Hunger now just as deadly as bullets for Sudanese civilians trapped in conflict

Millions of Sudanese, esepcially those displaced by the conflict, are going hungry and malnutrition is rife as fighting limits their access to food. (Reuters)
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Updated 27 July 2023
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Hunger now just as deadly as bullets for Sudanese civilians trapped in conflict

  • Four months of fighting have turned lives upside down, limiting access to food and forcing people from their homes
  • Food imports and agriculture have faced severe disruption, pushing up prices and leaving supermarket shelves bare

JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN: As Sudan’s conflict heads toward its fifth month, a dire humanitarian crisis looms with thousands of people, many of them residents of the capital Khartoum, facing the prospect of death by starvation and malnutrition.

The tragic passing of Khaled Senhouri, a well-known violinist, who recently succumbed to hunger in Omdurman, highlighted the predicament of civilians for whom lack of food and water can be just as deadly as bullets.

With intermittent electricity, dwindling food supplies, and limited access to essential resources, Sudanese in Khartoum and other violence-torn towns and cities are locked in a desperate fight for survival.

In a heart-wrenching online post shortly before his death, Senhouri described the reality of life under siege. Unable to leave home to procure food because of the fighting, his was a despair now shared by countless others.

“Obtaining even meager supplies is a challenge, compounded by the constant threat of bullets and the scarcity of cash, electricity, water, and gas,” Yasir Hassan, a 45-year-old Khartoum resident, told Arab News.

Since the outbreak of violence in Khartoum on April 15 between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces, the nation’s food imports and domestic agriculture have faced severe disruptions, leaving supermarket shelves bare.

Most markets, shops, and petrol stations are closed, and even basic commodities like cooking gas are scarce and exorbitantly priced on the black market.

In the face of such scarcity, the price of essential items has skyrocketed, with the cost of lamb reaching a staggering $91 per kilogram. Poultry meat is almost nonexistent, while fruit and vegetables are disappearing from the market.




Clashes since April 15 have disrupted supply chains and caused food shortages in Sudan. (AP)

Tomatoes, cucumbers, and other fresh ingredients now cost a fortune, leaving families with no choice but to endure hunger and malnutrition.

The UN says 25 million people – more than half Sudan’s population – need food and 13.6 million children are in desperate need of humanitarian aid.

More than 19 million people, which accounts for 40 percent of the population, are already experiencing hunger. The World Food Programme says it has reached more than 1.4 million people with emergency food aid as needs intensify.

Fighting in the capital – three cities built around the confluence of the White and Blue Niles, Khartoum, Omdurman and Bahri – has heavily affected areas housing important state or military installations.

The Darfur region, already ravaged by brutal conflict in the early 2000s, has seen some of the worst of the violence. Fighting there has recently concentrated around Nyala, after clashes in El-Geneina where the UN had reported atrocities.

A series of ceasefires brokered by Saudi Arabia and the US in indirect negotiations in the early stages of the conflict have gone ignored or not fully respected by the dueling factions. 

As a result, many Sudanese workers have gone unpaid for four consecutive months. The collapse of the banking system and the lack of cash liquidity due to the conflict have left families burdened with debts and unable to meet their basic needs.

The health sector is also grappling with immense challenges. Attacks on health workers have put the few remaining hospitals in Khartoum at risk. The scarcity of medicines and difficulty in accessing treatment have further aggravated the crisis.




An aerial view of refugee camp of Sudanese people, who fled the conflict in Geneina in Sudan's Darfur region, in Ourang on the outskirts of Adre, Chad July 25, 2023. (Reuters)

The International Rescue Committee warns that the country is hurtling toward a man-made food crisis, which could grow worse in the coming year if global food price inflation continues on its current trajectory.

Farmers in several states across Sudan say the conflict is disrupting the production of staple crops like sorghum and millet, which aid agencies say could drive the nation deeper into hunger and poverty.

Even though many agricultural areas in Sudan are relatively calm and not directly affected by the fighting, delays have been caused by factors such as a lack of credit.

