All UN Security Council members, except US, say famine in Gaza is ‘man-made crisis’
All UN Security Council members, except US, say famine in Gaza is ‘man-made crisis’/node/2613240/middle-east
All UN Security Council members, except US, say famine in Gaza is ‘man-made crisis’
Palestinians shove to receive food portions from a charity kitchen in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on August 27, 2025. (AFP)
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Updated 6 min 39 sec ago
Reuters
All UN Security Council members, except US, say famine in Gaza is ‘man-made crisis’
14 council members called for an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire, the release of all hostages held by Hamas, and a substantive surge of aid throughout Gaza
Acting US Ambassador to the UN Dorothy Shea questioned the credibility and integrity of the IPC report, saying it ‘doesn’t pass the test on either’
Updated 6 min 39 sec ago
Reuters
UNITED NATIONS: All United Nations Security Council members, except the United States, on Wednesday said the famine in Gaza was a “manmade crisis” and warned that the use of starvation as a weapon of war is banned under international humanitarian law.
In a joint statement, the 14 council members called for an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire, the release of all hostages held by Hamas and other groups, a substantive surge of aid throughout Gaza, and for Israel to immediately and unconditionally lift all restrictions on aid delivery.
“Famine in Gaza must be stopped immediately,” they said. “Time is of the essence. The humanitarian emergency must be addressed without delay and Israel must reverse course.”
Gaza City and surrounding areas are officially suffering from famine, and it will likely spread, a global hunger monitor determined on Friday. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification system said 514,000 people — nearly a quarter of Palestinians in Gaza — are experiencing famine and that is due to rise to 641,000 by the end of September.
Israel asked the global hunger monitor on Wednesday to retract the assessment. Israel dismissed the findings as false and biased, saying the IPC had based its survey on partial data largely provided by Hamas, which did not take into account a recent influx of food.
At a UN Security Council meeting on Gaza on Wednesday, acting US Ambassador to the UN Dorothy Shea questioned the credibility and integrity of the IPC report, saying it “doesn’t pass the test on either.”
“We all recognize that hunger is a real issue in Gaza and that there are significant humanitarian needs which must be met. Addressing those needs is a priority for the United States,” she told the 15-member council.
Why families uprooted by Sudan conflict are weighing safety abroad against perilous returns
Despite ongoing violence, hundreds of thousands are heading back, driven by necessity, family ties, and the dream of rebuilding
Families returning often find ruined homes, shattered infrastructure, and limited aid, yet cling to resilience and hope for renewal
Updated 18 sec ago
KHALED AL-KHAWALDEH
DUBAI: Osama Al-Tayeb had barely left his home country before the war. Born and raised in Sudan, the 29-year-old lived a life rooted in familiarity, unaware that one day he would be forced to flee entirely.
The conflict, which erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in April 2023, has displaced millions, forcing people like Al-Tayeb onto long, uncertain journeys.
After months of instability in Khartoum, Al-Tayeb left the capital, first traveling to Al-Jazira state before undertaking a four-day journey along the Red Sea coast to the north, eventually crossing into Egypt via Aswan and settling in Cairo.
“The situation in Cairo was good, the people there were good, but at the end of the day, it was of course difficult to be away from your home,” Al-Tayeb told Arab News.
A Sudanese man shows his train ticket that reads "We are back, Thanks Egypt", as families displaced by conflict voluntarily return. (Reuters)
Despite Egypt’s relative stability and safety, he felt constrained, unable to move forward with his life. Two years on from his departure, he decided to return — driven by a resolve to rebuild his life and country.
“I had to stop waiting. I had no job, so I felt I had to travel back to Sudan as the situation was getting better there.”
Now living in Port Sudan, Al-Tayeb’s return is emblematic of both opportunity and uncertainty. Though he arrived with tempered expectations, he was surprised by what he found.
“I was expecting the situation in Sudan to be more difficult than it was. However, public services, healthcare, and even electricity — despite some cuts, which were normal even before the war — were there,” he said.
Robaika Peter holds her severely malnourished child at the pediatric ward of the Mother of Mercy Hospital in Gidel, South Kordofan, Sudan, on June 25, 2024. (Reuters)
Observing improvements in government operations and available work, he expressed cautious optimism. He knew of many preparing to return to Khartoum and Al-Jazira, areas far more heavily damaged by the war.
Stories like Al-Tayeb’s are becoming increasingly common, despite the conflict still raging in many parts of the country.
