UN Rights Chief Urges Warring Sides in South Sudan to 'Pull Back from the Brink'
"The escalating hostilities in South Sudan portend a real risk of further exacerbating the already dire human rights and humanitarian situation, and undermining the country's fragile peace process,' said the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk, Reuters said.
"All parties must urgently pull back from the brink," he added.
Since May 3 fighting has intensified, with OHCHR citing reports of indiscriminate aerial bombardments and river and ground offensives by the South Sudan People's Defense Forces SSPDF on Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA-IO) positions in parts of Fangak in Jonglei State and in Tonga County in Upper Nile.
At least 75 civilians were killed and 78 others injured by the fighting, which displaced thousands from their homes between May 3-20, the agency said. Civilian-populated areas have been targeted, including a medical facility operated by Doctors Without Borders (MSF), it added.
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Arab News
10 hours ago
- Arab News
Israel ‘using thirst as a weapon to kill Palestinians' in Gaza, UN experts say
NEW YORK CITY: A group of UN human rights experts on Monday accused Israeli authorities of deliberately depriving Palestinians in Gaza of access to clean drinking water. They described this alleged action as a grave violation of international law and a potential crime against humanity. 'Israel is using thirst as a weapon to kill Palestinians,' the experts said. 'Cutting off water and food is a silent but lethal bomb that kills mostly children and babies.' The independent experts, who are appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, said that water and sanitation systems in Gaza have been systematically targeted throughout the Israel's ongoing military campaign. Since the conflict began in October 2023, Israeli forces have destroyed or severely damaged wells, pipelines, desalination plants and sewage networks. According to the UN, nearly 90 percent of the territory's water infrastructure is no longer functional, leaving more than 90 percent of the population without reliable access to safe water supplies. As summer temperatures soar and hygiene conditions deteriorate rapidly, fatalities from dehydration are increasing and outbreaks of waterborne disease are spreading. Most of the 2 million residents of Gaza have been displaced, with many of them forced to drink contaminated water and live without even basic sanitation. 'This catastrophe was not only predictable, it was predicted,' the UN experts said. 'The deliberate denial of water and essential supplies is part of a pattern of collective punishment and may amount to extermination under international law.' The experts referred to an advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice in July 2024, which reaffirmed Israel's obligations as an occupying power to ensure civilians are able to access adequate supplies of food and water. Instead, the experts noted, Israeli authorities have further reduced the already limited flow of emergency water deliveries, and continue to block essential shipments of fuel required to power desalination and sanitation systems. The UN Relief and Works Agency, the main humanitarian agency in Gaza, has warned that it will be forced to close several of its remaining wells entirely unless immediate authorization is granted for fuel deliveries to the territory. These sources currently provide hundreds of thousands of liters of water to people each day for drinking and hygiene purposes. 'With fuel supplies nearly exhausted, humanitarian organizations are scaling back life-saving work, including the distribution of water,' the UN experts said. Describing the situation as 'barbaric,' they added that the actions of the Israeli government meet the legal definition of genocide. They cited the Rome Statute, which established the International Criminal Court and defines genocide as 'deliberate infliction of conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of a population.' They urged the international community to act decisively, calling for the immediate deployment of naval humanitarian missions from Mediterranean ports to deliver fuel, water and aid workers to Gaza. They also called for urgent action to restore water and sanitation systems in Gaza, and an end to restrictions on humanitarian access. 'The international community must act now to end this inhumane and unlawful deprivation,' the experts said. 'This is a test of global conscience — and failure is not an option.' The statement was issued by seven of UN's special rapporteurs and experts responsible for issues related to human rights, water and sanitation, food, health, displaced persons, and the occupied Palestinian territories. They operate independently, are not members of UN staff, work on a voluntary basis and do not speak on behalf of the organization.
