Our editors’ weekly take on humanitarian news, trends, and developments from around the globe.
On our radar
After nine months of war, Israel orders evacuation of Gaza City
Israel ordered all Palestinians to leave Gaza City on 10 July, telling the estimated 250,000 people who remain in the enclave’s largest urban centre to head south. The Israeli military has been redeploying in areas of Gaza it had previously pulled out of, saying Hamas fighters are regrouping. Last October, Israel ordered 1.1 million residents of Gaza City and other areas of the north to evacuate south. This time around, few Palestinians appear to be heeding Israel’s orders – either because it is too dangerous for them to leave their houses or because nowhere in Gaza is safe. Dozens of bodies of people killed in the renewed bombardment and fighting reportedly litter the streets of Gaza City. Some 1.9 million people in the Gaza Strip have been forcibly displaced – many multiple times. The UN recently lowered its population estimate for the enclave from 2.3 to 2.1 million to account for the over 38,000 Palestinians who have been killed during Israel’s military campaign and the over 100,000 who managed to escape to Egypt. A further 6,400 people reported missing to the International Committee of the Red Cross since the war began on 7 October remain unaccounted for. Meanwhile, the renewed fighting has forced several hospitals to close, and dozens of people were killed in Israeli strikes on four schools serving as shelters for the displaced. Humanitarian operations – already severely hobbled – have also been further disrupted, as organisations struggle to reach people who are fully reliant on aid to be able to eat. For more, read: What is life like in northern Gaza?
Biden campaign fears trump Ukraine at NATO summit
The NATO summit that took place in Washington DC from 9-11 July was overshadowed by questions about the cognitive ability of US President Joe Biden and the viability of his re-election campaign. The official focus of the gathering, however, was the alliance’s support for Ukraine. The day before the summit began, 44 people were killed when Russia unleashed a barrage of missiles on Ukrainian cities. One of the missiles hit a children’s hospital in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, killing four children and two others. And Russia has been making gains on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine in recent months. At the NATO summit, the allies pledged to provide Ukraine with a baseline of around $43 billion in military aid per year to fend off Russia’s invasion, among other support. And the US said it would provide Ukraine with additional air defences. Looming in the background of the summit was the prospect of another Donald Trump presidency. The presumptive Republican Party nominee is a NATO sceptic and has signalled that he would be far less supportive of Ukraine than the current administration. Notably absent from the official agenda at the summit: any discussion of Gaza.
Sahelian juntas break away from West African bloc
With the withdrawal of three member states, the West African regional bloc ECOWAS is facing its biggest crisis since it was formed almost five decades ago. Military-led Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali have formed an alternative Alliance of Sahel States. The new confederation plans to create a joint investment bank, development projects, and a joint military force to fight cross-border jihadist insurgents who have killed tens of thousands of civilians. ECOWAS has been a successful 15-country regional alliance that has allowed goods and nearly 400 million people to travel freely across a tightly connected region. But the coups that brought the young military leaders to power in the three landlocked francophone countries have strained ECOWAS unity. Military intervention was threatened and sanctions imposed to reverse Niger’s putsch last year. Sanctions were then eased to prevent the bloc’s break-up. Senegal’s young new president, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, has been appointed by ECOWAS to mediate the crisis.
UN experts flag Rwanda’s role in eastern DRC conflict
Rwanda has between 3,000-4,000 troops on the ground in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo fighting alongside the M23 rebel group, according to the latest report from UN experts, who said the number is a conservative estimate. It has long been known that Rwanda was supporting the M23, but the report found that it has “de facto control and direction” over the rebels and has been critical to the group’s massive territorial expansion since the start of the year. Kigali sees eastern DRC as its backyard and wants to claw back influence there from regional rivals. The combat increasingly resembles a regional conflict, given that Rwanda is fighting alongside the M23, and southern African troops as well as Burundian soldiers are fighting with the Congolese army against them. The UN report also found that Ugandan military officials have supported the rebels, providing logistics and transport to M23 leaders. Kampala also likely permitted the movement of M23 and Rwandan troops from Ugandan territory to DRC.
Will sacking his cabinet save Kenya’s Ruto?
Anti-government Gen Z protests in Kenya have claimed major scalps with the resignation on 12 July of police chief Japhet Koome, whose officers have been accused of brutalising demonstrators, just a day after President William Ruto unexpectedly dissolved his cabinet, firing all but one of his cabinet secretaries. Ruto, who previously abandoned the tax proposals that sparked the youth-led demonstrations around the country – and promised deep cuts in wasteful spending – vowed to consult widely to form a “broad-based” government. Some fear that may be code for a coalition arrangement with the opposition to distract from and dent the momentum of the protests. The protesters, who stress that their movement is “leaderless and partyless”, have rebuffed calls for dialogue, including from opposition leader Raila Odinga. Sentiment among the youth has hardened as bodies of protesters kidnapped and murdered by suspected regime agents continue to be recovered. Further protests are planned for 16 July. For more, read this take from our inclusive storytelling editor.
US blocks unlawful detention hearing for Diego Garcia asylum seekers
Lawyers for some of around 60 Sri Lankan Tamil asylum seekers stranded on the British-held island of Diego Garcia have appealed to the UK’s new Foreign Minister David Lammy to intervene after the US blocked them from visiting the island for a hearing set to take place this week. The US runs a secretive military facility on the island. The lawyers are accusing the island’s government – the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) administration – of illegally detaining their clients, who have been confined to a small camp for nearly three years after fleeing Sri Lanka and India by boat. The BIOT administration claims to have no role in negotiating permission for the visit, but lawyers for the asylum seekers say the administration has a duty to persuade the US to allow the hearing to take place and ensure the rule of law on the remote British territory. Shortly before the hearing was blocked, The New Humanitarian spoke to several asylum seekers, who described prison-like conditions on the island, including inadequate medical services and abuse by private security guards, as well as at least 50 suicide attempts among the detainees. The lawyers now say “the only long-term viable option is for the asylum seekers to be relocated to the UK”, pointing out that the UK government has approved spending £39 million per year – £108,000 per day – to keep them on the island.
Weekend read
The changing face of peacekeeping: What’s gone wrong with the UN?
The era of big and complex operations aimed at “fixing” states and building institutions has come to an end. What comes next?
And finally…
Call it what it is
Drawn-out bickering over the name of the Fund for responding to Loss and Damage has been avoided by officials deciding to call it exactly that. Action Aid’s Brandon Wu, a longtime observer, said on X that he felt “relief” that no time was wasted on the decision – at the board’s second meeting in Songdo, South Korea – but he also expressed “disappointment” on missing out on “so much potential farcical comedy”. Rumour had it that the United States might make a fuss over the name of the fund, given concerns over its historic responsibility for climate change. At the COP28 climate summit in Dubai, John Kerry, the former US climate envoy, avoided using the phrase loss and damage and frequently referred to the “fund for climate impact response”. In the event, it was something of a damp squib. At the talks in Songdo, “the US, perhaps choosing their battles, remained silent and never raised their flag on this issue”, said Wu.