The war has displaced nearly 4 million people across international borders and at least 12 million internally.
owever, the UN Development Programme estimates that roughly 1.5 million refugees have returned to Sudan, with another half a million expected over the next six months.
Their return is not without peril. Luca Renda, the UNDP resident representative in Sudan, told Arab News that while Port Sudan has been relatively stable, the situation remains fragile.
He said recent drone attacks on airport facilities in the city and a surge in cholera cases elsewhere underscored that volatility.
“It’s important to understand that there have been parts of Sudan that have been relatively stable since the beginning of the conflict, and definitely Port Sudan is one of those areas,” Renda said.
For refugees dependent on aid abroad, returning to a place like Port Sudan — a relatively unscathed coastal city and the de facto capital of the SAF-led government — can feel comparatively better.
Yet in other parts of the country, specifically Khartoum and Al-Jazira, where most refugees come from, the damage is extensive if not catastrophic.
“For the great majority of Sudanese, they will find that their home has been occupied or ransacked or looted, but the extent of the damage may differ from simple looting to being completely burned down,” he said.
“In most cases, people will find that all their possessions — whatever they had of any value — have been taken. The level and extent of the repair for many families is enormous.”
Thuraya Saleh, a Sudanese writer and editor at Andariya, a magazine focused on East Africa, shared a similar story. Now based in Cairo, she spoke of her aunt, a university professor, who returned to Khartoum this year for work and was confronted with a much harsher reality.
“My aunt is a university professor, and her university demanded she go back because they’re reopening. She was told she either needs to go back or lose her job,” Saleh said.
“However, it’s fair to say that the reality there was shocking to her.”
Located in an area heavily affected by fighting, her aunt’s home had been looted and completely destroyed. Damage to local infrastructure meant basic services like water and electricity were severely limited.
“She basically couldn’t live in her home. She had to live with another relative in a safer area that did not witness a lot of fighting,” Saleh said.
Those who returned to Khartoum reported receiving just nine hours of electricity per day, while disease outbreaks were worsened by Sudan’s rainy season. Saleh said cholera cases in her aunt’s area were surging.
For Saleh herself, a return to Sudan is not yet an option.
“For me, my mom is older. She has many chronic diseases. She requires some sort of stability in life, and we need to be able to have a functioning hospital in case she needs urgent care,” she said.
“We keep saying, however, that maybe if things got more stable, then we could consider returning.”
Saleh considers herself fortunate, with the financial means to remain abroad. Many others do not have that option. Pressure to leave Egypt is growing as the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, is forced to reduce financial support following cuts by USAID and other donors.
Financial concerns are not the only motive for returning.
“There are people who are going back for sentimental reasons, just because they want to live in their home,” Saleh said. “A couple of days ago, a friend told me that his aunt, who is very old, just went back because she wanted to die and be buried there.
“For others, it’s simply because they can’t afford living in Cairo any longer.”
Renda of UNDP said refugees in Egypt, the single biggest host of Sudanese refugees, are among the luckier ones, benefiting from better aid and support.
By contrast, at least a million Sudanese in Chad face far more precarious conditions. He stressed that before any mass return could occur, the country needed to resolve the conflict.
“Sudan needs a comprehensive solution,” he said. “We need to start with a ceasefire, access people in need, and then hopefully initiate some kind of transitional process that can lead to a peaceful conclusion.”
Renda highlighted some progress by authorities, aid agencies, and the UN, such as mine clearance, restoration of health facilities, containment of cholera outbreaks, and infrastructure repairs.
However, he acknowledged that UNDP had received just over $1 billion of its requested $4.2 billion, hampering its humanitarian response. He believes the conflict is still far from resolved.
“We can see maybe some partial recovery while the situation remains catastrophic in some areas,” he said. “In other parts of Sudan, particularly in the east and increasingly around Khartoum, there is gradual, slow recovery.”
Renda warned that Sudan is at risk of becoming an invisible crisis, lacking both the political engagement and financial support necessary to resolve the conflict.
Nevertheless, for young Sudanese like Al-Tayeb, the chance to rebuild his life — and his country — outweighs the uncertainties.
“For Sudanese and non-Sudanese, instead of sitting in suffering, why not come here and work here and rebuild your country?”
Save the Children president describes to the UN Security Council in horrific detail the impact of famine on children in Gaza
Updated 27 August 2025
AFP
NEW YORK: The head of Save the Children described in horrific detail Wednesday the slow agony of starving children in Gaza, saying they are so weak they do not even cry.
