Venezuela’s election, Sudan peace talks, and Netanyahu’s DC visit: The Cheat Sheet

A weekly read to keep you in the loop on humanitarian issues.

Louise O'Brien/TNH

GENEVA

Our editors’ weekly take on humanitarian news, trends, and developments from around the globe.

On our radar

Netanyahu visits DC, as Palestinians pushed out of 83% of Gaza

All eyes this week have been on events outside of the Gaza Strip. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the US Congress on 24 July, giving a factually dubious speech that downplayed and misrepresented the staggering humanitarian crisis caused by Israel’s now nearly 10-month-long war. US Vice President Kamala Harris also gave her first comments about the war as the likely Democratic Party nominee in November presidential elections after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race. Harris vowed her “unwavering commitment” to Israel’s security while also calling on Netanyahu’s government to reach a ceasefire deal with Hamas. Ceasefire talks are ongoing, but Netanyahu has so far resisted global pressure to strike a deal to end the war. Instead, he has laid out a vision for indefinite, lower-intensity fighting against Hamas until Israel achieves “total victory” – something many experts say is not possible. On the ground in Gaza, Israel issued a fresh round of evacuation orders for parts of the southern city of Khan Younis – including parts of the Israeli-designated ‘humanitarian zone’ in al-Mawasi. More than 150,000 people have since fled those areas, according to the UN. The Israeli military has been heavily bombarding and redeploying ground troops in parts of Gaza it previously withdrew from, saying that it is pursuing Hamas militants that have regrouped. According to the UN, nearly 83% of Gaza’s territory is now under evacuation orders or has been designated as ‘no-go zones’ by the Israeli military. Around 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.1 million Palestinians has been forcibly displaced – many multiple times – and the recorded death toll is nearing 40,000, according to health authorities in the enclave.

Fresh Sudan ceasefire talks, as displacement tops 10 million

The US has put forward plans for fresh peace talks next month in Switzerland between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The hope is that a new venue and buy-in from regional powers will give the process a better chance of succeeding than prior efforts. The talks are supposed to include Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (backers of the army and the RSF, respectively) as observers as well as the UN and African Union. Switzerland and Saudi Arabia will co-host the talks with the US. The RSF has said it will attend, but the army – on the backfoot and internally divided – hasn’t responded. The US and Saudi led a previous mediation process in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia that the warring parties never really took seriously. Many felt the two mediators were more interested in building bilateral ties than helping Sudan. Others criticised the US for failing to pressure the UAE (its Gulf ally) to sever support to the RSF, even as the paramilitary group carried out alleged genocidal crimes. Now in its second year, the war has produced the world’s largest displacement crisis – uprooting 10 million people – and the biggest hunger crisis too. There have been various other mediation efforts in addition to the US and Saudi attempts, but they’ve lacked urgency and coherence.

Fear of escalation as Houthis, Israel exchange strikes

Yemen’s Houthi rebels launched a drone attack on Tel Aviv late last week, killing one person. The group said the attack was a response to Israel’s aggression in Gaza. The drone strike was the first time the Houthis managed to hit inside Israel. They have been sending rockets at ships they say are affiliated with Israel – and towards the country itself – since last October. Israel retaliated by bombing what it called “Houthi targets” in the northern port city of Hodeidah. Houthi officials said six people were killed. Depending on who you ask (and likely on how ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas unfold), this is either a major escalation that could involve regional players and have humanitarian consequences, or a purposely limited set of tit-for-tat attacks. Speaking at the UN Security Council on 23 July, Hans Grundberg, UN Special Envoy for Yemen, warned that “seven months of an escalatory trajectory reached a new and dangerous level”. He also noted that it has been nearly seven weeks since the Houthis arrested 13 UN employees, dozens of members of civil society, and numerous local and international INGO workers (the rebel group said they were part of a US-Israel spy ring – a claim which has been denied). Grundberg said the time since the arrests has “passed without knowing where they are and under what conditions they are being held”.

Is an end to the Maduro era in Venezuela near?

Millions of Venezuelans inside the country and abroad are getting ready to vote on 28 July in a pivotal presidential election. For the first time in more than a decade, the opposition appears to have a real chance of winning. The question is whether president Nicolás Maduro will try to hold on to power if he loses – a likely outcome, according to polls. Several leaders across Latin America urged Maduro to respect the results. The United States also warned of the need to hold a free and peaceful vote. Since the beginning of the campaign, Maduro has unleashed a wave of repression. Many Venezuelans – eager for democratic change – have been preparing to migrate if Maduro wins. Experts worry that a new exodus could aggravate Latin America’s migration crisis. Maduro, whose 2018 reelection was largely considered fraudulent, has said there would be “a bloodbath” if he is defeated, and has tried to shore up support from Venezuela's military. González and the widely-popular opposition leader María Corina Machado have signed an agreement with the Democratic Unitary Platform – a coalition of opposition parties – promising a democratisation process if González wins. For more, see our recent coverage.

An end to the AIDS pandemic by 2050?

