Hunger Must Never Be 'Weapon Of War': UN Chief
The African Union, for its part, urged donors to provide greater support for the world's poorest continent struggling with poverty, unrest and the effects of climate change.
"Hunger fuels instability and undermines peace. We must never accept hunger as a weapon of war," Antonio Guterres told the UN Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa via video link.
"Climate change is disrupting harvests, supply chains and humanitarian aid," he said.
"Conflict continues to spread hunger from Gaza to Sudan and beyond," he warned amid a severely deteriorating crisis in Gaza, whose population of more than two million is facing famine and malnutrition.
The World Health Organization has warned malnutrition in the occupied Palestinian territory has reached "alarming levels" since Israel imposed a total blockade on Gaza on March 2.
In late May, it began allowing a small trickle of aid to resume but more than 100 NGOs have warned that "mass starvation" was spreading in the besieged territory.
The summit takes place against the backdrop of aid cuts by the United States and other Western nations that are badly affecting much of the developing world.
Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, head of the African Union's executive commission, said food insecurity was on the rise across Africa, blaming "climate shocks, conflicts and economic disruptions".
"At this crucial moment, how many children and mothers on the continent are sleeping hungry?" he asked.
"Millions, certainly. The urgency of the situation is beyond doubt."
Youssouf said that more than 280 Africans were malnourished, with "nearly 3.4 million... on the brink of famine".
Roughly 10 million people had been displaced due to drought, floods and cyclones, he added.
Youssouf urged AU member states to devote 10 percent of their gross domestic product to agriculture to help foster "nutritional resilience".
"But we cannot do this alone. We call on our partners to honour their commitments to finance and support African solutions," he said.
Sudan is "the largest humanitarian catastrophe facing our world and also the least remembered", Othman Belbeisi, the regional director of the UN's migration agency, IOM, told reporters last week.
Since April 2023, Sudan has been torn apart by a power struggle between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, commander of the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
The fighting has killed tens of thousands and displaced more than seven million people.
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DW
5 hours ago
- DW
Middle East: Israeli minister demands Gaza reoccupation – DW – 08/03/2025
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Tens of thousands of demonstrators braved rainy weather to march across the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge in support of the Palestinian people on Sunday. Protesters called for peace and aid deliveries in the war-torn Gaza Strip, where UN-mandated experts have warned a man-made "famine is unfolding." Nearly two years into the war in Gaza, several governments and humanitarian organizations, along with the public across the world, have condemned the widespread starvation. The organizers of Sunday's rally dubbed it the "March for Humanity." Wikileaks founder Julian Assange was one of the demonstrators. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Some attending the march carried pots and pans as symbols of hunger, often seen in images coming out of Gaza. The protesters also waved Palestinian flags and chanted, "We are all Palestinians." 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An A400M military transport aircraft dropped 22 pallets of humanitarian aid containing food and medical supplies into Gaza, the report said. The Israeli military said countries like France, Egypt, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates delivered about 90 pallets of aid into Gaza on Saturday. A United Nations-affiliated organization that tracks food security worldwide issued a dire warning earlier this week about the hunger crisis in the Gaza Strip. It confirmed that, based on data up to July 25, a "worse-case" famine scenario, was unfolding across Gaza. Israeli authorities control the only three border crossings at the Strip and cut off all supplies to Gaza at the beginning of March. Israeli authorities then reopened some aid centers in May, but with restrictions they said were designed to stop goods from being stolen by Hamas militants. Hamas is designated as a terrorist organization by Israel, the US, Germany, the EU and others. Malnutrition-related deaths spiked in Gaza in July, according to the World Health Organization. Airdrops have been sharply criticized by some humanitarian groups as expensive, inefficient and dangerous. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video US envoy Steve Witkoff on Saturday visited Hostages Square in Tel Aviv and vowed to secure the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza. "We will get your children home and hold Hamas responsible for any bad acts on their part," Witkoff told families of Israeli hostages who had gathered at the square to stage a protest to call upon the Israeli government to secure a deal to release their loved ones from captivity. Witkoff was cited as saying so, according to a statement by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. He added "We will do what's right for the Gazan people." 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To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Good evening and welcome to the weekend edition of the Middle East blog. We're tracking the news about Germany having delivered more aid into Gaza, as well as US envoy Steve Witkoff's visit to the region. Witkoff has met with families of Israeli hostages held captive by Hamas and vowed to secure a deal to bring their loved ones home. But some families were disappointed and said they have would have liked to hear more about practical ways to secure that deal. Follow along for news, analysis, and explainers on the situation in Gaza, Israel, and the wider Middle East, on the weekend of August 2 and August 3.
