US says ‘pleased’ with improved aid access into Sudan

US says ‘pleased’ with improved aid access into Sudan
A handout image shows aid trucks with relief material for Sudan's Darfur region, at a location given as the border of Chad and Sudan, released on August 21, 2024. (Reuters)
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Updated 01 October 2024
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US says ‘pleased’ with improved aid access into Sudan

US says ‘pleased’ with improved aid access into Sudan
  • “We are pleased by the significant but incremental improvements on humanitarian access,” US envoy on Sudan, Tom Perriello, told reporters in Nairobi

NAIROBI: The US envoy to Sudan on Monday said there had been a marked improvement of aid deliveries into the war-torn African country suffering a devastating humanitarian crisis.

Fighting erupted in April 2023 between the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) after a plan to integrate them into the military failed.

Both sides have been accused of war crimes, including deliberately targeting civilians and blocking humanitarian aid.

“We are pleased by the significant but incremental improvements on humanitarian access,” US envoy on Sudan, Tom Perriello, told reporters in Nairobi.

“We have had a couple (of) hundred trucks get through areas that were previously blocked.”

More than 25 million people — more than half of Sudan’s population — face acute hunger, according to UN agencies, with famine declared in a displacement camp in the western Darfur region, which borders Chad.

The war has already killed tens of thousands of people, with the World Health Organization declaring a toll of at least 20,000 people dead, but some estimates are up to 150,000.

“The situation is extremely dire and those who are in the best position to stop it seem eager instead to accelerate” it, Perriello said.

Several rounds of peace negotiations have failed to end the fighting.

Multiple truces brokered by the United States and Saudi Arabia in the early stages of the war were systematically violated and the process faltered.

“One track of these efforts overall is a sense of trying to restore the basic norm that even if the war continues, certain issues of humanitarian access and civilian protection should be respected,” Perriello said, blaming “a lack of sufficient will” from the warring sides.

The latest round of US-brokered talks opened in Switzerland last month.

While an RSF delegation showed up, the Sudanese armed forces were unhappy with the format and did not attend, though they were in telephone contact with the mediators.

The talks were co-hosted by Saudi Arabia and Switzerland, with the African Union, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the United Nations completing the so-called Aligned for Advancing Lifesaving and Peace in Sudan Group (ALPS).

The army objected to the UAE’s involvement in the talks, accusing the oil-rich Gulf state of arming the RSF. The UAE has repeatedly denied the allegations.

The Sudanese army on Monday rejected an accusation by the UAE that it had attacked the home of its ambassador in Khartoum.


How heritage defenders are rescuing Gaza’s artifacts, preserving cultural identity

How heritage defenders are rescuing Gaza’s artifacts, preserving cultural identity
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How heritage defenders are rescuing Gaza’s artifacts, preserving cultural identity

How heritage defenders are rescuing Gaza’s artifacts, preserving cultural identity
  • Palestinian archaeologists are racing to safeguard ancient objects from bombed museums, private collections, and historical sites
  • International experts warn that Gaza’s cultural memory is at risk of permanent loss if preservation efforts are not supported

LONDON: It is one of the more extraordinary and unexpected images to have emerged from the chaos and destruction in Gaza.

Two men, wearing high-visibility vests and stepping carefully through the rubble-strewn streets of Khan Younis, are carrying a priceless Roman-era pottery jar, supported between them on a folded carpet serving as a makeshift sling.

The incongruous photograph tells a story of hope and determination — hope that Palestine has a future, and determination that, whatever tomorrow might bring, the heritage of an entire people will not be destroyed.

The photograph was taken during the summer last year, when the men, members of the Heritage Guardians Team from the Khan Younis-based Mayasem Association for Culture and Arts, were taking part in the evacuation of thousands of artifacts from Al-Qarara Museum, which had been severely damaged in the fighting.

Today, thanks to emergency funding supplied by ALIPH, the International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage, those artefacts are stored in a relatively safe and secret place, in the hope that one day they can be returned to a restored museum.

