israeli think tank Alma Research and Education Center, said UNIFIL has played a “damaging role with regard to the mission of disarming Hezbollah in south Lebanon.”
She pointed to the discovery of Hezbollah tunnels and weapons caches close to UNIFIL facilities during and after last year’s Israel-Hezbollah war, when much of the militant group’s senior leadership was killed and much of its arsenal destroyed. Hezbollah is now under increasing pressure to give up the rest of its weapons.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said UNIFIL continues to discover unauthorized weapons, including rocket launchers, mortar rounds and bomb fuses, this week, which it reported to the Lebanese army.
Under the US- and France-brokered ceasefire, Israel and Hezbollah were to withdraw from southern Lebanon, with the Lebanese army taking control in conjunction with UNIFIL. Israel has continued to occupy five strategic points on the Lebanese side and carry out near-daily airstrikes that it says aim to stop Hezbollah from regrouping.
Lebanon supports keeping UN peacekeepers
Lebanese officials have called for UNIFIL to remain, saying the country’s cash-strapped and overstretched army is not yet able to patrol the full area on its own until it.
Retired Lebanese Army Gen. Khalil Helou said that if UNIFIL’s mandate were to abruptly end, soldiers would need to be pulled away from the porous border with Syria, where smuggling is rife, or from other areas inside of Lebanon — “and this could have consequences for the stability” of the country.
UNIFIL “is maybe not fulfilling 100 percent what the Western powers or Israel desire. But for Lebanon, their presence is important,” he said.
The United Nations also calls the peacekeepers critical to regional stability, Dujarric said.
UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said deciding on the renewal of the mandate is the prerogative of the UN Security Council.
“We are here to assist the parties in implementation of the mission’s mandate and we’re waiting for the final decision,” he said.
Why food security in the Middle East is slipping even as global numbers improve
Conflict, inflation, currency crises, and heavy import reliance are driving the Middle East’s divergence from global food security improvements
Even when global food prices ease, Middle Eastern households often see little relief due to supply chain and currency shocks, says UN report
Updated 17 August 2025
Zaira Lakhpatwala
DUBAI: Global hunger edged down last year, but not in the Middle East. That divergence — driven by conflict, inflation, currency stress, and a heavy reliance on imports — is reshaping food security across Western Asia and North Africa, even as other regions recover.
According to “The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World” report published recently by five UN agencies, 8.2 percent of the global population experienced hunger in 2024, down from 8.5 percent in 2023.
But the headline hides widening regional gaps. In Africa, more than 20 percent of people — 307 million — faced hunger in 2024. In Western Asia, which includes several Middle Eastern countries, 12.7 percent of the population, or more than 39 million people, were affected.
Infographic from the UN's "The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World" report
The contrast with other parts of Asia is striking. “Improvements in South-Eastern and Southern Asia were largely driven by economic recovery, better affordability of healthy diets, and stronger social protection systems,” David Laborde, director of the Agrifood Economics Division at the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, told Arab News.
That rebound has not reached the Middle East evenly. He noted that while “high income countries” like the UAE or are exempt from any major food insecurities, “the rest of the region and particularly conflict-affected countries (like Lebanon and Syria) are contributors to the rising hunger trend due to displacement, disrupted supply chains, and economic vulnerability.”
Nowhere is the food crisis more acute than Gaza, where war has devastated basic systems. A recent assessment by FAO and the UN Satellite Centre found that only 1.5 percent of cropland is currently available for cultivation, down from 4.6 percent in April 2025.
Palestinians rush to queue in line at a charity kitchen in the Mawasi area of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on July 22, 2025. (AFP)
Put differently, 98.5 percent of cropland is damaged, inaccessible, or both — a staggering figure in a territory of more than 2 million people.
The data, published in July, landed amid warnings from UN agencies of an impending famine. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification reported that two of the three official indicators used to determine famine conditions were present in parts of the strip.
FAO, the World Food Programme, and UNICEF have cautioned that time is rapidly running out to mount a full-scale response, as nearly a quarter of Gaza’s population is enduring famine-like conditions, while the remainder face emergency levels of hunger.
Palestinian agricultural engineer Yusef Abu Rabie, 24, tends to his plants on July 18, 2024, at a makeshift nursery he built next to the rubble of his home in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, that was destroyed during Israeli bombardment, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. (AFP)
The report does not break down the impact of individual conflicts, but Laborde is blunt about the drivers. Conditions are getting worse because of “persistent structural vulnerabilities, which include conflict, economic instability, and limited access to affordable food.”
