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Our editors’ weekly take on humanitarian news, trends, and developments from around the globe.
On our radar
RSF targets major Sudanese cities with drone attacks
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) – the paramilitary group battling the Sudanese army for control of the country – has used drones to target major cities across Sudan including Khartoum (the capital) and El Obeid, where the group has been attempting a full-scale invasion. Several people were killed as Sudanese army bases, a mosque, and electricity infrastructure were all hit. The attacks were some of the largest and most coordinated from the RSF in several months, and were likely designed to send a message after a string of military setbacks. Last month, the UAE-backed group lost control over a highway connecting El Obeid to Khartoum, and they have also suffered defeats in Blue Nile and West Darfur states. In a sign of possible desperation, RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo has renewed threats to retake Khartoum, which his forces brutally occupied earlier in the war. But SAF officials claiming they can win the war by the end of the year are surely overconfident too. They have made many similar claims before, only for the pendulum to swing back against them.
MSF sounds alarm over Somalia’s drought emergency
Exhausted by four failed rainy seasons, more than half a million rural Somalis have left their homes this year looking for help. Over 85% of those displaced are women and children. The sprawling settlements on the outskirts of Baidoa, in the southwest, are one destination. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has found that every second child screened in these camps was malnourished. And yet donors have provided only 30% of the cash needed to support Somalia’s $852 million humanitarian response plan. Across the country, 6.5 million people are facing acute hunger, nearly double last year’s figure. Two million of those are in an “emergency” category, their assets and livelihoods whittled away by drought. Among the hardest hit is the Burhakaba district in southern Bay region, where earlier this year there was a “credible risk of famine”. MSF is ringing the alarm that donors need to find money urgently for preventative action as Somalia’s woes multiply. A severe El Niño is expected from October-to-December, triggering floods and yet more destruction and displacement.
As the Board of Peace falters, a dangerous governance gap forms in Gaza
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has now publicly rejected a US-backed plan for the future of Gaza that he had previously thrown cold water on. The rejection only intensifies a shroud of uncertainty hanging around a series of moves taken by the Board of Peace since the middle of July aimed at signalling some sort of progress on the implementation of last October’s long-stalled ceasefire agreement. With no clarity on a path forward, a dangerous governance gap on the ground is being filled by Israeli-backed militias, criminal groups, and family clans while also leaving Palestinians in Gaza in an administrative limbo. Meanwhile, Israel is carrying out a large-scale operation to crush rubble and clear it from the nearly 70% of the enclave directly under its control. The NGO Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor raised concerns about the rubble containing bodies of Palestinians killed in Israel’s military campaign and evidence of war and atrocity crimes. To find out more about how public health data can support accountability for alleged Israeli war crimes, check out our Weekend read below.
As atrocities in Myanmar intensify, investigative capacity shrinks
War crimes and crimes against humanity are escalating in frequency and intensity in Myanmar, according to the eighth and latest annual report from the UN’s Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM). The mechanism has identified military units and command structures linked to airstrikes on civilians, and is probing killings of detainees, torture, sexual violence, and “double-tap” attacks targeting rescuers. In Rakhine State, investigators are examining alleged crimes by both the military and the Arakan Army, including attacks on schools and hospitals, obstruction of aid, forced displacement, rape, executions, and the destruction of Rohingya mosques and neighbourhoods. The IIMM has collected more than 28 million items of evidence and shared thousands with the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court, and several national jurisdictions. However, severe UN funding cuts have shrunk the mechanism’s investigative capacity to protect witnesses, process open-source evidence, and investigate sexual violence and crimes against children. For more on the impact of funding cuts on the IIMM’s work, read this piece.
Aid access severely constrained in two thirds of crises
Humanitarian access is severely constrained in two thirds of the crises assessed in the latest Global Humanitarian Access Overview by ACAPS. Of 66 countries reviewed, 44 face high, very high, or extreme barriers to aid, with 13 – including Sudan, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Palestine, Ukraine, and South Sudan – rated at the worst level. In addition to insecurity, governments and armed groups are increasingly restricting movement, deregistering NGOs, detaining aid workers, imposing checkpoints and informal taxes, and obstructing people from reaching services. Access deteriorated in 26 countries between December 2025 and May 2026, including Iran, Lebanon, Colombia, Niger, Mozambique, Uganda, and the Philippines. Rather than retreat, humanitarians have responded to constraints by negotiating passage with whoever controls territory, making aid slower, less predictable, and uneven.
New Colombian president criticised for restricting international quake response
As Colombians continued racing to find survivors of the powerful earthquake that struck the country on 10 August, President Abelardo de la Espriella’s decision to limit the entry of foreign rescue teams sparked controversy. As of 14 August, at least 281 people had been reported dead, nearly 4,000 injured, and 379 missing. Despite receiving multiple offers of assistance, De la Espriella – a far-right lawyer, businessman, and Trump ally who had taken office just three days before the earthquake – initially said Colombia did not need foreign personnel. Instead, he requested that international humanitarian aid be limited to supplies and funding. Some attributed the decision to the tense political transition and the lack of a formal handover from his predecessor, while others pointed to ideological motives. On 12 August, authorities eventually allowed foreign rescue teams to enter, but only teams from the United States, Israel, El Salvador, and Ecuador, arguing that these were the only countries whose teams met “international search-and-rescue standards”. Colombia will also receive an estimated $1.3 billion in humanitarian aid from 12 countries. For more on how escalating conflict is making aid work in Colombia more challenging, read our report here.
Weekend read
How public health research supports accountability for Israeli war crimes in Gaza
During previous Israeli attacks, 30-41% of those killed were women and children. Between 7 October and 24 November 2023, that figure was 67%.
And finally…
WFP sticks with Palantir despite data security warnings
The World Food Programme has renewed its five-year contract with the controversial US data analytics firm Palantir despite “key privacy concerns” raised in a 2025 internal audit obtained by PassBlue and FRANCE 24. WFP said Palantir supports its “data-informed decision-making” and tackles data-integration challenges. Under a partnership dating back to 2019, Palantir developed DOTS, a system WFP uses to track aid and manage supply-chain data. Scrutiny over the relationship has intensified since a 14 May cyber-attack against a separate WFP system exposed sensitive data belonging to 600,000 Gaza households, alongside existing concerns over Palantir’s military and surveillance work. On 30 June, the UN’s special rapporteur on the right to food, Sofía Monsalve Suárez, publicly questioned the undisclosed terms of WFP’s agreements with Palantir and warned of conflicts of interest involving companies serving both civilian and military clients. The leaked 2025 audit warned that WFP “lacks a unified and trusted system” for managing its data and has “no clearly defined exit strategy for DOTS”, while “reputational considerations surrounding the partnership [with Palantir] have led to institutional uncertainty”. WFP sources told PassBlue and FRANCE 24 there is an “unspoken rule not to communicate on Palantir”.
