Our editors’ weekly take on humanitarian news, trends, and developments from around the globe.
On our radar
Middle East on precipice of regional war following epochal week
Events over the past week in the Middle East have been nothing short of seismic. On 27 September, Israel killed the long-time leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, in a massive aerial attack on the group’s central command bunker in the southern suburbs of Lebanon’s capital, Beirut. The assassination followed a series of serious blows to Hezbollah, including Israeli sabotage attacks and bombings targeting the group’s senior leadership and military capabilities. Then, on 1 October, the Israeli military launched what it called a “limited, localised” ground invasion of southern Lebanon. That same night, Iran launched a barrage of more than 180 missiles at Israel in retaliation for the killing of Nasrallah and the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran’s capital Tehran in July. Israeli officials have said they are planning a significant attack on Iran in response. With that, the long-simmering conflict between Hezbollah and Israel along the Lebanon-Israel border appears to be spiralling into the all-out regional war many have feared. Israel has continued to pound Lebanon from the air, damaging over 3,100 buildings in the past two weeks. Israel’s attacks have also displaced over one million people, with more than 100,000 fleeing across the border to Syria. Nearly 2,000 people have been killed, already surpassing the death toll of the last war between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006. Among the dead are a growing number of healthcare workers, including at least 28 on-duty medics killed by Israeli strikes over a 24-hour period between 2 and 3 October.
One year of Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip
At the root of the escalation towards regional war is the failure – or refusal – to reach a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. On 7 October last year, Hamas launched an unprecedented attack into Israel, killing 1,200 people – including many civilians – injuring thousands of others, and taking around 250 hostages. Israel’s response has been a year of total war in Gaza. Nearly 42,000 Palestinians in the enclave have been killed, almost 100,000 have been injured, and a further 10,000 are missing and presumed dead under the rubble of destroyed buildings, according to Gaza health authorities. Israeli bombing has laid waste to Gaza’s critical infrastructure, healthcare sector, and housing stock, and 90% of the population (some 1.9 million people) has been displaced, with people often forced to flee multiple times. A year of near-total siege has left virtually the entire population facing crisis levels of food insecurity. Even as the main focus of its military shifts towards Lebanon, Israel continues to bomb Gaza, conduct ground operations in the enclave, and pursue “total victory” against Hamas – a goal many experts warn is not possible. With people in Gaza living in unimaginable conditions and another winter closing in, there is no discernible end in sight. For a round-up of our reporting from the past year, read: One year of war in Gaza.
A snapshot of needs in East Africa
East Africa is one of the world’s worst humanitarian hotspots, according to OCHA, the UN’s aid coordination agency. Nearly 67 million people are in need of aid – more than 21% of the global humanitarian caseload. Fifty-five million people in the region are facing acute food shortages, with Sudan accounting for 26 million of that toll. Ethiopia is not far behind: 16 million people there are going hungry, while in South Sudan, roughly 70% of the population also struggles to find enough to eat. As ever, war is a major driver of the misery – Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia and South Sudan are all facing active conflicts. As a result of that violence – and climate-related shocks – more than 26% of the 75.9 million people globally that have been displaced locally are from the region. Those that can, cross borders: East Africa’s 5.4 million refugee population has increased more than fivefold in the last decade.
Rising floods kill hundreds in Nepal
Flooding in Nepal has led to at least 241 deaths as the country faces unprecedented monsoon rains that began in late September. A further 173 people have been injured. Much of the damage took place around the poorer neighbourhoods of the capital, Kathmandu. “I’ve never before seen flooding on this scale in Kathmandu,” said Arun Bhakta, a climate specialist at the Nepal-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development. But residents in more remote areas say they have struggled to receive proper assistance in time.
As mpox outbreak escalates, trust becomes more crucial
The mpox outbreak evolving in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and neighbouring countries is a global emergency, but the response goes beyond straightforward health and humanitarian scale-ups. As with other crises, building trust and listening to communities is crucial, warns a new security briefing aimed at NGOs from UK-based GISF. There were at least 6,700 confirmed mpox cases in 15 countries as of 29 September. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and World Health Organization have launched a response plan, and big aid agencies are among those scaling up. But there is already deep “mistrust and scepticism”, social media monitoring suggests. This mirrors the dynamics around highly criticised responses to Ebola outbreaks in the past. “Responders failed to understand that Ebola was not a priority humanitarian need for affected populations. Many people were more concerned by regular violent attacks by armed groups and more prevalent diseases,” the GISF report cautions. “Organisations that changed tactics by listening to the priorities of communities and adapting their approach to meet these expectations were able to improve acceptance.”
UK pledges to give Chagos Islands to Mauritius
The United Kingdom pledged on 3 October to transfer sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, following years of negotiations. The islands currently make up the British Indian Ocean Territory, or BIOT, often described as the last British colony in Africa. Starting in late 2021, hundreds of Sri Lankan migrants and asylum seekers arrived on Diego Garcia by boat, many of them fleeing persecution at home. Around 60 remain on the island, housed and fed by the BIOT administration in an enclosed camp near a US-UK military base. Dozens have participated in hunger strikes, or attempted suicide to protest their alleged mistreatment by British authorities and security guards, from private security firm G4S, brought in to supervise them. In early October, a UK judge is expected to rule on whether the authorities are detaining the group illegally. For more on the plight of Sri Lankan asylum seekers on BIOT, read our coverage.
Weekend Read
Amid all the darkness: How kindness helped me survive one year of Israel’s genocide in Gaza
"How can there be two extremes in the world: humane and inhumane?"
Gaza-based writer Nour ElAssy reflects on how small moments of human kindness have helped to preserve humanity through 12 months of hell.
And finally…
How do you acknowledge peace when war rages?
This year’s Nobel Peace Prize is set to be awarded on 11 October. At a time when Israel’s assault on Gaza threatens to widen – along with enduring conflicts in Ukraine, Sudan, Myanmar, and beyond – some speculate that the five-person prize committee may put the spotlight on humanitarians. The head of the Peace Research Institute Oslo has his personal list, which includes Sudan’s volunteer emergency response rooms, the UN’s embattled agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, and the International Court of Justice. Iranian rights activist Narges Mohammadi was awarded last year’s prize. Humanitarian agencies World Food Programme and Médecins Sans Frontières have been honoured in the past. Some winners, especially politicians, haven’t held up so well – their legacies marred by rights abuses, enduring wars, and new conflicts. Here’s another idea: No one wins. “Maybe this is the year in which the Nobel Peace Prize committee should simply withhold the prize and focus attention on the fact that this is a warring planet,” said Dan Smith, head of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