The rescue of Palestine’s past is just one of 550 projects in 54 countries that have been funded by ALIPH since 2017.

The alliance was founded by France and the UAE at an international conference on heritage in danger, held in Abu Dhabi in December 2016 in the wake of widespread destruction of monuments, museums and heritage sites in conflict areas. Saudi Arabia was one of ALIPH’s founding members and remains one of its biggest contributors.

This month ALIPH announced additional funding of $16 million for 28 new projects supporting heritage in Gaza, Africa, Syria and Ukraine, bringing the total amount committed worldwide by the organization since 2017 to $116 million.

Much of that money has been spent on major projects, such as ALIPH’s response to the explosion in the port of Beirut in 2020. Since expanded to cover 37 individual projects — 26 of which have been completed — the commitment to Lebanon has reached $5.4 million.

ALIPH’s funding for Iraq, much of it in response to the destruction of multiple heritage sites by Daesh, has seen more than $31 million invested in 49 initiatives.

It began in 2018 with the massive project to rehabilitate the Mosul Museum, in which ALIPH invested $15.8 million in collaboration with the Louvre, the Smithsonian Institution, and the World Monuments Fund, working with local partners and Iraq’s State Board of Antiquities and Heritage.

ALIPH has also spent $3 million on 18 projects in Syria since 2019, working with 11 local operators to protect and restore archaeological sites, monuments, historic neighborhoods, museums and religious buildings.

The new program that ALIPH wants to implement in the coming months includes the rehabilitation of the Palmyra museum and its artifacts, and the stabilization of damaged monuments at the ancient site, where the destruction inflicted there by Daesh in 2015 was one of the key events that led to the alliance’s foundation.

But it is the much smaller sums invested in timely, emergency interventions, such as several funded by ALIPH in Gaza, that often have a disproportionately significant impact.

“We have quite a large number of small projects,” said Elke Selter, ALIPH’s director of programs. “And a lot of these are acute emergencies, when you actually can’t spend large amounts of money and just need to pay for an evacuation, for boxes to move objects, for tarpaulins to cover a hole in a roof, or for wooden panels to put in front of broken windows.”

The cost of such interventions, which can make all the difference to the future of a heritage site, can be just a few thousand dollars.

Larger, general applications for funding can be made through the regular calls for projects that are advertised on ALIPH’s website — the current call, in partnership with the EU, is for projects in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, and closes on July 31.

But ALIPH is also open year-round to requests for emergency assistance grants, worth up to $75,000 each, for which applicants must submit a brief, precise proposal for interventions designed “to halt or prevent irremediable heritage degradation that cannot wait until the next call for projects.”

“I believe that our emergency response is one of ALIPH’s main strategic advantages,” said Selter.

“We do very important projects also, before and after emergencies, but there are many others doing that too. In terms of being actively present, and being able to provide funding within 48 hours, if needed, we’re alone.”

Part of the consideration of each emergency application is the risk posed to those on the ground.

With only a couple of dozen staff at headquarters in Geneva, ALIPH is “primarily a financial instrument, and so it’s not ALIPH that puts on its boots and its helmets and goes on site,” said Selter.

“But we work with local operators and provide funding to people on the ground who ask for it, and who are, at that moment, doing whatever they can to save heritage that is clearly important to them.

“These people are going to do it either way, so we can either help them, or not. And if you know that you’re one of the only ones that can help, I think there’s a duty to do so.”

ALIPH takes steps to ensure projects are as safe as possible.

“We try to do whatever we can in our power to make sure that the teams are as safe as they can possibly be, given the situations in which they work,” Selter added.

“In Gaza, for instance, we’ve put them in touch with UNMAS, the UN demining service, so that sites could first be checked.

“We stay in touch throughout a project, and in the particular case of Gaza we also make sure they understand that, for us, things like reporting deadlines are not essential.