Addressing a Security Council meeting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the president of the international charity, Inger Ashing, said famine — declared by the UN last week to be happening in Gaza — is not just a dry technical term.
“When there is not enough food, children become acutely malnourished, and then they die slowly and painfully. This, in simple terms, is what famine is,” said Ashing.
She went on to describe what happens when children die of hunger over the course of several weeks, as the body first consumes its own fat to survive and when that is gone, literally consumes itself as it eats muscles and vital organs.
“Yet our clinics are almost silent. Now, children do not have the strength to speak or even cry out in agony. They lie there, emaciated, quite literally wasting away,” said Ashing.
She insisted aid groups have been warning loudly that famine was coming as Israel prevented food and other essentials from entering Gaza over the course of two years of war triggered by the Hamas attack of October 2023.
“Everyone in this room has a legal and moral responsibility to act to stop this atrocity,” said Ashing.
The United Nations officially declared famine in Gaza on Friday, blaming what it called systematic obstruction of aid by Israel during more than 22 months of war.
A UN-backed hunger monitor called the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative said famine was affecting 500,000 people in the Gaza governorate, which covers about a fifth of the Palestinian territory including Gaza City.
The IPC projected that the famine would expand by the end of September to cover around two-thirds of Gaza.
Besieged Sudan city ‘epicenter of child suffering,’ UNICEF warns
El-Fasher, the provincial capital of North Darfur faces a 'devastating tragedy with the population besieged by a paramilitary group, UN’s children’s agency says
Updated 27 August 2025
AP
CAIRO: A city in Sudan’s western region is facing a “devastating tragedy” as the remaining population of about 260,000 people, half of them children, remain trapped after being besieged by a paramilitary group, the United Nations warned on Wednesday.
El-Fasher, the provincial capital of North Darfur province, has been at the epicenter of fighting for over a year between the Sudanese military and the Rapid Support forces, or RSF.
The UN’s children’s agency says least 600,000 people have been displaced from El-Fasher and surrounding camps in recent months, but inside the city there are still 260,000 civilians — including 130,000 children — living in “desperate conditions” after been cut off from aid for more than 16 months. It says an estimated 6,000 children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition are at risk of death.
The paramilitaries have imposed a siege around the city, cutting off supply lines, UNICEF said in a statement. El-Fasher has become “an epicenter of child suffering, with malnutrition, disease, and violence claiming young lives daily,” it said.
“We are witnessing a devastating tragedy – children in El-Fasher are starving while UNICEF’s lifesaving nutrition services are being blocked,” said Catherine Russell, the agency’s executive director.
“Blocking humanitarian access is a grave violation of children’s rights, and the lives of children are hanging in the balance,” Russell said.
UNICEF said it is calling on Sudan’s government “and all other concerned parties” to ensure “sustained, unimpeded, and safe access to reach children wherever they are in Sudan.” It also wants an immediate and sustained humanitarian pause in El-Fasher and across other conflict-affected areas and unimpeded humanitarian access for the delivery of food, medicines, water, and other essentials.
The war broke out in April 2023 when simmering tensions between the military and the RSF exploded into open fighting in the capital Khartoum and elsewhere across the African country.
El-Fasher is the military’s last stronghold in the sprawling Darfur region. The RSF has been trying to seize the city since April 2024 and has been the focus of a bombing campaign during which more than 1,000 children have been killed or maimed, according to UNICEF.
The Sudan war has created the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, displacing more than 14 million people and pushing parts of the country into famine, and disease outbreaks. The war has killed tens of thousands, and marked by atrocities including mass killings and rape, which the International Criminal Court is investigating as war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Lebanese politicians file lawsuit against Hezbollah chief for ‘inciting war’
Plaintiffs accuse Naim Qassem of violating constitution in major public address
Protests by Hezbollah supporters prompt US envoy to cut short southern border tour
Updated 27 August 2025
NAJIA HOUSSARI
BEIRUT: A group of prominent Lebanese politicians on Wednesday filed a criminal lawsuit against Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem, accusing him of inciting war and sedition.
The plaintiffs include current and former MPs as well as senior political figures in the country.
The suit is the first of its kind to target a member of Hezbollah’s senior leadership. It cites inflammatory speeches by Qassem, the party’s secretary-general, and accuses him of “inciting war, sedition and the overthrow of constitutional authority.”
