Ebola response concerns, Tigray war warnings, and Gaza’s ceasefire mirage: The Cheat Sheet

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

On our radar

Calls grow to scale up community-led Ebola response

The Ebola outbreak in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo is the fastest-growing on record, with more than 4,000 confirmed cases across five provinces. Experts believe the true number of cases could be much higher, with 80% of deaths outside current contact lists. The United States this week announced plans to provide an additional $242 million, nearly doubling its financial commitment, for a response that has struggled with underfunding. Meanwhile, CDC Africa and the World Health Organization have called for an urgent scale-up of a “community-led” response, with stronger early detection, contact tracing, access to care, and support for frontline health workers. Although priority is being given to “working with the community” – a recognition of the flawed response to the 2018-2020 outbreak – identifying the right local partners to build trust remains a challenge. Strengthening a neglected national health system is also a vital investment, researchers argue.

Civilians flee to Sudan as Tigray fighting flares again

Clashes between the Ethiopian army and Tigrayan forces have led to hundreds of civilians crossing into neighbouring Sudan, marking another serious threat to a 2022 peace agreement. Heavy artillery and drones were used during the fighting, which was concentrated in contested western Tigray. Both sides have been amassing troops in recent months and there has been a significant recruitment drive in Tigray, where regional authorities have forcibly recruited civilians including children, according to Human Rights Watch. Close to a million Tigrayans have been unable to return to their homes despite the peace deal, and have struggled to recover from the atrocities, ethnic cleansing, and siege campaign carried out by the Ethiopian army and its allies during the 2020-2022 war. A return to conflict would likely involve Eritrea, and could pull in Sudan, merging two of the deadliest conflicts in recent history.

Mixed messages on US-Iran talks, while Israel continues to occupy southern Lebanon

US President Donald Trump said on 3 August that he was holding off on additional strikes against Iran at the urging of Gulf allies. On 6 August, he said he thought the war could end “pretty soon”. Both statements were quickly complicated by reporting on factors Trump did not mention: Iran said it was not negotiating with the US; and Reuters reported that the US has already expended “virtually all” of its long-range precision missiles. Trump has downplayed the munitions shortage in public while berating his defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, in private. Iran threatened on 5 August to hit Gulf states in the event of further US strikes. In Rome, negotiations between Israel and Hezbollah on 4 and 5 August failed to produce an agreement on Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon and Hezbollah’s disarmament. During the talks, two Israeli soldiers were killed by a planted explosive in Lebanon, followed by Israeli strikes that killed at least one person.

Gaza’s ceasefire mirage takes a clearer form

The US-led Board of Peace has awarded its first construction contract in the Gaza Strip to a Louisiana-based company to build a 150-person military base, according to The Guardian. The base is to house a contingent of Moroccan soldiers as part of the International Stabilization Force slated to deploy in the enclave as part of October’s ceasefire agreement. Like everything else to do with the agreement and the Board of Peace, it’s unclear if what is written on paper will translate into action on the ground – let alone if the reconstruction process the Board is supposed to be overseeing for the benefit of the people of Gaza will actually happen. Israel continues to kill Palestinians in Gaza seemingly at will, including over two dozen people between 31 July and 2 August. And Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also threw cold water on the US announcement that Hamas had agreed to a disarmament deal, saying Israel did not accept the plan. Meanwhile, Palestinians in Gaza held a mass funeral for 112 people – all members of the same extended Bedouin family that was almost entirely wiped out in November 2023 Israeli airstrikes. The bodies had remained trapped under the rubble for nearly three years. For a deeper look at what’s actually shaping up on the ground, check out our latest investigation: Israel’s campaign of erasure: The demolition of eastern Gaza.

The aftermath of Ceuta

A lot is still unclear about what prompted up to 80,000 people to cross the border between Morocco and the Spanish North African exclave of Ceuta between 29 and 31 July. The movement was spurred by online rumours, and it exposed a sense of economic despair among Moroccan youth, who made up the vast majority of those who rushed to cross, often by swimming. As many as 141 people died – by far the highest death toll of any migration-related incident at the borders of Spain’s two North African exclaves in recent years. Most of the people who crossed have since returned to Morocco, but some 3,000 to 5,000 reportedly remain in Ceuta. Far-right politicians across Europe and in the United States were quick to use what happened to drum up fears of “migrant invasions” and to push for even more intense border security measures. As always, the rhetoric ignored the conditions that push people to take tremendous risks to migrate, not to mention the fact that Europe desperately needs immigration – to the tune of one million people per year, according to the EU Commission.

Election crackdown overshadows Kashmir polls

Pakistan’s ruling party is on course to form the next regional government in Pakistan-administered Kashmir after two of three rounds of voting for the legislative assembly. But the polls have been heavily overshadowed by a state crackdown on protesters demanding electoral reform. The protests are led by the JAAC, a grassroots civil society movement that has been organising in the territory for several years. The JAAC initially focused on energy bills and rising flour prices, winning several concessions in the process. More recently, however, it has turned its attention to the rules reserving 12 of the assembly’s 45 directly elected seats for displaced Kashmiris living elsewhere in Pakistan – a system that some feel dilutes local democracy and allows for meddling from Islamabad. The government designated the JAAC a terrorist organisation in June, and security forces have since used lethal force against protesters, killing dozens.

In case you missed it

AFGHANISTAN: Fourteen million people in Afghanistan – a third of the population – face acute food insecurity, the World Food Programme (WFP) announced, adding that funding cuts have decimated the agency’s ability to provide treatment. WFP estimated that 3.7 million children and 1.2 million pregnant or breastfeeding women are expected to experience acute malnutrition this year and said it needs $500 million before the country’s winter to address the crisis.