“Of course, it’s important that the administration at some point is in order, but we don’t need them to risk their lives in order to send us a report within a deadline.”

In Gaza last year, ALIPH partnered with the Khan Younis-based Mayasem Association for Culture and Arts and teams from Al-Qarara Museum and The Palestinian Museum in Birzeit in the West Bank to inventory and evacuate Al-Qarara’s collection of more than 3,000 artefacts.

In April 2024, ALIPH also supported the urgent rescue from the rubble of surviving artifacts from the Rafah Museum, which, before it was almost completely destroyed by Israeli bombing, housed hundreds of objects related to Palestinian heritage, including a unique collection of traditional thobes.

ALIPH is currently supporting emergency protection and stabilization measures for the historic Qasr Al-Basha in Gaza, being undertaken by the Palestinian Center for Cultural Heritage Preservation.

Once the seat of Mamluk and Ottoman power, the palace became a museum in 2010, housing collections of the Palestinian Antiquities Department, before it was almost completely destroyed in 2023.

Equally devastated was Al-Omari Mosque in the heart of Gaza’s old city, which was built in 1149 and has been repeatedly damaged, most recently in December 2023. Almost all that remains intact is the building’s minaret.

ALIPH is supporting the Ramallah-based Palestinian NGO Riwaq, the Center for Architectural Conservation, which is carrying out emergency stabilization and documenting the destruction to support any future work.

In February this year, ALIPH funded a damage assessment and stabilizing built heritage workshop in Cairo.

Run by the Egyptian Foundation for Heritage Rescue and the Center for Cultural Heritage Preservation of Bethlehem, it has prepared 20 Palestinian heritage professionals to form teams and intervene in Gaza as soon as the situation allows.

More than 60 heritage professionals from Gaza, the West Bank and Cairo also attended an ALIPH-funded online course on risk management and undertaking emergency cultural heritage protection measures.

“We were really surprised that we had more than 60 participants,” said project manager Gala-Alexa Amagat.

“Something we see in every conflict we work in is that people attach such importance to preserving the heritage that they have.

“A lot of the people in Gaza who attended actually walked very far every morning to get to a place where they could get a connection and connect to that training, which was completely beyond what we expected.”

ALIPH relies on the generosity of donors, including nine member countries, public donors such as the EU, and private individuals and philanthropic foundations. Its next donor conference will be held in Abu Dhabi at the end of next year.

“Of course, the funding landscape is under serious pressure,” said Selter.

“But on the other hand, after eight years, ALIPH is becoming better known, which makes funding a bit easier. People know us now, and those who were hesitant at the beginning can see that we have delivered.

“We hope that our donors will remain committed and that they’re happy with the results that we’ve delivered.”

Ultimately, those results stand as a testament to the dedication of thousands of individuals around the world, from South America in the west to Indonesia in the east, many of whom are working in dangerous circumstances. 

“The past belongs to all of us, and it is vital to protect our heritage to build a shared future,” said Valery Freland, ALIPH’s executive director.

“We are much more than just a funder. But the real heroes are our partners on the ground, who often face great challenges, but are committed to protecting the world’s heritage.”


Clearing Gaza war rubble could release 90K tonnes of greenhouse gases: study

Clearing Gaza war rubble could release 90K tonnes of greenhouse gases: study
Updated 43 min 5 sec ago
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Clearing Gaza war rubble could release 90K tonnes of greenhouse gases: study

Clearing Gaza war rubble could release 90K tonnes of greenhouse gases: study
  • Estimated 39 million tonnes of concrete debris created between October 2023 and December 2024
  • Findings suggest it could take up to 37 years to clear the enclave using locally available equipment

LONDON: Rubble in Gaza caused by Israeli bombardment could cause more than 90,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, a study has suggested.

Research using open-source data published in the journal Environmental Research: Infrastructure and Sustainability suggested that about 39 million tonnes of concrete debris had been created between the start of the war in October 2023 to December a year later.

It added that 2.1 million truck journeys spanning a total of 29.5 million km would be needed to move it, generating about 66,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. 

Researchers at the universities of Oxford and Edinburgh based their findings on two scenarios, one which assumed 80 percent of the debris was viable for crushing, which with a fleet of 50 industrial machines would take more than half a year and add a further 2,976 tonnes of CO2 emissions. 

Using the same number of local, smaller crushers could take up to 37 years to complete the task, and generate 25,149 tonnes.

The longer the task took, the researchers said, the more additional emissions would be produced, adding that the model did not account for additional emissions caused by other substances left in the enclave such as asbestos, as well as unexploded ordnance.

It is believed that about 90 percent of homes in Gaza, as well as a significant proportion of its infrastructure, have been destroyed by Israeli strikes.

“The CO2 emissions from clearing and processing the rubble may seem small compared to the total climate cost of the destruction in Gaza, but our micro-focus unpacks the labor and work required to even begin the process of reconstruction,” said Samer Abdelnour, the study’s lead author and senior lecturer in strategic management at the University of Edinburgh Business School.

“While filling the military emissions gap is important, our work can also support Palestinian policymakers, civil engineers, planners and other workers on the ground who are determined to reclaim what was lost, stay on the land and rebuild.”

Nicholas Roy, a statistical science student at Oxford University and co-author of the study, said: “Looking ahead, finer spatial and temporal resolution of satellite images, advances in deep learning for building and damage classification, and methods that integrate information from different perspectives — such as street-level cellphone footage and top-down satellite images — open new opportunities to estimate military emissions across different scopes and better understand the true climate cost of war.” 

The carbon footprint of global military activity is estimated at about 5.5 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions — more than civil aviation and international shipping combined. The Gulf region in particular is uniquely vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

Ben Neimark, a senior lecturer at Queen Mary University of London investigating the climate impact of Israeli military activity, told The Guardian: “The methodological focus on debris is cutting-edge work, highlighting often-missed environmental damage left by militaries after the war is over. It provides a fresh look at the daily images of bombed-out buildings and rubble from Gaza, rather than seeing them as longer-term climate impacts of war.”

In June, Neimark’s work estimated that the impacts of Israel’s war in Gaza could release more than 31 million tonnes of CO2. 

Stuart Parkinson, executive director of Scientists for Global Responsibility, told The Guardian: “Militaries and war are large and hidden contributors to the climate crisis … it is important to include the full range of activities from production of the military equipment to fuel use during warfighting, from the damage to carbon stores like forests to cleanup efforts and reconstruction following the end of the war. This study adds to this bigger picture of war-related emissions.”


Israeli far right discusses Gaza ‘riviera’ plans

Palestinians carry the body of a person killed in an Israeli army airstrike on Gaza into Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.
Palestinians carry the body of a person killed in an Israeli army airstrike on Gaza into Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.
Updated 22 July 2025
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Israeli far right discusses Gaza ‘riviera’ plans

Palestinians carry the body of a person killed in an Israeli army airstrike on Gaza into Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.
  • Name of the event evokes a proposal floated by Trump in February to turn the territory into “the Riviera of the Middle East” after moving out its Palestinian residents

JERUSALEM: Some Israeli far-right leaders held a public meeting on Tuesday to discuss redeveloping the Gaza Strip into a tourist-friendly “riviera,” as Palestinians face a worsening humanitarian crisis in the devastated territory.

The meeting, titled “The Riviera in Gaza: From Vision to Reality,” was held in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, under the auspices of some of its most hard-line members.

It saw the participation of firebrand Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, as well as activist Daniella Weiss, a vocal proponent of Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip, among others.

The name of the event evokes a proposal floated by US President Donald Trump in February to turn the war-ravaged territory into “the Riviera of the Middle East” after moving out its Palestinian residents and putting it under American control.

The idea drew swift condemnation from across the Arab world, and from Palestinians themselves, for whom any effort to force them off their land would recall the “Nakba,” or catastrophe — the mass displacement of Palestinians during Israel’s creation in 1948.

Participants in Tuesday’s Knesset meeting discussed a “master plan” drafted by Weiss’s organization to re-establish a permanent Jewish presence in Gaza.

The detailed plan foresees the construction of housing for 1.2 million new Jewish residents, and the development of industrial and agricultural zones, as well as tourism complexes on the coast.

Eight Israeli settlements located in various parts of the Gaza Strip were dismantled in 2005 as part of Israel’s unilateral decision to “disengage” from Gaza following years of violence between settlers, Palestinian armed groups and the army.

For the past two decades, a small but vocal section of Israeli society has urged the resettlement of the Strip.

Those voices have become louder after Palestinian militant group Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, with advocates presenting resettlement as a way to maintain tighter security control over the area.

The October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel’s ensuing military campaign in Gaza has killed 59,106 Palestinians, also mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.

Meanwhile, the humanitarian crisis in the Strip has reached catastrophic proportions after 21 months of conflict and a two-month aid blockade imposed by Israel.

Israel began easing the blockade in late May, but extreme scarcities of food and other essentials persist, and cases of malnutrition and starvation are becoming increasingly frequent, according to local authorities, NGOs and AFP journalists on the ground.


WFP warns Gaza is on brink of full scale famine

A child reacts as Palestinians gather to receive food from a charity kitchen, amid a hunger crisis, in Gaza City, July 22, 2025.
A child reacts as Palestinians gather to receive food from a charity kitchen, amid a hunger crisis, in Gaza City, July 22, 2025.
Updated 22 July 2025
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WFP warns Gaza is on brink of full scale famine

A child reacts as Palestinians gather to receive food from a charity kitchen, amid a hunger crisis, in Gaza City, July 22, 2025.
  • UN official warns a quarter of the population at risk suffering from acute food shortages
  • Secretary-General Guterres demands protection for civilians harmed by gunfire at aid sites

NEW YORK: The UN World Food Programme warned on Monday that Gaza is teetering on the brink of full-scale famine, with nearly 100,000 women and children suffering from severe acute malnutrition amid rapidly deteriorating humanitarian conditions.

Speaking to reporters at a UN briefing, senior WFP official Ross Smith said that hunger is worsening, and humanitarian access has been severely restricted. 

“A quarter of the population are facing famine-like conditions,” he said. “People are dying from lack of assistance every day.”

Smith stressed that food and humanitarian aid are the only viable solutions at present, but movement inside Gaza remains perilous and limited. “The markets are non-functional. Nothing is really moving inside Gaza for us,” he said, outlining the “minimum operating conditions” required to respond effectively. These include functioning border crossings, reduced wait times and security approvals, and the ability to transport goods freely and safely.

He said the WFP requires a minimum of 100 aid trucks to enter Gaza daily to meet urgent needs. “Until we have that scale of assistance, it’s going to be really, really difficult to control the situation on the ground.”

Smith called for all armed actors to stay away from aid convoys and distribution points. 

Over the weekend scores of people were killed when a crowd surged around a WFP food convoy near a Gaza checkpoint.

“We cannot independently verify the death toll,” Smith said, noting WFP staff on the ground reported at least 40 fatalities, though other reports suggest as many as 80. “One death is too many. This is far, far too many.”

He denied any indication the incident was organized by militant groups, instead pointing to growing desperation among civilians. “These were people putting their lives on the line, trying to get something off a truck,” he said.

Fuel shortages and logistical hurdles continue to hamper aid distribution. Since mid-May, the WFP has managed to deliver less than 10 percent of the required food assistance. Smith said the agency has enough supplies pre-positioned outside Gaza to support the entire population for two months — provided a ceasefire is in place and aid routes are secured.

“We have the capacity, but we need a ceasefire,” he added.