MP Ashraf Rifi told Arab News that the lawsuit, which was accepted by the court, targets “anyone the investigation reveals to be a perpetrator, accomplice or instigator.”
He added: “We are aware that Sheikh Qassem’s address is unknown, making it difficult to serve him the legal notice. While the lawsuit may not deter him from continuing his actions, we assert that he has violated the constitution, and the complaints will continue as long as Hezbollah continues to do so.”
Alongside Rifi, MPs Elias Khoury, Camille Chamoun (head of the National Liberal Party), George Okais, former MP Eddy Abillama and the head of the Change Movement, lawyer Elie Mahfoud, are acting as plaintiffs against Qassem. The lawsuit was submitted before Public Prosecutor Jamal Hajjar at the Palace of Justice in Beirut, amid tight security measures taken by the Lebanese Army.
The plaintiffs said that their personal claim against Qassem followed the Public Prosecution’s “inaction regarding the individual in question.”
They called for “the appointment of the appropriate authority to investigate the complaint, summon Sheikh Naim Qassem for questioning, and take all necessary legal measures against him.”
In the suit, the plaintiffs highlighted comments made by Qassem during a major public address to Hezbollah supporters in mid-August.
Hezbollah represents an “unlicensed organization considered a terrorist organization by a large number of countries around the world,” they said.
During the speech earlier this month, Qassem had repeated Hezbollah’s refusal to surrender its weapons to the state in defiance of a Cabinet decision.
The plaintiffs described Qassem’s speech as “a threat to Lebanon’s internal security and a direct challenge to decisions issued by the Council of Ministers.”
Qassem threatened the Lebanese Army with his comments, and displayed open contempt for the presidency, prime minister and members of the government, they said.
The Hezbollah chief also defied government measures by calling for demonstrations across the country, including outside the US Embassy in Beirut, the plaintiffs added.
“This speech provoked most of the Lebanese who are still living through a bloody war provoked by the military organization headed by the accused person,” the suit said.
The plaintiffs said Qassem’s behavior implicated him in Israel’s occupation of Lebanese regions and the widespread economic damage inflicted on the country as a result of the war.
Qassem’s speech contradicted President Joseph Aoun’s inaugural address to parliament, in which he outlined the general framework of Lebanon’s policy — particularly the principle that only legitimate Lebanese forces may possess arms, the plaintiffs added.
The speech also contradicted a ministerial statement highlighting Lebanon’s commitment to non-involvement in regional or international conflicts, they said.
The secretary-general’s speech was “a clear and explicit admission that the military organization led by Qassem is waging war on behalf of a foreign state and in its defense, a policy that will inevitably lead to devastation and destruction,” the suit said.
Hezbollah’s stance under Qassem contradicts the Lebanese Constitution and the UN Charter that the Lebanese Republic is committed to, the plaintiffs said.
“The Israeli enemy responded to the speech with a direct and public warning to Lebanon against any escalation by the military organization led by Qassem. The speech also triggered a massive wave of reactions, all of which were sectarian in nature; some rejecting and denouncing the statement, while others responded with sectarian counter-comments in support of what the defendant had said,” they added.
The lawsuit highlighted Hezbollah’s call to protest that accompanied the speech, involving the display of threatening banners on public property along the road to Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut. Some banners featured images of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and bore the message: “The hand that reaches for our weapons, we will cut it off. At your command, we are ready and advancing toward Jerusalem.”
The MPs accused Qassem of inciting “sedition and internal strife, overthrowing decisions taken by legitimate constitutional authorities, disrupting Lebanon’s relations with the vast majority of world countries that support the Lebanese government’s decisions regarding the restriction of arms to the Lebanese state, and exposing the Lebanese to hostile acts by an enemy state, Israel.”
Rifi described the government’s decision to restrict arms to the state as a pivotal moment in Lebanon’s political history, leading to the flourishing of sovereignty.
The MP told Arab News he is convinced that “surrendering weapons will happen sooner or later. People do not want to live under the rule of a state within a state. Hezbollah’s role is over.”
Hezbollah’s power and influence within Lebanon had grown substantially over the past decade, in part due to support from Damascus and Tehran. But the fall of the Assad regime in Syria in late 2024 and the election of Lebanon’s newest government earlier this year has led to a dramatic shift in the balance of power.
