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Our editors’ weekly take on humanitarian news, trends, and developments from around the globe.
On our radar
Israeli strikes on Lebanon continue as ceasefire stumbles
Despite a 3 June announcement of another ceasefire renewal (with a few additions), Israel’s bombing of its northern neighbour has continued unabated and Hezbollah has continued its fight, with its leader calling the negotiations (which it is not a part of) “futile” and “humiliating” for Lebanon. Last weekend, Israeli troops captured south Lebanon’s Beaufort Castle, advancing further into the country than it has for decades, calling to mind its 1982-2000 occupation of the south. As Israel issues even more displacement orders, UNRWA, the UN’s agency for Palestine refugees, says the number of people in its shelters has almost doubled in the past few weeks and other collective shelters are overwhelmed. Aid groups are concerned about the rising risks for women and girls given overcrowded conditions, with worries ranging from gender-based violence to exploitation and barriers to aid and shelter.
Questions remain about WFP data breach in Gaza
A 14 May cyber-attack on the World Food Programme exposed sensitive data from its Gaza self-registration app, People Portal, affecting 600,000 households. It may be the largest-known breach of humanitarian beneficiary data to date. The data included names, ID and mobile numbers, and neighbourhood information. WFP said it shut the platform, strengthened controls, and has seen no misuse; aid will continue without re-registration. But the agency only notified affected people more than two weeks later, after a prior warning about vulnerabilities, raising questions about the delay and WFP’s mitigation efforts. Another unresolved issue is scale: WFP quantified the breach by “households”, not people, despite previously saying more than 2 million Gazans used People Portal. Depending on different household calculations, the breach could cover nearly everyone still in Gaza. Other questions remain: Why do household-size figures vary between aid groups in Gaza? Can Gazans meaningfully consent to repeated data collection during war? Does WFP’s wider digital strategy, including Palantir-linked systems, create unacceptable data protection risks?
Rumblings about a new Israeli offensive in Gaza
May marked the deadliest month so far this year in the Gaza Strip, with Israeli attacks killing at least 119 people, according to the health ministry in the enclave. Since Hamas and Israel reached an agreement last October that was billed as a pathway to a permanent end of hostilities, nearly 1,000 people have been killed and 3,000 injured. The recorded death toll since October 2023 is nearly 80,000, which is likely a significantly undercount. Among those targeted by Israel have been police personnel, who are considered civilians under international law. At least 35 have been killed since January, including 12 in May, according to the UN’s human rights office. Attacks against police personnel have helped sow chaos and lawlessness. Meanwhile, as international attention remains focused on Iran and Lebanon, there are rumblings that Israel may be preparing for a new offensive in Gaza. The lives of people in the enclave remain suspended between the fear of a return to full-blown Israeli violence and a status quo of displacement, ongoing deprivation, and complete uncertainty about the future.
Looming El Niño deepens disaster risks
El Niño is “on our doorstep”, likely to worsen drought, intensify rainfall, and make heatwaves more likely in different parts of the globe, the UN’s World Meteorological Organization warns. The El Niño phenomenon happens when sea-surface temperatures warm in a vast stretch of the Pacific Ocean, running from the Pacific Islands to the coast of central and South America. WMO says there’s an 80% likelihood of a moderate to strong El Niño from June to August, with a strong possibility it could stretch into November. The last El Niño contributed to record global temperatures in 2024. The warnings put extra pressure on an overstretched global humanitarian system: Deepening conflicts and steep funding cuts have often put disaster preparedness and prevention in the backseat. El Niño “is likely to cause severe humanitarian impacts”, warned the Anticipation Hub, a network promoting proactive emergency action. “Activities to anticipate and prepare for these impacts need to begin now.”
Ebola contact tracing hurdles
Contact tracing has emerged as a key hurdle to containing the Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). So far, around 380 cases have been confirmed, with just over 4,500 of their contacts identified. The health authorities are following up on just over half of them, but that figure needs to rise to more than 90% “to get ahead of the outbreak”, the World Health Organization has warned. Taking a dive into the numbers, only about 12 people per confirmed case (not factoring in the suspected cases) have been traced, according to infectious disease expert Helen Branswell. By comparison (although a slightly unfair one), neighbouring Uganda has found around 44 contacts per its 18 confirmed cases. The mismatch is one indication of the difficulty of managing the Ebola response in a region facing ongoing conflict, and where the government and humanitarian authorities are distrusted. The death toll currently stands at 64 in DRC in an outbreak that may have started as far back as the beginning of the year.
Violence erupts in Somalia’s capital
Heavy gunfire erupted across parts of Mogadishu on 3 June after a dispute over delays to Somalia's elections turned violent. The clashes were between forces aligned with the federal government and opposition groups, and stoked fears of a broader political and security crisis. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud's term in office ended on 15 May but was extended by a year. The opposition said this was unconstitutional and called for protests. At the centre of this electoral crisis is also the federal government's proposed “one man-one vote” system to replace indirect elections, which critics warn risks creating unfair regional and ethnic representation. The political division between opposition leaders and the federal government has taken on an escalating clan dimension, with all sides heavily armed.
Weekend read
There and back: A migrant’s odyssey in post-Trump Latin America
Mario Torres, a brilliant young student, left Venezuela at 18 years old in search of a better life. That was eight years ago. This is his story.
And finally…
World Cup segregation?
The 2026 World Cup kicks off on 11 June across the US, Canada, and Mexico, bringing together 48 teams and a watching world. However, togetherness evidently has limits. The US has placed 39 countries, including four qualified teams, under visa restrictions and added a $15,000 visa bond for fans from 50 nations. Meanwhile, refused a US base amid the war on their country, Iran’s squad is holed up in Mexico – where some analysts expect a temporary unspoken World Cup truce between the country’s powerful drug cartels and the state – and will have to cross the border for matches. Spare a thought for DR Congo and Haiti fans, whose teams are back at the tournament for the first time since 1974: Congolese are barred from flying to the US over an Ebola outbreak, while Haiti – which reached the finals without a single home game or its coach setting foot in the country – faces a US travel ban.