He added: “This region has seen a continued rise in hunger, with the prevalence of undernourishment increasing to 12.7 in 2024, up from previous years.”
Those structural weaknesses — exposure to war, import dependence, currency fragility — collided with a series of global shocks. The report cites the COVID‑19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine as major triggers of global food commodity price spikes in 2021-22.
A destroyed Russian tank sits in a snow covered wheat field in Kharkiv region on February 22, 2023, amid Russia's military invasion on Ukraine. (AFP/File)
Some pressures have eased, but inflation’s aftershocks persist, especially where budgets and safety nets are already thin.
According to Laborde, the countries struggling most are those where “real wages have declined the most, food price inflation has surged, and access to healthy diets have deteriorated.”
He added: “Low-income and lower-middle-income countries, many of which are in the MENA region, have experienced food price inflation above 10 percent, which is strongly associated with rising food insecurity and child malnutrition.”
Palestinians, mostly children, push to receive a hot meal at a charity kitchen in the Mawasi area of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on July 22, 2025. (AFP)
For Middle Eastern economies that import a large share of their food, price spikes hit with particular force. Beyond war and pandemic disruptions, Laborde points to “climate shocks in key bread baskets have led to higher food prices.
“For countries that were able to compensate for this food price increase through higher revenue from energy product sales, also impacted by the same crisis, the blow was limited.
“However, for the countries with more limited revenue” from exports of oil and natural gas, “the situation was more difficult to handle.”
IN NUMBERS
• 39 million People in Western Asia who experienced hunger in 2024, according to FAO.
• 98.5% Cropland in Gaza that has been damaged or rendered inaccessible by war.
If the region’s import bill is the first vulnerability, exchange rates are the second. The report highlights exchange-rate fluctuations and local currency depreciation as critical, non‑commodity drivers of food inflation.
This is especially relevant for “import-dependent economies (such as Western Asia) where a weaker local currency increases the cost of imported food and agricultural inputs,” said Laborde.
“When local currencies depreciate, the cost of these imports rises, directly affecting consumer prices and worsening food insecurity.”
Egyptian farmers harvest wheat in Bamha village near al-Ayyat town in Giza province. (AFP)
Egypt offers a case study. Heavy reliance on wheat imports from Russia and Ukraine, combined with a severe foreign currency shortage, has driven food prices far beyond wage growth since mid‑2022.
In practical terms, “a shortage of foreign currency has made it more difficult to pay for imports, leading to higher import costs in local currency terms, rising consumer food prices, and reduced affordability of healthy diets for households,” Laborde said.
The result: Egyptians’ food purchasing power fell by 30 percent between the third quarter of 2022 and the last quarter of 2024.
Water levels at Iraq's vast Dukan Dam reservoir have plummeted as a result of dwindling rains and further damming upstream, hitting millions of inhabitants -- already impacted by drought -- with stricter water rationing. (AFP)
Similar pressures are visible elsewhere. Syria, Yemen, and Iraq have recorded significant declines in real food wages since 2020, with unskilled wages still below early‑2020 levels — a reflection of persistent instability and the difficulty of rebuilding labor markets amid conflict.
Even when global prices cool, the Middle East does not always feel the relief. The region’s supply chains remain vulnerable to disrupted trade routes, heightened uncertainty in grain markets linked to the war in Ukraine, and hostilities in the Red Sea.
For countries like Egypt, these pressures feed directly into the food import bill, particularly for wheat — a staple with no easy substitute.
In an import‑dependent context, each additional week of shipping delays, insurance surcharges, or currency slippage translates into higher prices for bread, cooking oil, and other essentials.
An Egyptian woman bake bread in a traditional clay oven in the Giza governorate's village of Abu Sir, some 25Km south of Cairo on February 12, 2025. (AFP)
The report also flags a quieter, but consequential, problem: market power. In theory, competitive markets transmit falling global prices quickly to consumers. In practice, market power — the ability of firms to influence prices or supply — can mute or delay those benefits.
Since 2022, many low- and lower‑middle‑income countries have experienced persistent inflation even as world prices cooled, suggesting domestic frictions at play.
These “distortions have been observed since 2022” and are “especially relevant in import-dependent regions like Western Asia and North Africa, where currency depreciation, limited competition, and supply chain bottlenecks can further entrench inflation,” Laborde said.