The UN does not use armed escorts for its convoys and has no operational relationship with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, Smith confirmed. While the GHF has pushed for collaboration, no agreements are currently in place.

Smith warned that time is running out for thousands at risk of starvation. “Severe acute malnutrition, particularly in children, carries a very high mortality risk. They need treatment immediately,” he said.

The UN continues to press for adherence to existing humanitarian agreements and call for a ceasefire to prevent further tragedy. “Yesterday’s incident is one of the greatest tragedies we’ve seen in Gaza,” Smith said. “It was completely avoidable.”

Meanwhile, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warned that a new mass displacement order issued by the Israeli military is further eroding Gaza’s already collapsing humanitarian infrastructure. 

The directive, covering four neighborhoods in Deir Al-Balah, has forced thousands to flee, with an estimated 50,000 to 80,000 people in the affected area at the time of the order, including 30,000 already displaced sheltering at 57 sites. 

UN staff remain stationed at dozens of locations within the area, and OCHA has stressed that all civilian and humanitarian sites must be protected regardless of military operations.

The order encompasses critical infrastructure, including four health clinics, humanitarian warehouses, and essential water systems such as Gaza’s Southern Desalination Plant. OCHA warned that any damage to these facilities could have life-threatening consequences for civilians. 

Nearly 88 percent of the Gaza Strip now falls under displacement orders or Israeli-controlled zones, effectively confining 2.1 million people to just 12 percent of the territory. 

By cutting across Deir Al-Balah to the Mediterranean, the order further fragments the enclave, choking off humanitarian access.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed serious concern over the latest Israeli evacuation order. He said UN staff remain in the area, despite two UN guesthouses being hit in recent days, even after their coordinates had been shared with the relevant parties. 

“These sites must be protected,” Guterres said, calling once again for the protection of civilians, humanitarian personnel, and infrastructure. He reiterated his urgent appeal for unimpeded delivery of aid and repeated his call for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.

Guterres condemned growing reports of malnutrition among children and adults, and denounced the continued violence — including against people trying to access food. 

“Civilians must never be targeted,” Guterres said, adding that Israel is obligated under international law to facilitate humanitarian relief. He stressed that the population remains gravely undersupplied with essentials such as food, water, and medicine.


No aid supplies left and staff are starving in Gaza, says Norwegian Refugee Council

No aid supplies left and staff are starving in Gaza, says Norwegian Refugee Council
Updated 22 July 2025
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No aid supplies left and staff are starving in Gaza, says Norwegian Refugee Council

No aid supplies left and staff are starving in Gaza, says Norwegian Refugee Council
  • The Norwegian Refugee Council’s supplies of food and safe drinking water are running out

GENEVA: The Norwegian Refugee Council told Reuters on Tuesday its aid stocks are completely depleted in Gaza, with some of its staff now starving, and accused Israel of paralysing its work.

“Our last tent, our last food parcel, our last relief items have been distributed. There is nothing left,” Jan Egeland, the secretary general of the council told Reuters in an interview via video link from Oslo. The council’s comments echo those made earlier on Tuesday by the head of the Palestinian refugee agency, who said UNRWA’s staff were fainting on the job from hunger and exhaustion.

The NRC says that for the last 145 days it has not been able to get its hundreds of truckloads containing tents, water, sanitation, food and education materials into Gaza.

“Hundreds of truckloads have been sitting in warehouses or in Egypt or elsewhere, and costing our Western European donors a lot of money, but they are blocked from coming in… That’s why we are so angry. Because our job is to help,” Egeland said.

“Israel is not yielding. They just want to paralyze our work,” he added. The NRC has 64 Palestinian and two international staff on the ground in Gaza. On Sunday the NRC had to move 33 of its staff out of Deir al Balah following Israeli evacuation warnings.

The NRC said its supplies of safe drinking water, which have reached 100,000 people in central and northern parts of Gaza in recent weeks, are also running out, as fuel availability to run desalination plants reaches its limit.