Sustainable Switch: Gaza and Sudan's hunger crisis
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The ongoing hunger crisis in conflict-stricken Gaza and Sudan is in focus in today's newsletter, while extreme weather events in Asia, Australia and the Middle East take the top 'Talking Points' stories.
For those wondering what hunger has to do with sustainability, well, it is one of the United Nation's top Sustainable Development Goals. The second U.N. SDG aims to achieve "zero hunger", which was established in 2015.Click here, opens new tab for more on the U.N.'s goal to end world hunger.
Now, the U.N. says more than 1,000 people have been killed trying to receive aid in the enclave since the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation began operating in May 2025, most of them shot by Israeli forces operating near GHF sites.
At least 40 Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire and airstrikes on Gaza on Monday, including 10 seeking aid, health authorities said, adding another five had died of starvation in what humanitarian agencies say may be an unfolding famine.
The 10 died in two separate incidents near aid sites belonging to the GHF, in central and southern Gaza, local medics said.
In Sudan, hundreds of thousands of people under siege in the Sudanese army's last holdout in the western Darfur region are running out of food and coming under constant artillery and drone barrages, while those who flee risk cholera and violent attacks.
Al-Fashir, the capital of North Darfur state, is the biggest remaining frontline in the region between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), under fire at a pivotal point in a civil war now well into its third year.
What's being done about Gaza's hunger crisis?
This week, Israel said it will allow gradual and controlled entry of goods to Gaza through local merchants, according to an Israeli military agency that coordinates aid, as images of starving Palestinians, including children, have alarmed the world in recent weeks.
Israel's COGAT said a mechanism has been approved by the cabinet to expand the scope of humanitarian aid, allowing the entry of supplies to Gaza through the private sector.
"This aims to increase the volume of aid entering the Gaza Strip, while reducing reliance on aid collection by the U.N. and international organisations," it added.
It was unclear how this aid operation would work given the widespread destruction in Gaza.
Palestinian and U.N. officials say Gaza needs around 600 aid trucks to enter per day to meet the humanitarian requirements – the number Israel used to allow into Gaza before the war.
The announcement on the aid comes as Israel's cabinet is considering a complete military takeover of Gaza for the first time in two decades, media reported, despite international pressure for a ceasefire to ease appalling conditions in the besieged Palestinian territory.
What's happening in Sudan?
The war between the Sudanese army and the RSF erupted in April 2023 when the former allies clashed over plans to integrate their forces.
The RSF made quick gains in central Sudan, including the capital Khartoum, but the army pushed them westward this year, leading to an intensification in fighting in al-Fashir.
Hundreds of thousands of al-Fashir's residents and people displaced by previous attacks are living in camps that monitors say are already facing famine.
This week, the UN refugee agency UNHCR said that emergency funding to help hundreds of thousands of refugees in Uganda will run out next month unless more support comes in as a funding crisis is threatening programmes for people fleeing Sudan, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
One doctor, who asked not to be named for her safety, said hunger was an even bigger problem than the shelling.
"The children are malnourished, the adults are malnourished. Even I, today, haven't had any breakfast because I can't find anything," she said.
The RSF has blocked food supplies and aid convoys trying to reach the city have been attacked, locals said. Prices for the goods traders are able to smuggle in cost more than five times the national average.
Many people have resorted to eating hay or ambaz, a type of animal feed made out of peanut shells, residents told Reuters. One advocacy group said even ambaz was running out.
ESG SPOTLIGHT
What happens to the pets of the people detained or deported by the rise of Los Angeles immigration raids under the Trump administration? That's what today's spotlight story seeks to answer.
The Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control has been taking care of dogs and cats after their owners were detained or deported. From June 10, the county has taken in 28 animals, 22 of whom are dogs. Eleven dogs and two cats have been placed with homes since then.
'The animals have become sort of a victim in this situation because, to no fault of their own, they're finding themselves in the care centers," said Christopher Valles, public information officer for the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control.
Today's Sustainable Switch was edited by Jane Merriman
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The village, with only a few hundred residents, is surrounded on three sides by the illegal settlement of Carmel, and every built structure in it is under threat of demolition. With so few resources and limited means to resist the constant pressures of military control, settler violence and threats of displacement, Awdah believed that international attention could help fortify the villagers' struggle to remain on the land. 'Oftentimes, we want to just leave and let the pain go,' he once wrote. 'But we know we have to stand in the trauma in the hopes that the story we share will change the minds of those who support the Israeli occupation.' In the winter of 2023, I ran a series of photography workshops for Awdah and his three co-editors of the Humans of Masafer Yatta blog, a project documenting the struggle against the looming expulsion of Palestinians in the region. (Two of them would go on to direct the Oscar-winning No Other Land, which Awdah helped produce.) On the day of our first session, the army had set up a temporary checkpoint at the entrance of the village, blocking people from exiting and delaying our start time by hours. We all felt defeated; I was ready to call it a day – darkness is far from ideal for a photography lesson. Awdah, however, was insistent we carry on. 'Friends,' he said (as he always addressed us): 'This is what lights are for. We will continue with the lesson.' This past week, I have returned many times to the photos from that first photography lesson, and the memory of Awdah's persistence that kept us there. Awdah was determined, that day and every day, not to let the army dictate his life. But more than that, this story reminds me of Awdah's tireless commitment to storytelling. For him, the photography lessons were also part of his stubborn insistence on documenting his reality and sharing it in every way he could. It was an act of faith – not out of naive optimism, but dedication to keep fighting no matter the odds. And he believed, like me, that cameras could 'perhaps shed a little bit of light on what actually happens in the darkness of Israel's military occupation'. It is gut-wrenching that Awdah's story is reaching the world in the wake of his death. In the days since he was killed, thousands of activists, journalists and elected officials have publicly demanded justice for him and his family. Meanwhile, Yinon Levy, the settler who shot and killed Awdah, remains free. He has since returned to Umm al-Khair with his bulldozer to continue digging into privately owned Palestinian land. After holding Awdah's body for 10 days, Israeli authorities finally permitted his funeral on Thursday – yet military checkpoints blocked many mourners from attending, and Israel's high court declined to intervene. On Monday, I stood in the streets of Manhattan, taking pictures as thousands protested against Israel's violence against the Palestinians, many holding signs that read 'Justice for Awdah'. I can only hope the horror of his murder strengthens a collective demand for justice – not only for Awdah, but for all Palestinians living under apartheid, occupation and forced dispossession. May we carry his legacy forward not only by fighting for the destination – freedom, safety, dignity – but by insisting on the path he modeled: one built through relationships, solidarity and love. Awdah, the most determined fighter for Palestinian dignity and the fullness of life – we mourn for you. You will be missed for lifetimes. May your memory be a revolution. Emily Glick is a freelance documentary photographer based in Boston