Banks have been looted in Khartoum and supply chains have faced disruption, impacting the availability of crucial agricultural resources like fertilizers, seeds, and fuel. Several warehouses storing these inputs have also been plundered.

Big commercial farmers, who are responsible for a significant portion of the sorghum production, are particularly affected as they struggle to access fuel, fertilizers, and other resources necessary for timely planting.

The fertile land between the White Nile and Blue Nile rivers is now home to several hundred thousands of the 2.6 million people displaced by the conflict. Desperate people and criminal opportunists are exploiting the security vacuum to steal from stores and empty homes.

Given that around 65 percent of the population is engaged in the agricultural sector, disruptions in farming activities have wide-ranging implications for Sudan’s economy and the well-being of its people.

This crisis has led to a significant reduction in crop yields and a scarcity of essential food supplies across the country. The cumulative effects of these disruptions are likely to result in further malnutrition, starvation, and an increase in preventable diseases.

INNUMBERS

* 3,900 people killed since violence began on April 15. (ACLED)

* 2.6m internally displaced persons, mostly from Khartoum. (IOM)

* 1/3 of population faced hunger before fighting began. (WFP)

The fighting has cut off access to essential resources and supply chains, making it almost impossible for humanitarian aid organizations to reach people in remote areas, particularly the troubled Darfur region.

Vulnerable populations, including pregnant and lactating women, infants and children, the sick and the elderly, are bearing the brunt of the catastrophe.

“I’ve met war widows and mothers with very young babies or infants who don’t have enough food to produce breast milk and feed their babies,” William Carter, head of the Sudan office for the Norwegian Refugee Council, told Arab News.

“In the near future, a malnutrition crisis is looming. The availability of locally produced food is likely to decrease. People have been forced to leave everything behind, and with limited access to resources or income, they are unable to meet even their basic needs.”




Sudanese girls who fled the conflict in Geneina in Sudan's Darfur region, receive rice portions from Red Cross volunteers in Ourang on the outskirts of Adre, Chad July 25, 2023. (Reuters)

Against this backdrop, international aid agencies, such as the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, have begun distributing seeds for staple crops such as sorghum, millet, groundnut, and sesame to bridge the impending gap in production.

“But more seeds are needed,” Salah Omar, executive director of the SPACES Organization based in Al-Jazirah state, southeast of Khartoum, told Arab News.

“Displaced people are very vulnerable. Their main work is farming. They could grow crops with local people here (in Al-Jazirah). It’s not too late to plant the seeds. We need more help for food production.”

The crisis not only poses a threat to livelihoods and public health. The collapse of Sudan’s food exports is also taking a toll on the country’s foreign currency reserves.

Cash crops like sesame and peanuts contributed significantly to export revenues, providing much-needed foreign currency for importing basic commodities.

Furthermore, regional networks have been impacted due to border controls and import difficulties, adding to the complexity of the situation.

Disruption to imports and exports is also having an impact on Sudan’s neighbors, straining international aid efforts and potentially destabilizing the wider region.

“NRC along with others is striving to address the issue by facilitating people’s access to local markets, for example through cash distribution,” said Carter.




Pregnant women and mothers, children, the sick and elderly are particularly vulnerable to malnutrition. (Reuters)

In some instances, local groups have teamed up with international partners to meet the immediate needs of communities caught up in the fighting.

In central Bahri, a suburb north of Khartoum, a local group called the “Danakla Committee” — part of Sudan’s grassroots pro-democracy movement — has begun taking donations in order to meet the needs of local people trapped in their homes.

For those not receiving assistance, only an end to the fighting will alleviate their misery.

“If things continue as they are, we fear the humanitarian crisis will only escalate,” Khartoum resident Hassan told Arab News.

“Without food aid, we are left with nothing to eat. We urgently need an end to this war.”


Qatari emir, Spanish king meet on sidelines of UN investment conference in Seville

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Qatari emir, Spanish king meet on sidelines of UN investment conference in Seville

  • King Felipe expressed his desire to strengthen relations and support joint investments with Qatar
  • He reiterated Spain’s solidarity with Qatar and condemned the Iranian attack on Al-Udeid Air Base last week

LONDON: Qatari emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, met King Felipe VI of Spain in Seville on the sidelines of a UN-organized international investment conference.