AFRICA: A strong majority of African citizens (77%) do not mind having immigrants as neighbours, but there is concern over the economic competition migration can bring, according to Afrobarometer’s latest survey, Beyond Borders. Notably, it’s the wealthiest and most skilled who express the greatest resistance to immigration. That’s just one nugget in a 45-page report exploring people’s perspectives of the changing global order. See also our story: South Africa feels the economic cost of anti-migrant xenophobia.

CUBA: The CIA has created a new task force to sow divisions within Cuba’s political leadership and promote more US-aligned leaders, The New York Times reported. The task force is authorised for covert influence and cyber operations, but not assassinations. On 6 August, the United States imposed new sanctions on Cuban military officials and military-linked entities. Countries that supply oil to Cuba face the threat of US tariffs, leaving the island with frequent power outages.

EU/LIBYA: Eastern Libyan authorities will soon be establishing a Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in the city of Benghazi, with the help of the EU. Departures of refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants from eastern Libya towards Europe have increased over the past two years, and the EU has been stepping up cooperation with eastern Libyan authorities to try to stop migration – despite the EU only formally recognising the country’s western, Tripoli-based government. To understand how EU support helps trap people in a cycle of detention and abuse in Libya, see: The European approach to stopping Libya migration.

HAITI: Haitians have started registering for the first presidential election in a decade. Now planned for 13 December, with a possible run-off in February 2027, the vote has been postponed multiple times due to security concerns. Between 20 July and 3 August, some 60,000 Haitians registered. The hope is to enroll three to four million by mid-October – a figure that will be hard to achieve considering it is nigh on impossible for election officials to access gang-controlled areas.

LEBANON: Israel’s killing of Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil and severe injuring of her camera operator, Zainab Faraj, in attacks on 22 April were apparent war crimes, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW). “The Israeli military says it does not target journalists, but the facts and evidence show that it has repeatedly done so,” said HRW’s Ramzi Kaiss. Israel has killed nearly 260 journalists – the vast majority in the Gaza strip, but others in Lebanon, Yemen, and Iran – since 7 October 2023, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

NIGERIA: Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, has pledged more than $500 million over the next five years to support Nigeria's immunisation programme – but this represents an overall reduction in its financial support, reflecting the funding pressures the alliance faces. The new commitment averages $100 million annually, yet Gavi disbursed $261 million to Nigeria in 2025 alone. The government contributed approximately $90 million that year.

PAKISTAN: New media restrictions in Pakistan prohibit foreign media organisations, including their local staff and stringers, from reporting outside the country’s three main cities without a permit. The rules come amid a wider crackdown on coverage of election-related protests in Kashmir. Press freedom group Article 19 called on the government to end its “escalating crackdown on freedom of expression”. Our reporting archive reveals that this is not a new problem. For more context and background, read: Pakistan has a protest problem.

UKRAINE: At least 17 people were killed in a Russian missile attack on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on 5 August. Ukraine is running low on missile interceptors amid a shortage of the US-supplied munitions due to the Iran war. Russia is meanwhile stepping up its air attacks on Kyiv, launching a barrage on average every three days in recent weeks. Ukraine is also carrying out attacks on Russian oil and gas infrastructure to try to undermine the country’s war economy.

VENEZUELA: The government and the opposition started US-backed talks on 6 August, renewing hopes of some kind of transition to democracy. The US picked Dinorah Figuera – who headed the 2015 National Assembly, widely seen as Venezuela's last democratically elected body – to lead negotiations on the opposition side. Although it has presented itself as the facilitator, the United States is likely to be the opposition’s de facto counterpart as it has been controlling the government since it attacked Venezuela and seized President Nicolás Maduro in January.

Weekend Read

Three minutes on Sudan

Forgetting is unintentional, but neglect is a political choice. And neglect is what we see in Sudan.

And finally…

Leaked emails expose alleged Israeli “mole” inside the UN

For at least two years, the Israeli government had a “mole” inside the UN, Drop Site reported on 5 August. Yahav Lichner, an Israeli former diplomat who joined the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) as an External Relations Specialist in 2014, “repeatedly supplied Israeli officials with internal UN documents, private meeting accounts, pre-release material, and other political intelligence”. Some of the documents were marked “strictly confidential”.

Israeli officials used the information to prepare talking points for discussions with US counterparts or within UN bodies about Israel’s human rights abuses against Palestinians, including during its 2014 offensive against Gaza. Lichner told Israeli diplomats he tried to add Israeli talking points to an official letter from then-UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and he shared information the diplomats could try to use to reduce the size of a UN office focusing on Palestine, decolonisation, and human rights.

Drop Site’s report is based on leaked emails belonging to Ron Prosor, Israel’s then-ambassador to the UN and the main recipient of Lichner’s alleged UN leaks. Prosor’s emails were published online by the hacker group Handala, which is believed to be tied to Iranian intelligence. Lichner left UNFPA in 2023 to join UNICEF, where he now directs the Washington DC office. Devex reporter Colum Lynch posted on LinkedIn that Lichner had been placed on administrative leave by UNICEF, citing two UN sources.

The New Humanitarian reached out to UNFPA and UNICEF about Drop Site’s reporting. We received no comment from UNFPA in time for publication, but a UNICEF spokesperson said: “UNICEF is aware of serious allegations concerning an employee and is taking the appropriate action. If true, such actions would be inconsistent with staff obligations under the UN Charter, the staff regulations, and the standards of conduct for the international civil service, all of which emphasize that the responsibilities of staff are international, not national, and which call for the independence and impartiality of the staff of the UN.”

Ebola response concerns, Tigray war warnings, and Gaza’s ceasefire mirage: The Cheat Sheet

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