The party’s military wing was significantly weakened during its latest war with Israel. Key officials were killed, including former chief Hassan Nasrallah, and a substantial portion of its arsenal was destroyed.
Rifi said the party and its military wing “has nothing to do with the defense strategy” of Lebanon.
“It is the state’s responsibility; it is not that of those who seek to be part of the strategy placement according to their whims and desires. It is the responsibility of the Lebanese Army officers and leadership,” he added.
The MP accused Hezbollah of trying to model itself on Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces in order to “legitimize itself as a partner.”
He added: “This will not happen. Hezbollah’s role is over. The role of Iran in the region is over. Assad has been ousted and could now be subject to accountability.”
Wednesday’s lawsuit was filed amid escalating political tensions in Lebanon. Hezbollah has insisted on maintaining control of its arms, while the Lebanese government has tasked the army with developing a plan to limit weapons to the military and government-affiliated security forces.
The plan must be discussed and adopted by the Council of Ministers on Sept. 2 and implemented by the end of the year.
US envoy Tom Barrack, during a press conference at the Presidential Palace on Tuesday, set a condition that requires Hezbollah to surrender its arms.
Hezbollah supporters reacted by forcing Barrack to cancel his tour of Lebanon’s southern border region the following day. They staged protests, held banners condemning the tour and “biased policies,” and prepared tomato pallets to throw at Barrack’s convoy. The envoy was scheduled to visit the village of Khiam and Tyre.
He had arrived at Francois Al-Hajj Army Barracks in Marjayoun aboard a helicopter. The Lebanese Army deployed a heavy presence in the area, including at the northern entrance of Khiam, to accompany Barrack.
However, residents in Khiam gathered at the town’s entrance holding images of slain family members, along with Hezbollah banners, causing the visit to be canceled.
Israel army launches operation in West Bank’s Nablus
Red Crescent reports at least seven people wounded after Israeli forces raid the city
Attack comes day after Israeli forces stormed Ramallah, seat of the Palestinian Authority
Updated 27 August 2025
AFP
NABLUS, West Bank: Dozens of Israeli soldiers stormed the occupied West Bank city of Nablus on Wednesday, witnesses and Palestinian officials said, with the Red Crescent reporting at least seven people wounded in the raid.
Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military confirmed that its forces were conducting an operation in the northern West Bank city, without specifying its purpose.
The raid began at around 3:00 am (0000 GMT), residents said, with soldiers in armored vehicles storming several neighborhoods of Nablus’s old city, which has a population of around 30,000 people.
It came a day after Israeli forces carried out a relatively rare raid on Ramallah, seat of the Palestinian Authority, targeting a currency exchange in the city center and leaving dozens of Palestinians wounded, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society.
Nablus Governor Ghassan Daghlas told AFP that Wednesday’s “assault... is merely a show of force with no justification.”
One witness, who declined to give his name, reported that soldiers had expelled an elderly couple from their home.
Israeli troops “are storming and searching houses and shops inside the old city, while some houses have been turned into military posts,” said Ghassan Hamdan, head of the Palestinian Medical Relief organization in Nablus.
AFP footage showed Israeli forces and military vehicles deployed on the streets, with some troops taking position on a rooftop.
Daghlas said the army had informed Palestinian authorities that the raid would last until 4:00 pm.
Local sources said clashes broke out at the eastern entrance to the old city, where young people threw stones at Israeli soldiers, who responded with tear gas and live ammunition.
The Red Crescent said its teams treated five people wounded by rubber bullets, one person hit by live bullet shrapnel and another following “physical assault.”
One more person was injured in a “fall” during the raid, the medical organization added, and at least 27 others suffered from tear gas inhalation.
Palestinian presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh, in a statement carried by official news agency Wafa, slammed “the Israeli escalation in cities and refugee camps,” calling a recent uptick in raids “dangerous, condemned and unacceptable.”
The old city of Nablus has been the focus of several major Israeli raids, including in 2022 and 2023 during large-scale operations targeting a local grouping of armed fighters, as well as in 2002 during the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising.
In early June 2025, an Israeli military operation there resulted in two Palestinians killed.
Since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, violence has surged in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967.
Israeli troops or settlers in the West Bank have killed at least 972 Palestinians, including militants and civilians, since the beginning of the Gaza war, according to an AFP tally based on Palestinian Authority figures.
In the same period, at least 36 Israelis, both civilians and security forces, have been killed in attacks or during military operations in the territory, according to Israeli figures.
