UK Cedes Sovereignty Over Chagos Islands, Suffering In Sudan Deepens, UN Releases New Emergency Relief Funds
Before granting Mauritius independence in 1968, Britain unlawfully separated the Chagos archipelago to create the British Indian Ocean Territory.
In doing so, it expelled 1,500–2,000 islanders to lease Diego Garcia, the largest island, to the United States for joint military use.
Under the agreement, the UK will lease the island of Diego Garcia for the next 99 years to continue operating its joint military base with the United States.
Value of diplomacy
The agreement signed on Thursday between the UK and Mauritius is 'a significant step towards resolving a long-standing dispute in the Indian Ocean region' and 'demonstrates the value of diplomacy in addressing historical grievances', said UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric in Thursday's briefing.
Welcoming the signature of the agreement, the UN Secretary-General, urged both the UK and Mauritius to 'continue engaging in constructive discussion', in order to ensure that 'the rights and aspirations of the Chagossians people are fully respected,' said Mr. Dujarric.
Sudan: Civilian Suffering Deepens Amid Drone Strikes
The civil war in Sudan, which erupted in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has killed over 18,000 people and displaced 13 million, triggering a regional migration crisis.
Even before the war, humanitarian conditions and human rights protections were fragile, but in the past two years, they have become dire.
Of the 30.4 million Sudanese in need of assistance, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) is currently reaching 2.3 million with emergency food and nutrition support, as ongoing violence and infrastructure destruction compound the crisis.
Urgent ceasefire needed
Recent drone attacks on Port Sudan, once a vital entry point for aid, have further deepened the crisis. UN-designated expert Radhouane Nouicer warned Monday that these strikes on critical infrastructure 'are putting lives at risk, worsening the humanitarian crisis, and violating basic human rights.'
On Thursday, Mr. Dujarric reported that attacks in Khartoum state have triggered a total electricity blackout, disrupting access to clean water and healthcare amid rising food prices and cholera outbreaks.
The blackout has exacerbated the spread of cholera and other waterborne diseases.
Mr. Dujarric also noted that ongoing insecurity displaced 47,000 people from Khiwai and Nuhud in West Kordofan this month, while another 1,000 were displaced this week from Abu Shouk camp and El Fasher in North Darfur.
At the Arab League Summit in Iraq over the weekend, UN Secretary-General António Guterrescalled for urgent multilateral action to end 'appalling violence, famine and mass displacement,' and met with African Union leaders to encourage a push for a ceasefire.
Emergency relief funds released for DR Congo
The UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) has allocated new funds to crisis situations, from Afghanistan to Zambia.
On Wednesday, CERF made $750,000 available to support cholera response in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, said Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General.
The emergency funds will enable the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), and partners to deliver critical aid, including timely cholera detection and response, medical treatment, risk communication, and community engagement.
In addition, CERF allocated $10 million to help more than 270,0000 people in vulnerable communities across South Sudan, where the threat of renewed civil war looms.
Ahead of the rainy season, CERF's life-saving aid will notably target communities who have been impacted by overlapping crises, especially conflict and displacement in the states of Jonglei and Upper Nile.
CERF also allocated $9.5 million to support climate action initiatives in eight countries: Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, Chad, Mauritania, Niger, Somalia, Venezuela, and Zambia.