Arab News
12 hours ago
- Arab News
Hunger and malnutrition levels in Gaza pass limits that define famine, UN warns
NEW YORK CITY: Gaza is facing a catastrophic hunger crisis, with food insecurity and malnutrition reaching levels that meet the official thresholds for famine, UN agencies warned on Tuesday. An alert from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a system for determining the scale and nature of a food crisis, said that two of the three official indicators used to determine famine conditions are now present in parts of the Gaza Strip. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization, World Food Programme and UNICEF warned that time is rapidly running out to launch a full-scale humanitarian response. 'Gaza is now on the brink of a full-scale famine,' said the FAO's director-general, Qu Dongyu. 'People are starving not because food is unavailable but because access is blocked, food systems have collapsed, and families cannot survive. The right to food is a basic human right.' The agencies pointed to relentless conflict, the breakdown of essential services, and severe restrictions on aid deliveries as the key drivers of the crisis. Humanitarian access remains limited, despite the partial reopening of border crossings, and aid flows remain far below what is required to support Gaza's more than 2 million residents. Food consumption, a core indicator of famine, has dropped sharply since May. New data shows that 39 percent of Gazans go entire days without food. More than 500,000 people are enduring famine-like conditions, while the rest face emergency levels of hunger. Acute malnutrition, a second indicator of famine, is surging. In Gaza City, rates among children under 5 years old have quadrupled in just two months, reaching 16.5 percent. UNICEF warned that all 320,000 under-5s in Gaza are now at risk of acute malnutrition, with thousands already suffering from its most deadly form. Most nutritional services have collapsed, and infants lack access to clean water, baby formula and life-saving therapeutic food. 'Babies and young children are literally wasting away from hunger,' said UNICEF's executive director, Catherine Russell. 'We need immediate, safe and unimpeded humanitarian access. Without it, preventable child deaths will continue.' UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Palestinians in Gaza were enduring a humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions. 'This is not a warning, it is a reality unfolding before our eyes,' he said. 'The current trickle of aid must become an ocean, with food, water, medicine and fuel flowing freely and without obstruction. 'This nightmare must end. Ending this worst-case scenario will require the best efforts of all parties, now. 'We need an immediate and permanent humanitarian ceasefire, the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, and full, unfettered humanitarian access across Gaza. This is a test of our shared humanity — a test we cannot afford to fail.' Reports of starvation-related deaths are increasing, though comprehensive data is difficult to gather as the healthcare system in Gaza teeters on the verge of total collapse after nearly two years of conflict. The World Food Programme's executive director, Cindy McCain, said waiting for a formal declaration of famine before acting would be 'unconscionable.' She called for Gaza to be 'flooded with food aid immediately and without obstruction' and warned that 'people are already dying of malnutrition; the longer we wait, the higher the death toll will rise.' According to UN data, Gaza needs at least 62,000 tonnes of food and nutritional aid every month. The return of commercial food imports is also critical to dietary diversity and the restoration of local markets. The agencies also stressed the urgent need for fuel and water supplies and infrastructure repairs to support humanitarian operations and prevent further deaths. In their joint statement, the FAO, WFP and UNICEF called for an immediate and sustained ceasefire agreement, mass humanitarian access using all border crossings, the restoration of basic services, and international investment in efforts to rebuild Gaza's food systems and agricultural capacity. 'The world must act now,' they said. 'The lives of hundreds of thousands — especially children — depend on it.'
Arab News
a day ago
- Arab News
Gangs and merchants sell food aid in Gaza, where Israel's offensive has shattered security
DEIR AL BALAH: Since Israel's offensive led to a security breakdown in Gaza that has made it nearly impossible to safely deliver food to starving Palestinians, much of the limited aid entering is being hoarded by gangs and merchants and sold at exorbitant prices. A kilogram (2.2 pounds) of flour has run as high as $60 in recent days, a kilogram of lentils up to $35. That is beyond the means of most residents in the territory, which experts say is at risk of famine and where people are largely reliant on savings 21 months into the Israel-Hamas war. Israel's decision this weekend to facilitate more aid deliveries — under international pressure — has lowered prices somewhat but has yet to be fully felt on the ground. Bags of flour in markets often bear UN logos, while other packaging has markings indicating it came from the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation — all originally handed out for free. It's impossible to know how much is being diverted, but neither group is able to track who receives its aid. In the melees surrounding aid distributions in recent weeks, residents say the strong were best positioned to come away with food. Mohammed Abu Taha, who lives in a tent with his wife and child near the city of Rafah, said organized gangs of young men are always at the front of crowds when he visits GHF sites. 'It's a huge business,' he said. Every avenue for aid is beset by chaos The UN says up to 100,000 women and children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition, aid groups and media outlets say their own staffers are going hungry, and Gaza's Health Ministry says dozens of Palestinians have died from hunger-related causes in the last three weeks. When the UN gets Israeli permission to distribute aid, its convoys are nearly always attacked by armed gangs or overwhelmed by hungry crowds in the buffer zone controlled by the military. The UN's World Food Program said last week it will only be able to safely deliver aid to the most vulnerable once internal security is restored — likely only under a ceasefire. 'In the meantime, given the urgent need for families to access food, WFP will accept hungry populations taking food from its trucks, as long as there is no violence,' spokesperson Abeer Etifa said. In the alternative delivery system operated by GHF, an American contractor, Palestinians often run a deadly gantlet. More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops while seeking food since May, mainly near the GHF sites, according to the UN human rights office, witnesses and local health officials. The military says it has only fired warning shots when people approach its forces, while GHF says its security contractors have only used pepper spray or fired in the air on some occasions to prevent stampedes. 'You have to be strong and fast' A man in his 30s, who insisted on anonymity for fear of reprisal, said he had visited GHF sites about 40 times since they opened and nearly always came back with food. He sold most of it to merchants or other people in order to buy other necessities for his family. Heba Jouda, who has visited the sites many times, said armed men steal aid as people return with it and merchants also offer to buy it. 'To get food from the American organization, you have to be strong and fast,' she said. Footage shot by Palestinians at GHF sites and shared broadly shows chaotic scenes, with crowds of men racing down fenced-in corridors and scrambling to grab boxes off the ground. GHF says it has installed separate lanes for women and children and is ramping up programs to deliver aid directly to communities. The UN's deliveries also often devolve into deadly violence and chaos, with crowds of thousands rapidly overwhelming trucks in close proximity to Israeli troops. The UN does not accept protection from Israel, saying it prefers to rely on community support. The Israeli military did not respond to emails seeking comment about the reselling of aid. Israel denies allowing looters to operate in areas it controls and accuses Hamas of prolonging the war by not surrendering. 'There is no policy of starvation in Gaza, and there is no starvation in Gaza,' Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday. The situation changed dramatically in March For much of the war, UN agencies were able to safely deliver aid, despite Israeli restrictions and occasional attacks and theft. Hamas-led police guarded convoys and went after suspected looters and merchants who resold aid. During a ceasefire earlier this year, Israel allowed up to 600 aid trucks to enter daily. There were no major disruptions in deliveries, and food prices were far lower. The UN said it had mechanisms in place to prevent any organized diversion of aid. But Israel says Hamas was siphoning it off, though it has provided no evidence of widespread theft. That all changed in March, when Israel ended the ceasefire and halted all imports, including food. Israel seized large parts of Gaza in what it said was a tactic to pressure Hamas into releasing hostages abducted in its Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war. As the Hamas-run police vanished from areas under Israeli control, local tribes and gangs — some of which Israel says it supports — took over, residents say. Israel began allowing a trickle of aid to enter in May. GHF was set up that month with the stated goal of preventing Hamas from diverting aid. Since then, Israel has allowed an average of about 70 trucks a day, compared to the 500-600 the UN says are needed. The military said Saturday it would allow more trucks in — 180 entered Sunday — and international airdrops have resumed, which aid organizations say are largely ineffective. Meanwhile, food distribution continues to be plagued by chaos and violence, as seen near GHF sites or around UN trucks. Even if Israel pauses its military operations during the day, it's unclear how much the security situation will improve. With both the UN and GHF, it's possible Hamas members are among the crowds. In response to questions from The Associated Press, GHF acknowledged that but said its system prevents the organized diversion of aid. 'The real concern we are addressing is not whether individual actors manage to receive food, but whether Hamas is able to systematically control aid flows. At GHF sites, they cannot,' it said. Hamas has denied stealing aid. It's unclear if it's involved in the trade in aid, but its fighters would be taking a major risk by operating in a coordinated way in Israeli military zones that UN trucks pass through and where GHF sites are located. The UN says the only solution is a ceasefire UN officials have called on Israel to fully lift the blockade and flood Gaza with food. That would reduce the incentive for looting by ensuring enough for everyone and driving down prices. Another ceasefire would include a major increase in aid and the release of Israeli hostages, but talks have stalled. Hamas started the war when its fighters stormed into Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251 hostages. Fifty captives are still being held in Gaza. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed over 59,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which has said women and children make up more than half the dead. It does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government and is run by medical professionals. Israel has disputed its figures without providing its own.