The 4th International Conference on Financing for Development began on Monday and will continue until July 3, bringing together global leaders to discuss urgent reforms necessary for financing sustainable development.

King Felipe expressed his desire to strengthen relations and support joint investments through small and medium-sized enterprises following the recent economic agreements between Qatar and Spain.

He also reiterated Spain’s solidarity with Qatar and condemned the Iranian attack on Al-Udeid Air Base last week, praising Doha’s role in facilitating a ceasefire agreement between Iran and Israel.

Sheikh Tamim emphasized Qatar’s commitment to enhancing cooperation with Spain across cultural, educational and security fields to serve the common interests of both countries, the Qatar News Agency reported.


Israeli settlers hold wedding ceremony inside Al-Aqsa Mosque under police protection

Updated 47 min 24 sec ago
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Israeli settlers hold wedding ceremony inside Al-Aqsa Mosque under police protection

  • The Jerusalem Governorate deemed the move ‘provocative and humiliating’

LONDON: Israeli authorities permitted a wedding engagement ceremony for Jewish settlers within the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque in the occupied Old City of East Jerusalem on Monday.

The Palestinian Authority’s Jerusalem Governorate deemed the move “provocative and humiliating,” describing it as a transformation of the Al-Aqsa Mosque into what resembles a public hall for celebrations by extremist settlers.

“(This is) a flagrant violation of the sanctity of the mosque, a serious provocation of the feelings of Muslims, and a deliberate attempt to impose a new reality that erases the Islamic identity of the site and paves the way for its division temporally and spatially,” the Jerusalem Governorate said.

On Monday, settlers, accompanied by Israeli police, toured the Al-Aqsa compound. Police prevented Palestinians from approaching the settlers to disrupt the ceremony, according to the Wafa news agency.

The Jerusalem Governorate said that Israeli policies aim to impose sovereignty on Al-Aqsa Mosque, stressing that these repeated provocations contradict international law and the 2016 UNESCO resolution, which recognized Al-Aqsa Mosque as an Islamic heritage site and called for its preservation.

Since 1967, the Jerusalem Endowments Council, which operates under Jordan’s Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs, has been the legal authority responsible for managing and regulating the affairs of Al-Aqsa.

However, this status quo has been challenged in recent years by extremist settlers who regularly tour the site under the protection of Israeli police and are often accompanied by government officials and far-right ministers and activists.


UK MPs demand Ukraine-style visa route for Gazans

Updated 30 June 2025
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UK MPs demand Ukraine-style visa route for Gazans

  • Letter to PM: ‘The same generosity should be extended to Palestinian families’
  • Death toll ‘likely to be exponentially higher’ than official figure due to collapse of local govt, health systems

LONDON: MPs in the UK are calling on the government to launch a visa system for Palestinians in Gaza with family already living in Britain.

Sixty-seven politicians have written to Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper asking for a Gaza Family Scheme mirroring the Ukraine Family Scheme established in 2022 to help refugees escape the war with Russia. It allowed Ukrainians to live and work in the UK for up to three years.

“We believe that the same generosity should be extended to Palestinian families,” said the letter, seen by Sky News.

Signatories include 35 Labour MPs and members of the House of Lords, as well as several people currently suspended from the governing party, including its former leader Jeremy Corbyn and former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell. 

All four sitting members of the Green Party have also signed, alongside former Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron and the Bishop of Chelmsford Dr. Guli Francis-Dehquani.

The letter accuses Israel of “shattering the temporary ceasefire agreement” with Hamas in Gaza, and of conducting a “campaign of bombardment and military assaults, and targeting of people accessing humanitarian aid.”

MP Marsha de Cordova, who helped organize the letter alongside the Gaza Families Reunited campaign, told Sky News that the Ukraine visa scheme “was the right response to a brutal war,” and that establishing one for Gazans “would be an extension of those same principles, showing that this government is steadfast in its commitment to helping families experiencing the worst horrors of war.

“It is time for the government to act now to help British Palestinians get their loved ones to safety, enabling them to rebuild their lives.”