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Scoop
11 hours ago
- Scoop
Diplomatic Merchandise: Exploiting The Issue Of Palestinian Recognition
They have been the playthings of powers for decades, and there is no promise that this will end soon. Empires and powers seem to come and go, yet the plight of the Palestinians remains more horrific than ever. Now, in the next instalment of the grand morality game, France, the United Kingdom and Canada promise to recognise Palestinian statehood at the September meeting of the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly. From the perspective of soothing the conscience, this is a mighty thing – for those in Paris, London and Ottawa. It does not save a single life on the ground in Gaza or the West Bank, provide a single meal for a starving family, or rebuild a single destroyed school. But President Emmanuel Macron, and Prime Ministers Sir Keir Starmer and Mark Carney can all commune as a triumvirate of principled statesmen. Macron, the first of the three, had been making signals on the issue earlier in the year. The French leader had hoped that a UN conference sponsored by France and Saudi Arabia would be the venue for joint recognition, but it came to naught with the resumption of hostilities in Gaza and Israel's attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities. In turning to the G7 nations, he hoped to amplify the urgency of recognition. In doing so, the onus was also on the Palestinian Authority to make certain concessions to add momentum. A letter from PA President Mahmoud Abbas sent to Macron duly came, condemning the attacks of October 7, 2023 by Hamas, demanding the immediate release of all hostages and pledged the holding of elections and reforms to governance. Hamas – not that Abbas had any claims on this point – would also 'no longer rule Gaza' and would have to surrender 'weapons and military capabilities to the Palestinian Security Forces, which will oversee their removal outside the occupied Palestinian territory, with Arab and international support'. On July 24, Macron confirmed in a letter to Abbas conveyed via France's Consul General in Jerusalem that recognition of a Palestinian state would follow in September 'in light of the historic commitments that were made' and the threatened two-state solution. On July 28, in his opening speech to a plenary session of the High-Level International Conference on the Peaceful Settlement on the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution, France's Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Jean-Nöel Barrot stated the 'prospect of two States, whose rights are recognised and respected, is in mortal danger.' But assurances and momentum had been achieved, with Barrot acknowledging the condemnation by the Arab League of the Hamas attack and the insistence by its members on the release of the remaining hostages, the disarming of the group and conclusion of its rule in the Strip. Of the G7, Starmer was the next to be swayed, but with a notable proviso: 'the UK will recognise the state of Palestine by the United Nations General Assembly in September unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza, agree to a ceasefire and commit to a long-term sustainable peace, reviving the prospect of a Two-State Solution.' To this could be added the need for Hamas to release the hostages, accept a ceasefire, disarm and 'play no part in the government of Gaza.' In shabby fashion, room is left to withdraw the offer for recognising Palestinian statehood. 'We will make an assessment in September on how far the parties have met these steps.' Carney, the latest addition, claimed on July 30 that the two-state solution growing from a negotiated settlement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority had been eroded as a prospect by four factors: the threat of Hamas to Israel; accelerated building across the West Bank and East Jerusalem, including numerous instances of Israeli settler violence; the E1 Settlement Plan and the July vote by the Knesset calling for the annexation of the West Bank; and the ongoing failure by the Israeli government to arrest 'the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian disaster in Gaza, with impeded access to food and other essential humanitarian supplies.' The Canadian PM, in reasons almost identical to Macron, had also been swayed by 'the Palestinian Authority's commitment to much-needed reforms' in governance, including the promise to hold elections in 2026 that will exclude Hamas, undertaking anti-corruption measures and the creation of a demilitarised Palestinian state. A resounding theme comes through in the latest flurry of statements: Palestinians continue to be lectured and harangued under the guise of humanitarian understanding, told who can represent them or not (a reformed Palestinian Authority promisingly good, Hamas decidedly bad), and whether they can have any semblance of a military force. 'Recognising a State of Palestine today,' states Barrot, 'means standing with the Palestinians who have chosen non-violence, who have renounced terrorism, and are prepared to recognise Israel.' Standing, it would seem, with a certain type of idealised Palestinian. The Palestinians have become diplomatic merchandise or bits of currency, to be gambled with in the casino of power politics. Starmer is the worst exponent of this, hoping for such returns as Israel's halt to the slaughter and famine in Gaza and the release of the hostages by Hamas and its disarmament. But the idea of Palestinian recognition remains, at this stage, a moot point. At the end of any diplomatic tunnel on this lies certain requirements that would have to be met, not least the criteria of the Montevideo Convention from 1933. Despite gathering some dust over time, it outlines the relevant requirements for statehood: any recognised state in international law must have a permanent population, a defined territory, a discernible government and the capacity to enter into relations with other states. In the UK, some 43 cross-party peers have sent a letter of warning to Starmer arguing against recognising a Palestinian state, citing such familiar, legal grumbles. There was, for instance, 'no certainty over the borders of Palestine' nor 'a functioning single government, Fatah and Hamas being enemies'. Neither could enter into relations with foreign states, with one entity having not held elections for decades, and the other being a 'terrorist organisation'. Despite the UK not signing the Montevideo Convention, recognising Palestine 'would be contrary to the principles of governing recognition of states in international law,' the convention having become part of international customary law. On the bloodied ground, where legal abstractions dissolve into fleshy realities, Israel is doing its level best to make sure that there will be nothing left of a Palestinian state to recognise. For Israel, the case is not one of if or when, but never. The machinery of slaughter, deprivation and dislocation is now so advanced it risks smothering the very idea of a viable Palestinian entity. Israeli policy till October 2023 was engineered to stifle and restrain any credible progress towards a Palestinian state, crowned by feeding the acrimonious divisions between Hamas and Fatah. After October 7 that year, the sharpened focus became one of expulsion, subjugation, or plain elimination of the general populace. Palestinian sovereignty remains, to date, incipient, a bare semblance of a political self. This egregious state of affairs continues to be supported, even by those wishing to recognise Palestine. In some ways, those sorts are arguably the worst.
1News
16 hours ago
- 1News
Why not enough food is reaching Gaza even after blockade lifted
International outcry over images of emaciated children and increasing reports of hunger-related deaths have pressured Israel to let more aid into the Gaza Strip. This week, Israel paused fighting in parts of Gaza and airdropped food. But aid groups and Palestinians say the changes have only been incremental and are not enough to reverse what food experts say is a "worst-case scenario of famine" unfolding in the war-ravaged territory. The new measures have brought an uptick in the number of aid trucks entering Gaza. But almost none of it reaches UN warehouses for distribution. Instead, nearly all the trucks are stripped of their cargo by crowds that overwhelm them on the roads as they drive from the borders. The crowds are a mix of Palestinians desperate for food and gangs armed with knives, axes or pistols who loot the goods to then hoard or sell. Many have also been killed trying to grab the aid. Witnesses say Israeli troops often open fire on crowds around the aid trucks, and hospitals have reported hundreds killed or wounded. The Israeli military says it has only fired warning shots to control crowds or at people who approach its forces. The alternative food distribution system run by the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has also been marred by violence. ADVERTISEMENT International airdrops of aid have resumed. But aid groups say airdrops deliver only a fraction of what trucks can supply. Also, many parcels have landed in now-inaccessible areas that Palestinians have been told to evacuate, while others have plunged into the Mediterranean Sea, forcing people to swim out to retrieve drenched bags of flour. Here's a look at why the aid isn't being distributed: The morning's headlines in 90 seconds, including toddler found in suitcase on bus, Russian volcano erupts, and Liam Lawson pips former world champion. (Source: 1News) A lack of trust The UN says that longstanding restrictions on the entry of aid have created an unpredictable environment, and that while a pause in fighting might allow more aid in, Palestinians are not confident aid will reach them. "This has resulted in many of our convoys offloaded directly by starving, desperate people as they continue to face deep levels of hunger and are struggling to feed their families," said Olga Cherevko, a spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA. "The only way to reach a level of confidence is by having a sustained flow of aid over a period of time," she said. ADVERTISEMENT Israel blocked food entirely from entering Gaza for two and a half months starting in March. Since it eased the blockade in late May, it allowed in a trickle of aid trucks for the UN, about 70 a day on average, according to official Israeli figures. That is far below the 500-600 trucks a day that UN agencies say are needed — the amount that entered during a six-week ceasefire earlier this year. Palestinians rush to collect humanitarian aid airdropped in central Gaza Strip. (Source: Associated Press) Much of the aid is stacked up just inside the border in Gaza because UN trucks could not pick it up. The UN says that was because of Israeli military restrictions on its movements and because of the lawlessness in Gaza. Israel has argued that it is allowing sufficient quantities of goods into Gaza and tried to shift the blame to the UN "More consistent collection and distribution by UN agencies and international organisations = more aid reaching those who need it most in Gaza," the Israeli military agency in charge of aid coordination, COGAT, said in a statement this week. With the new measures this week, COGAT, says 220-270 truckloads a day were allowed into Gaza on Tuesday and Wednesday, and that the UN was able to pick up more trucks, reducing some of the backlog at the border. Aid mission still face 'constraints' Cherevko said there have been "minor improvements" in approvals by the Israeli military for its movements and some "reduced waiting times" for trucks along the road. ADVERTISEMENT But she said the aid missions are "still facing constraints." Delays of military approval still mean trucks remain idle for long periods, and the military still restricts the routes that the trucks can take onto a single road, which makes it easy for people to know where the trucks are going, UN officials say. Antoine Renard, who directs the World Food Program's operations in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, said Wednesday that it took nearly 12 hours to bring in 52 trucks on a 10km route. "While we're doing everything that we can to actually respond to the current wave of starvation in Gaza, the conditions that we have are not sufficient to actually make sure that we can break that wave," he said. Aid workers say the changes Israel has made in recent days are largely cosmetic. "These are theatrics, token gestures dressed up as progress," said Bushra Khalidi, Oxfam's policy lead for Israel and the Palestinian territories. "Of course, a handful of trucks, a few hours of tactical pauses and raining energy bars from the sky is not going to fix irreversible harm done to an entire generation of children that have been starved and malnourished for months now," she said. A Palestinian youth carries a sack of aid that landed in the Mediterranean Sea after being airdropped over central Gaza. (Source: Associated Press) Breakdown of law and order ADVERTISEMENT As desperation mounts, Palestinians are risking their lives to get food, and violence is increasing, say aid workers. Muhammad Shehada, a political analyst from Gaza who is a visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said aid retrieval has turned into the survival of the fittest. "It's a Darwin dystopia, the strongest survive," he said. A truck driver said Wednesday that he has driven food supplies four times from the Zikim crossing on Gaza's northern border. Every time, he said, crowds a kilometre long surrounded his truck and took everything on it after he passed the checkpoint at the edge of the Israeli military-controlled border zones. He said some were desperate people, while others were armed. He said that on Tuesday, for the first time, some in the crowd threatened him with knives or small arms. He spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing for his safety. Ali al-Derbashi, another truck driver, said that during one trip in July armed men shot the tires, stole everything, including the diesel and batteries and beat him. "If people weren't starving, they wouldn't resort to this," he said. Israel has said it has offered the UN armed escorts. The UN has refused, saying it can't be seen to be working with a party to the conflict – and pointing to the reported shootings when Israeli troops are present. Uncertainty and humiliation ADVERTISEMENT Israel hasn't given a timeline for how long the measures it implemented this week will continue, heightening uncertainty and urgency among Palestinians to seize the aid before it ends. Palestinians say the way it's being distributed, including being dropped from the sky, is inhumane. "This approach is inappropriate for Palestinians, we are humiliated," said Rida, a displaced woman. Momen Abu Etayya said he almost drowned because his son begged him to get aid that fell into the sea during an aid drop. "I threw myself in the ocean to death just to bring him something," he said. "I was only able to bring him three biscuit packets".
NZ Herald
2 days ago
- NZ Herald
Hostage videos show emaciated Israelis, Hamas blames Israel for starvation
David's sister, Ye'ela, said watching the clip of her emaciated brother felt like 'one million punches to the heart'. She pleaded with the public not to share the images, as her mother and other brother had not yet seen the footage. Earlier on Thursday, the Islamic Jihad terrorist group released a video of hostage Rom Braslavski, 21, also looking emaciated. The terror group claimed the six-minute video was recorded days before it lost contact with the captors holding Braslavski, saying it did not know what had happened to him. His mother, Tami, said the terrorists had 'broken' her son. 'They broke my boy. I want him home now. I know how many beatings he is taking. Look at him. Thin, limp, crying. All his bones are out. Don't cry over the children in Gaza. Cry for Rom. Have compassion for the hostages,' she told Israeli media Ynet. With two hostage videos released in 24 hours, both of which blame Israel for starving the people of Gaza, Hamas seeks to increase international pressure on the Israeli Government. Aid agencies, including the UN, are warning that hunger and malnutrition may have reached a tipping point, raising fears of mass starvation. Israel has denied accusations of starving Palestinians, instead pointing the finger at the UN for failing to collect and distribute the food that enters through border crossings. US President Donald Trump said this week that starvation was happening in Gaza, despite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's denials. 'You can't fake that,' he said on Tuesday, adding that he was 'not particularly' convinced by his ally. Steve Witkoff, Trump's Middle East envoy, spent five hours visiting controversial aid distribution sites in the war-battered enclave on Friday. Witkoff, the first senior official to visit Gaza since the war began, said that what he learnt would help Washington 'craft a plan' to get more food and aid to Palestinians. On Friday, 126 aid packages, containing food for the residents of the southern and northern Gaza Strip, were airdropped by France, Spain, the UAE, Jordan, Egypt and Germany, the Israel Defence Forces said. Witkoff and Mike Huckabee, the US ambassador for Israel, toured one of the four sites run by the controversial Israeli and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). Aid agencies have accused the foundation of contributing to the hunger crisis. More than 1300 people seeking aid in Gaza have been killed since GHF took over aid operations in late May, according to the UN, most of them shot by Israeli forces 'in the vicinity' of the aid hubs. GHF has denied the claims. Israel claims Hamas is looting aid for its own fighters, thus enabling accusations the Jewish state is deliberately starving Palestinians. Hamas denies this. Eli Sharabi, an Israeli former hostage, testified before the UN Security Council in March that 'Hamas eats like kings, while hostages starve'. Sharabi said: 'I saw Hamas terrorists carrying boxes with the UN and UNRWA emblems on them into the tunnels, dozens and dozens of boxes, paid for by your Government. They would eat many meals a day from the UN aid in front of us, and we never received any of it.'