A new UNAIDS report offers hope of real progress against the AIDS pandemic, but that’s contingent on world leaders boosting resources and better protecting people’s rights. The report argues policy choices made this year “will decide the fate of millions of lives and whether the world’s deadliest pandemic is overcome”. Of the 39.9 million people living with HIV, nearly a quarter are not receiving life-saving treatment. That translates into a person dying from AIDS-related causes every minute. But by increasing targeted interventions, protecting the rights of women and girls, and fighting stigma, the number of people living with the virus – and on treatment – could settle at around 29 million by 2050. The report notes there have been successes in halting new infections, especially in eastern and southern Africa. But infections are still rising in the Middle East and North Africa, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and Latin America.

A grim trajectory for global hunger

A fifth of Africans are suffering from food insecurity, as global hunger has risen over the last nine years. Overall, the 2024 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report, released on 24 July by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), found that one in 11 people around the world went hungry in 2023. Conflicts, climate change, and massive public debt are all drivers of the so-called polycrisis. “Based on the current trajectory, our projections indicate that 582 million people will still face hunger in 2030 and half of them will be in Africa,” Maximo Torero, the FAO’s chief economist, said. The report made a number of financing critiques and suggestions for how limited aid funds could be better spent on addressing hunger and its root causes. It also called for more money, especially in grants rather than loans, which further add to the debt burden of lower-income countries. For more, read: Climate, conflict, and debt keep hunger and malnutrition stubbornly high globally.

In case you missed it

CANARY ISLANDS: Another migration shipwreck off the West African coast has claimed the lives of more than a dozen people, while at least 150 others are missing and presumed dead. The Mauritanian coast guard rescued 120 survivors on 24 July. More than 20,000 asylum seekers and migrants have made the dangerous crossing from West Africa to the Spanish Canary Islands this year, and more than 5,000 people are believed to have died attempting the journey between January and May.

DARIÉN GAP: Panamanian authorities reported finding the bodies of 10 migrants who drowned due to a sudden flood in a river while crossing the jungle border between Colombia and Panama. The number of migrants crossing the Darién Gap has decreased in the past few weeks, but more deaths were registered because of heavy rains. For more, read: The Darién Gap: the reality behind the numbers.

ETHIOPIA: The death toll from twin landslides in southwestern Ethiopia could rise to over 500 people, the UN has warned. Heavy rains in the mountainous Gofa zone caused a landslide on 21 July. A second landslide the following morning trapped people rescuing victims of the first. The initial death toll stood at 229.

HAITI: More than 120 organisations from around the world issued a call for women to be included – and for issues affecting women to be given specific consideration – in Haiti’s political transition. Women and girls are particularly vulnerable in Haiti. A new UN report shows that half of the 580,000 displaced people in Haiti are women, who often face alarming levels violence in makeshift displacement camps. For more on the country's transition, read this in-depth analysis.

KENYA PROTESTS: The youth-led anti-government protests that have roiled Kenya for six straight weeks are causing consternation further afield. In the Ugandan capital Kampala, scores were arrested on 23 July for taking part in a banned rally that drew inspiration from Kenya, while Nigeria’s chief of police has warned against planning demonstrations “under the guise of replicating the recent Kenya protests”. See our Editor for Inclusive Storytelling’s take on the protests here.

SYRIA: Kurdish authorities in northeast Syria declared a general amnesty for some prisoners with alleged links to the so-called Islamic State (IS) last week, leading to the release of 180 people on 21 July, according to reports. Around 1,500 of the estimated 10,000 IS-related prisoners are believed to be eligible for release, including elderly detainees and people with chronic illnesses. IS officials, members who fought against Kurdish forces, and people who carried out deadly bombings are not eligible for the amnesty.

NEW ZEALAND: A state inquiry into reports of child abuse has found that more than 200,000 children – many of them from indigenous communities – and vulnerable elderly people were subject to abuse and torture, including rape, in religious and state-run institutions in New Zealand over a 70-year period. The 3,000-page report details cases involving both the Catholic and Anglican churches from 1950 to 2019.

PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Police report that at least 26 people, including children, were killed in attacks by a group of young men across three villages last week. The UN said that the actual death toll could reach as high as 50. The attacks took place in villages in the East Sepik province on 16 and 18 July. At least 200 villagers had to flee the area after their homes were torched. The motive for the attacks is still unclear.

PHILIPPINES: Officials in the Philippines are trying to respond to the dual blows of ongoing flooding and what could end up being the largest oil spill in the Pacific nation’s history. At least 13 people have reportedly died and 600,000 have been displaced by flooding caused by heavy rains from Typhoon Gaemi since 22 July. While officials struggled to respond to the flooding, a tanker carrying 1.4 million litres of oil sank near the capital city of Manila on 25 July. Authorities are scrambling to try to contain the spill.

Weekend read

In Pakistan, a poet’s killing fuels Pashtun fears ahead of a new security crackdown

“It’s a cruel state that stands upon the foundations of tyranny. Whoever talks about injustice and rights is kept in jail.’

Gilaman Wazir’s death comes as a new military operation targeting alleged militants heightens concerns of renewed violence and discrimination.

And finally…

Surf’s up in Tahiti for Paris 2024

As the Olympic Games get underway in Paris, surfing competitors will be nearly 10,000 miles away on the island of Tahiti in French Polynesia.

Teahupo’o, the village hosting the surf competition, is setting a record for being the furthest location from a host city to feature part of the Games in Olympic history. But its selection has stirred controversy among locals and environmentalists alike.

Watch this short video for more: