Our editors’ weekly take on humanitarian news, trends, and developments from around the globe.
On our radar
New reports flag likely famine and genocide in Gaza
Famine will likely occur – if it is not already occurring – in North Gaza due to an Israeli siege preventing food aid from entering the area, according to reports by two groups of international food security experts. Since early October, Israel has been waging a brutal military campaign in the three northernmost areas of the Gaza Strip – Jabalia, Beit Lahia, and Beit Hanoun – allowing in virtually no humanitarian assistance. The campaign has displaced between 100,000 and 130,000 Palestinians, and between 50,000 and 75,000 remain in the cut-off territory, according to UN estimates. The Israeli military has said it has no intention of allowing those who have been displaced to return. Overall, the amount of aid Israel is allowing into Gaza has dropped to its lowest level since last December. On 13 October, the US had set a 30-day deadline for Israel to improve humanitarian conditions in Gaza – a deadline aid workers and experts say Israel almost entirely ignored. The US, however, said that there will be no policy consequences for Israel missing the deadline. A report by a UN special committee released on 14 November said that Israel’s conduct in its war in Gaza has been “consistent with the characteristics of genocide”. Human Rights Watch also released a detailed report on 14 November alleging that Israel has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza since last October.
Sudan war toll far higher than reported: study
There have been more violent deaths in Khartoum state than the current number recorded for the whole of Sudan, a study by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine has found. Between April 2023 and June 2024, researchers estimated that there were over 26,000 deaths due to violence in the state, which is higher than the roughly 20,000 deaths reported nationwide by the conflict monitoring group ACLED over a similar period. Researchers estimated that more than 61,000 people have died overall of different causes in the state over a 14-month period, which represents a 50% increase over the pre-war death rate. The report comes as fighting between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has surged across Sudan following the end of seasonal rains. The violence has been particularly intense in Gezira state, south of Khartoum, where RSF attacks on civilians have displaced nearly 350,000 people since late October, according to the latest data from the International Organization for Migration. Meanwhile, in Darfur, the RSF is advancing on multiple fronts in the city of El Fasher, where the group wants to dislodge the army and aligned groups from their last holdout in the western region. The city has been besieged for the past seven months by the RSF, and conflict monitors are warning that they could capture it at any moment. Given the RSF’s reputation for targeting groups that it believes have collaborated with its rivals, the consequences for civilians could be catastrophic.
Yemen: No end in sight to US-Houthi tit for tat
As the US bombs more targets in Yemen – hitting what the Pentagon says are Houthi rebel weapon storage facilities – the Houthis are carrying on with their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, sending drones and missiles at US warships in the Bab al-Mandab Strait. The Houthis (officially called Ansar Allah), who control most of north Yemen, began various attacks on ships they said were connected with Israel in November 2023, although many of the vessels do not have such ties. The US and the UK began retaliatory airstrikes in January this year. Often lost in the reporting on this tit for tat is the impact on civilians, who have been living through more than nine and a half years of war in Yemen. A new FEWS NET analysis provides some insight into their conditions, projecting ongoing gaps in food consumption across the country due to the long-term impacts of the conflict, including economic collapse. There’s particular concern about people in some parts of the Houthi-held north, where the World Food Programme paused food aid in December 2023. Also in the north, Human Rights Watch reports that the Houthis have sent 12 detainees, including US embassy and UN staff, to their Specialized Criminal Prosecution, “accusing some of them with crimes that carry the death penalty while denying them due process”. The group began arresting and detaining dozens of aid workers and members of civil society in May 2023, and their number continues to grow.
UN suspends aid flights as Haiti violence worsens
The situation in Haiti continues to spiral further out of control, and on several different levels: political, security, and humanitarian. While the transitional ruling council fired Prime Minister Garry Conille, dealing a blow to its stated goal of paving the way towards new presidential elections – the first since 2016 – by February 2026, violence also escalated in Port-au-Prince. On 14 November, hundreds of panicked families fled with nowhere to go after the Solino neighbourhood fell under gang control. Fearing their areas could be next, many people from other parts of the capital also took flight. Despite the soaring needs, humanitarian aid is more and more difficult to provide. Médecins Sans Frontières reported that at least two patients were executed and their staff attacked after one of their ambulances was stopped by members of a self-defence group and police officers. The next day, a Haitian doctor was killed leaving her downtown medical clinic. Meanwhile, the UN indefinitely suspended its humanitarian flights after several planes were hit by gunfire. It also postponed the departure of 20 trucks carrying critical food and medical supplies to the south. For more on the impact of gang violence on women and girls, read our new series: Surviving sexual violence in Haiti.
Trump’s picks, and aid’s shtick
What will four more years of Donald Trump mean for crisis response and the multilateral system? In the absence of coherent foreign policy, Trump’s picks for key posts – from secretary of state to national security adviser – are more clues for those inclined to read the tea leaves. The choice of Elise Stefanik as UN ambassador puts the spotlight on a congresswoman seen as a staunch Israel supporter and UN critic. The continuation of an adversarial relationship with the world body seems likely, but some also see a faint silver lining in the appointment of a close Trump ally: “This move suggests that he is more inclined to engage with the UN than seek to withdraw from it,” writes Mark Leon Goldberg, editor of UN Dispatch. Marco Rubio seems to be Trump’s choice for secretary of state. The Florida senator is more of a known quantity than some of Trump’s other reported picks, staking “hawkish” positions on Iran and China, for example. There’s no indication that Trump’s policies on aid are fully formed, but humanitarians could do worse than sketching out a sales pitch that speaks to better efficiency, effectiveness, and grassroots action (earned or not).
Holding out for (some) progress at COP29
COP29 risks being overshadowed by climate-sceptic Trump’s election, the petrostate host’s opening remarks, and some notable withdrawals, boycotts, and absentees. But the hard work of trying to forge a new deal over 11 days in Baku has started, and efforts to secure more climate finance for fragile and conflict-affected states are apparently bearing some (very small) fruit in the negotiation rooms. The New Humanitarian obtained a draft copy of the new climate goal text, the NCQG, which is the centrepiece of negotiations in Baku. It showed “conflict” was mentioned six times in the document, and “fragile” three times, meaning places affected by these problems should get special considerations for climate finance, alongside much more established constituencies like Small Island Developing States. It’s very early days in COP terms, but even if mentions of both words fall out of the final draft – as experts expect – it shows the progress of the climate-conflict agenda, with some officials now making it their priority. The draft NCQG holds more promise for loss and damage (18 mentions, but down from 24 on Thursday), an issue that has far wider support and has already seen key victories at previous COPs, including the launch of a dedicated fund last year. But despite its inclusion in the NCQG draft, loss and damage is still likely to see significant horse-trading – not least since some key supporters, like economist Avinash Persaud, have come out against it being part of the new climate finance goal. Read more: Trump factor raises the stakes at UN climate summit
Weekend read
Pakistan has a protest problem
‘When your alleged protectors are the ones to attack you for exercising your democratic rights, it’s a scary world.’
Protesting a range of issues from enforced disappearances to rising taxes, those taking to the streets are being met by fierce state crackdowns.
And finally…
Prize for world’s longest-detained journalist
Dawit Isaak, a journalist detained in Eritrea without trial for 23 years, has won a Swedish human rights prize for his commitment to freedom of expression. Dawit has been held incommunicado since a government purge of perceived opposition in 2001. He has reportedly been tortured while in solitary confinement, drawing grave concerns for his health. This week, Dawit, co-owner of Eritrea’s first independent newspaper, Setit, was awarded the Edelstam Prize “for his... exceptional courage”, the foundation behind the prize said in a statement. Dawit, who is a dual Eritrean and Swedish national, is the longest-detained journalist in the world. Eritrea continues to suppress basic rights, including to freedom of opinion, religion, and expression, and has instituted forced mass conscription. The authorities are holding at least 16 journalists without trial, access to family, or judicial oversight. Dawit’s daughter, Betlehem Isaak, will accept the prize in Stockholm on his behalf.