Int'l Business Times
9 hours ago
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Assange Joins Pro-Palestinian Protest On Sydney Harbour Bridge
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DW
a day ago
- DW
German government takes tougher tone with Israel – DW – 08/02/2025
Germany's foreign minister visited Jerusalem on Friday and insisted that more aid be let into Gaza. Despite the tough talk, experts say it's unlikely there will be any consequences if Israel doesn't do as Germany asks. After his talks with Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu and representatives from the United Nations in Jerusalem, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul tried to put more pressure on the Israeli government. On Friday he made an urgent appeal to the Israelis: The government should immediately allow the UN to help the hungry people in Gaza. "That is why we call on Israel to allow the UN to transport and distribute the aid safely," Wadephul said, while in Jerusalem. "This was also part of my discussion with the Israeli government yesterday. The humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip must be ended now, with the help of the efficient, established UN system." The day before Wadephul had described the situation in Gaza in dramatic tones. The death and suffering there was "unimaginable," he said. Wadephul also appealed to the militant group Hamas, asking them to stop fighting and to return all the hostages they still held. Hamas is classified as a terrorist organization by Germany, the US, Israel and other countries. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Israel's foreign minister Gideon Saar didn't publicly express an opinion on Germany's suggestions. But Wadephul told reporters he thought Germany's message had been understood. Saar did reject accusations from his colleague in the Israeli government, the far-right extremist Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel's minister of national security. On social media platform X, Ben-Gvir said that 80 years after the Holocaust, Germany was once again supporting Nazis. Before he left Germany, Wadephul had warned that Israel was becoming increasingly isolated internationally. He also said Berlin would respond to any unilateral actions by Israel and was critical of potential Israeli plans to annex the occupied West Bank. Israel's Saar answered Ben-Gvir on social media too. "I strongly reject Minister Ben-Gvir's statements about Germany. They are unnecessary and harmful. Germany is a friendly country and Foreign Minister Wadephul is a friend of Israel. This does not change, even when there are differences of opinion between us." Germany is still pushing for a two-state solution to the intractable problems in the Middle East. Wadephul confirmed the right of the Palestinians to their own state after he met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday. However Netanyahu's government has rejected that idea in the recent past. Even as Germany criticizes the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, Israel's foreign minister sees the settlements as justified. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz had sent Wadephul to Israel after a meeting of the country's so-called security cabinet. This group includes the ministers of foreign affairs, defense, interior and finance, as well as various intelligence services. Wadephul's mission was to make it clear that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza must be resolved and he was also to assess whether and how the Israeli government could be convinced to do this. Over this weekend, he is to report back to the Chancellor and the security cabinet. The results of this are hard to predict. Whether the German government would use sanctions against Israel, stop weapons deliveries or recognize a Palestinian state is unclear. However observers in Berlin says it's unlikely any concrete steps will be taken, because of Germany's special responsibility towards Israel, after committing the Holocaust. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Criticism is likely but sanctions won't happen, says Martin Huber, the secretary general of the conservative, Bavaria-based Christian Social Union, or CSU. Even so, the tone German politicians are using is becoming sharper, as more and more pictures of starving children in Gaza emerge. The leader of the Social Democrats' parliamentary group, Dirk Wiese, told local journalists that the time for talk has passed. "We need political pressure and concrete progress," he said. The Social Democrats are part of Germany's governing coalition together with the CSU and the Christian Democratic Union, or CDU. Up until now the German government has been holding back, Andreas Reinicke, the director of the German Orient-Institute, told public radio Deutschlandfunk. But that's for good reasons, he argued, in reference to the Holocaust. However if the world now really wants a two-state solution, "then we will have to do this not only verbally, but also with an active process," Reinicke said. "I believe Germany's influence [on Israel] is greater than is commonly assumed." Meanwhile the Israeli government disputes that locals in Gaza are going hungry and insists that the siltation is actually better than depicted in the international press. Foreign Minister Saar accused media of showing misleading pictures of hungry children. "This is what a modern blood libel looks like," he wrote on social media platform X, referring to a-now-well-known picture of Osama al-Raqab, an emaciated 5-year-old. Al-Raqab has cystic fibrosis and was evacuated to Italy in June, Saar pointed out. The Israeli government's position on the issue is in opposition to what international aid agencies have observed and eyewitnesses have reported. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Wadephul also said that the thesis often insisted upon by the Israeli government — that Hamas will benefit from any aid shipments they allow in — is no longer justified. It could well be that Hamas previously diverted some of the shipments, he said. "But the humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip is now so great that it is not justified to put up further hurdles here," Wadephul insisted. Another contentious point: While the German foreign minister and others argue that the UN and the World Food Program should be taking care of supplies into Gaza, Israel and its main ally, the US, insist the newly created and increasingly controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, or GHF should be. On Friday, Steve Witkoff, the US special envoy to the Middle East, demonstratively visited a GHF aid distribution site near Rafah, in Gaza. The US ambassador in Israel, Mike Huckabee, claims the GHF has given out 100 million meals in two months. However the UN and other aid organizations say the GHF is not working properly. During past weeks, there have been reports of hundreds of people killed or wounded while trying to get aid from the GHF. On Friday, the German air force began to help, dropping palettes of aid into the Gaza Strip, flying out of Jordan. However even Germany's foreign minister considers this more a symbolic than anything particularly helpful. The crucial thing now is to send hundreds of trucks carrying food into the Gaza Strip daily, Wadephul said while in view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