Syrian firefighters use water cannon to extinguish a fire in a wheat field outside Qamishli in northeastern Syria, on June 2, 2025. The crop destruction has worsened the struggling nation's food supply shortage. (AFP)
Beyond statistics, the social toll is mounting. Rising food prices hit the poorest households first, forcing trade‑offs between calories and quality — cheaper, less nutritious staples displacing diverse diets rich in protein and micronutrients.
That is why sustained double‑digit food inflation correlates with child malnutrition and worsens long‑term health outcomes, from anemia to stunting.
The consequences can also be gendered. In many Middle Eastern and North African contexts, women — who often manage household food budgets — absorb inflation by skipping meals or cutting their own portions to feed children.
Infographic from the UN's "The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World" report
When real wages drop and informal work dries up, coping strategies erode quickly.
All of this threatens the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, especially its aims to end hunger, achieve food security and improve nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture.
With the deadline fast approaching, Laborde urges governments to “stabilize food prices and protect vulnerable populations” by prioritizing “integrated fiscal and trade policy reforms,” delivered through “time-bound, targeted fiscal measures.”
These include “temporary tax relief on essential foods, scaled-up social protection (e.g. cash transfers) indexed to inflation and ensuring benefits reach consumers through transparent monitoring.”
Israeli military prepares to relocate residents to southern Gaza, spokesperson says
UN and relief groups to assist with relocation logistics
Hamas demands independent state for disarmament
Updated 16 August 2025
Reuters
GAZA: The Israeli military will provide Gaza residents with tents and other equipment starting from Sunday ahead of relocating them from combat zones to “safe” ones in the south of the enclave, military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said on Saturday.
This comes days after Israel said it intended to launch a new offensive to seize control of northern Gaza City, the enclave’s largest urban center, in a plan that raised international alarm over the fate of the demolished strip, home to about 2.2 million people.
The equipment will be transferred via the Israeli crossing of Kerem Shalom by the United Nations and other international relief organizations after being thoroughly inspected by defense ministry personnel, Adraee added in a post on X.
Israel’s COGAT, the military agency that coordinates aid, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether the preparations were part of the new plan.
Taking over the city of about one million Palestinians complicates ceasefire efforts to end the nearly two-year war, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu follows through with his plan to take on Hamas’ two remaining strongholds.
Netanyahu said Israel had no choice but to complete the job and defeat Hamas as the Palestinian militant group has refused to lay down its arms.
Hamas said it would not disarm unless an independent Palestinian state was established.
Israel already controls about 75 percent of Gaza.
The war began when Hamas attacked southern Israel in October 2023, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Israeli authorities say 20 of the remaining 50 hostages in Gaza are alive.
Israel’s subsequent military assault has killed over 61,000 Palestinians, Gaza’s health ministry says.
It has also caused a hunger crisis, internally displaced Gaza’s entire population and prompted accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice and of war crimes at the International Criminal Court. Israel denies the accusations.
Paramilitary group in Sudan shells famine-stricken camp in Darfur, killing 31 people
Sudan’s civil war broke out in April 2023 over a power struggle between commanders of the military and the RSF
Updated 16 August 2025
AP
CAIRO: A paramilitary fighting against Sudan’s military shelled a famine-stricken displacement camp in the western region of Dafur Saturday, killing at least 31 people, including seven children and a pregnant woman, a medical group said, in a second attack on the camp in less than a week.
The Rapid Support Forces artillery shelling of the Abu Shouk camp outside El-Fasher, the provincial capital of North Darfur province, also wounded 13 others, the Sudan Doctors Network said in a statement.
The Resistance Committees in el-Fasher, a grassroots group tracking the war, said RSF launched an hours-long “extensive artillery shelling” on the camp early morning.
It said in a Facebook post that the attack also resulted in severe damage to private properties and the camp’s infrastructure.
The RSF didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The RSF attacked Abu Shouk last week and killed more than 40 people, as the paramilitaries have tried to seize el-Fasher, the military’s last stronghold in Darfur.
Abu-Shouk is one of two camps for displaced people outside El-Fasher. They have repeatedly been attacked by the RSF and their Janjwaeed allies, including a major offensive in April which killed hundreds of people and forced hundreds of thousands others to flee. Both camps Abu Shouk and Zamzam have been hit by famine.
Sudan’s civil war broke out in April 2023 over a power struggle between commanders of the military and the RSF. The fighting wrecked the Northeastern African country, forced about 14 million people out of their homes, and pushed some of its parts into famine.
Thousands of people were killed in the conflict and there have been atrocities, including mass killings and rape, particularly in Darfur. The International Criminal Court is investigating potential crimes and crimes against humanity in the conflict.
