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GENEVA: The United Nations rights chief warned Friday that South Sudan is on the brink of renewed war, as nearly 2,000 civilians have been killed in a surge of violence this year.
The UN documented 1,854 killings, 1,693 injuries, 423 abductions and 169 cases of sexual violence from January to September — a 59-percent jump from last year, adding that limited access means the real toll is likely higher.
“This is unconscionable and must stop,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk in a statement.
He said fears were “intensifying” that a 2018 peace deal, which ended a brutal five-year civil war in South Sudan, was about to collapse and send the country back to “all-out fighting.”
“I deeply worry for the plight of civilians in South Sudan,” Turk said, calling on the country’s leaders and international community “to do everything in their power to pull South Sudan from the brink.”
Fighting has escalated sharply since March, with the army carrying out “indiscriminate” airstrikes in populated areas of Upper Nile, Jonglei, Unity, Central Equatoria and Warrap states, the statement said.
Homes, schools and clinics have been destroyed, displacing thousands, it added.
Communal bloodshed has also spiked, with inter-clan and ethnic clashes in Warrap and Jonglei states driving a 33-percent rise in civilian deaths. The UN reported at least 45 extrajudicial killings by security forces this year.
Turk also pressed Juba to ensure due process in the trial of suspended First Vice President Riek Machar, who faces charges including treason and crimes against humanity over a March attack on a military base.

ATHENS: An international aid flotilla was set to leave Greek waters and head toward Gaza on Friday, organizers said, defying warnings from Israel that it would use any means to block the boats’ access to the war-torn enclave. The Global Sumud Flotilla is using about 50 civilian boats to try to break Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza, an initiative Israel strongly opposes.

Many lawyers, parliamentarians, and activists, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, are on board. Its passage across the Mediterranean has raised international tensions, especially after it said it was attacked by drones this week. No one was hurt, but Italy and Spain have dispatched naval ships to provide assistance to their and other European citizens on the flotilla. Greece said it would guarantee the safe sailing of the flotilla off Greece, but Friday’s launch will take the flotilla back into international waters in the eastern Mediterranean. Organizers said the boats aim to arrive early next week.
’TRYING TO DELIVER HOPE AND SOLIDARITY’
Israel, which has imposed a naval blockade on Gaza, said the flotilla will not pass and that the project will only assist Hamas. The flotilla has blamed Israel for the drone attack. Israel’s foreign ministry did not respond directly to the accusation, but invited the flotilla to drop humanitarian aid for Israel to take to Gaza, or face consequences.
The exact timing of the departure from Greece is unclear. Organizers said on Friday that one of its lead boats had suffered a mechanical failure but that it was still preparing to depart.
“We are not just delivering humanitarian aid. We are trying to deliver hope and solidarity, to send a strong message that the world stands with Palestine,” Thunberg said from the deck of a boat off the Greek island of Crete on Thursday.
Italy had proposed a compromise whereby aid supplies could be dropped off in Cyprus and handed over to the Catholic Church’s Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, which would then distribute it in Gaza.
Israel said it backed the idea but the flotilla rejected it.
ITALY WARNS FLOTILLA AGAINST CONTINUING
Italy’s foreign ministry has sent a message to Italian members of the flotilla warning them against continuing with the mission, and offering help with repatriation if they choose to disembark in Greece.
It said the navy ship it has deployed would intervene only for sea rescue or humanitarian operations, and would “under no circumstances” engage in defensive or offensive military maneuvers against anyone.
“Whoever (continues with the mission) takes on all risks and is personally responsible for them,” the ministry told activists. Israel launched its nearly two-year-old war in Gaza in response to the October 7, 2023, attacks on the country by Hamas militants which killed some 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.
Since then, the Israeli offensive has killed more than 65,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, destroyed most buildings, and displaced the population, in many cases multiple times, while famine has taken hold in parts of the territory.