NEW HALFA – Salwa Abdallah was recuperating from a caesarean section and tending to her one-month old baby when soldiers from the Rapid Support Forces barged into her home in Sudan’s eastern El Gezira state late last month.

They accused her of loyalty to the army and its allies, their rivals in an 18-month war. “They said ‘You killed us, so today we’ll kill you and rape your girls,'” she told Reuters, sheltering under a makeshift sheet in the town of New Halfa, where she arrived after walking for days on foot with her elderly mother and children.

She said the soldiers chased them out of their village with whips and later shot at them on motorcycles, which two other victims of the attack also mentioned.

Reuters spoke to 13 victims of a series of intense, violent raids in eastern Gezira over the past two weeks, which affected at least 65 villages and towns according to activists.

The UN says some 135,000 people have been displaced, largely to Kassala, Gedaref, and River Nile states, which are already packed with many of the almost 10 million internally displaced by the devastating war that broke out in April 2023.

“I am shocked and deeply appalled that human rights violations of the kind witnessed in Darfur last year … are being repeated in El Gezira State. These are atrocious crimes,” said the UN’s top official in Sudan, Clementine Nkweta-Salami, referring to attacks last year that prompted accusations of ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity from the United States and others.

The war has unleashed hunger across the country, erased most signs of a functioning state in RSF-held areas, and prompted fears of fragmentation.

Both sides are accused of hindering much needed international assistance.

Spokespersons from the RSF and Sudanese army did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

Though El Gezira state has been subject to a violent looting campaign since the RSF took control in December, the defection of its chief in the state unleashed a series of revenge attacks.

The Wad Madani Resistance Committee, a pro-democracy group, named 169 people killed since the violence began on Oct. 20, though in a statement it said there were hundreds more. (AFP)…[+]

JERUSALEM  –  Israel has officially notified the United Nations of its decision to cut ties with its agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) as another UN agency warns of an impending famine in genocide-ravaged Gaza.

In a statement on Monday, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it cancelled a cooperation agreement from 1967 which provided the legal basis of the country’s relations with UNRWA.

“UNRWA – the organisation whose employees participated in the October 7 massacre and many of whose employees are Hamas operatives – is part of the problem in the Gaza Strip and not part of the solution,” Foreign Minister Israel Katz was quoted as saying.

The Israeli parliament last week adopted two controversial bills banning UNRWA from operating on Israeli territory, closing its premises in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza.

Israel alleges fighters of Palestinian group Hamas have infiltrated UNRWA. The UN agency denies the allegations and says it takes measures to ensure its neutrality.

UNRWA on Monday said Israel’s ban on its operations would lead to the “collapse” of humanitarian work in the war-torn Gaza Strip.

“If this law is implemented, it would be likely to cause the collapse of the international humanitarian operation in the Gaza Strip – an operation of which UNRWA is the backbone,” Jonathan Fowler, UNRWA spokesman, told the AFP news agency.

The UN agency provides education, healthcare and other basic services to Palestinian refugees from the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation and their descendants, who now number nearly six million. Refugee families make up the majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million population.

Aid groups have warned that Israel’s ban on UNRWA could create further obstacles to addressing a severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Israel has said other UN agencies and aid groups can fill the gap, but those organisations insist UNRWA is essential.

Israel’s notification to the UN came as the World Food Programme (WFP) on Monday warned that the humanitarian situation in Gaza “could soon escalate into famine” as Israeli forces continue to severely restrict the entry of food and other supplies into the enclave. (Al Jazeera)…[+]

Photo: UNRWA headquarters in Gaza. (SUCH TV)

UKRAINE/RUSSIA – Ukraine’s army chief has warned that his forces are facing “one of the most powerful Russian offensives”, since the start of the war as Russia claimed it captured more settlements on the eastern frontline.

Russia has steadily been making gains in the eastern Donbas region, which Russia’s President Vladimir Putin aims to capture in full. Reuters, citing open source data, reported that Russia has been advancing at its fastest pace in at least a year.

Ukraine’s Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, said the situation on the front line “remains difficult” and certain areas “require constant renewal of resources of Ukrainian units” in a statement on Telegram Saturday morning. Kyiv’s forces, he said, are “holding back one of the most powerful Russian offensives since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.” Over the weekend, Russia claimed the capture of two settlements in the Donetsk region – Kurakhivka and Vyshneve. Ukrainian officials have not confirmed either claim. Vyshneve is close to Pokrovsk, a key logistics hub in the east and a major target of the Russian offensive. Meanwhile Russian drone attacks continue, with Ukraine bracing for what could be a difficult winter with energy infrastructure already badly hit. (CNN)

Photo: The city of Toretsk, eastern Ukraine. The region has been facing a renewed Russian assault. (Reuters)…[+]

JAMAICA – Bridging the gap between new HIV science and providing quality service delivery to communities will be the focus of the regional workshop titled “Uniting Science and Communities to Accelerate HIV Response in the Caribbean”, which will be hosted in Trinidad and Tobago, on Monday and Tuesday. The International AIDS Society (IAS) and the Pan Caribbean Partnership against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP) are leading the initiative in collaboration with The Global Fund, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and Plataforma LAC.

The workshop aims to provide a platform for HIV-related health and social service providers, key community actors, youth, researchers, government representatives and policymakers to brainstorm bridging the gap between evidence-based science, policy and action.

“The goal is to create a roadmap for aligning new HIV science and evidence with how we deliver HIV-related services in our communities,” said Dr Wendy Telgt-Emanuelson, director of the PANCAP Coordinating Unit based at the Caribbean Community (Caricom) Secretariat.

“Groundbreaking HIV data and evidence emerged from AIDS 2024 — the 25th International AIDS Conference.  This has implications for policymakers and HIV service providers in the Caribbean.  Our region cannot be left behind.  Our stakeholders must be empowered to use the evidence to create innovative solutions to the HIV service delivery gaps and challenges we experience in the region. The workshop seeks to provide this level of knowledge-sharing and empowerment,” added the PANCAP director.

The workshop’s agenda includes an in-depth discussion of the key messages from the 25th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2024) and their application to the Caribbean, translating the science and knowledge of advanced HIV disease into action, so that people living with HIV can access a comprehensive package of services. The workshop will also address HIV-related stigma and discrimination, focusing on the normalising of HIV-related services and integrating services to address intersecting healthcare needs. This meeting of critical HIV stakeholders supports developing and implementing policies and strategies to improve the delivery of health services that reflect the latest HIV scientific evidence tailored to communities and the unique circumstances and needs of the people of the Caribbean Community. (Jamaicaobserve)

Photo: Dr Wendy Telgt-Emanuelson. (Photo: CMC)…[+]