The letter said the proposed scheme would let Palestinians reunite with “people they may never see again unless urgent action is taken,” and many Gazans trying to reach the UK “struggled to navigate the immigration system.”

It added that efforts to secure visas have been made “impossible due to the destruction of the visa application centre in Gaza and blockade of the Rafah crossing.”

The letter said the death toll in Gaza, reported by Palestinian authorities as numbering at least 53,000 people, “is likely to be exponentially higher” due to the collapse of local government and health systems in the enclave.

Ghassan Ghaben, spokesperson for Gaza Families Reunited, told Sky News: “Family unity is an undeniable human right.”

He urged more MPs, including Conservatives, to add their names to efforts to help get Palestinians to the UK, saying: “We are still waiting for the new government to do the right thing. We, as Palestinians in the UK, simply want the opportunity to bring our loved ones from Gaza to safety, until it is safe to return.”

A government spokesperson told Sky News: “The death and destruction in Gaza is intolerable. Since day one, we have been clear that we need to see an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages cruelly detained by Hamas, better protection of civilians, significantly more aid consistently entering Gaza, and a path to long-term peace and stability.

“There are a range of routes available for Palestinians who wish to join family members in the UK.”


Israel steps up Gaza bombardment ahead of White House talks on ceasefire

Updated 30 June 2025
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Israel steps up Gaza bombardment ahead of White House talks on ceasefire

  • Israel’s Dermer due in US for talks on Gaza, Iran, wider deals
  • Israeli tanks push into Gaza City suburb, residents say

CAIRO/JERUSALEM: Palestinians in northern Gaza reported one of the worst nights of Israeli bombardment in weeks after the military issued mass evacuation orders on Monday, while Israeli officials were due in Washington for a new ceasefire push by the Trump administration.
A day after US President Donald Trump urged an end to the 20-month-old war, a confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was expected at the White House for talks on a Gaza ceasefire, Iran, and possible wider regional diplomatic deals.
But on the ground in the Palestinian enclave there was no sign of fighting letting up.
“Explosions never stopped; they bombed schools and homes. It felt like earthquakes,” said Salah, 60, a father of five children, from Gaza City. “In the news we hear a ceasefire is near, on the ground we see death and we hear explosions.”
Israeli tanks pushed into the eastern areas of Zeitoun suburb in Gaza City and shelled several areas in the north, while aircraft bombed at least four schools after ordering hundreds of families sheltering inside to leave, residents said.
At least 38 people were killed in Israeli strikes on Monday, health authorities said, including 10 people killed in Zeitoun and at least 13 killed southwest of Gaza City. Medics said most of the 13 were hit by gunfire, but residents also reported an airstrike.
The Israeli military said it struck militant targets in northern Gaza, including command and control centers, after taking steps to mitigate the risk of harming civilians.
There was no immediate word from Israel on the reported casualties southwest of Gaza City.
The heavy bombardment followed new evacuation orders to vast areas in the north, where Israeli forces had operated before and left behind wide-scale destruction. The military ordered people there to head south, saying that it planned to fight Hamas militants operating in northern Gaza, including in the heart of Gaza City.

NEXT STEPS
A day after Trump called to “Make the deal in Gaza, get the hostages back,” Israel’s strategic affairs minister Ron Dermer, a confidant of Netanyahu’s, was expected on Monday at the White House for talks on Iran and Gaza, an Israeli official said.
In Israel, Netanyahu’s security cabinet was expected to convene to discuss the next steps in Gaza.
On Friday, Israel’s military chief said the present ground operation was close to having achieved its goals, and on Sunday, Netanyahu said new opportunities had opened up for recovering the hostages, 20 of whom are believed to still be alive.
Palestinian and Egyptian sources with knowledge of the latest ceasefire efforts said that mediators Qatar and Egypt have stepped up their contacts with the two warring sides, but that no date has been set yet for a new round of truce talks.
A Hamas official said that progress depends on Israel changing its position and agreeing to end the war and withdraw from Gaza. Israel says it can end the war only when Hamas is disarmed and dismantled. Hamas refuses to lay down its arms.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said that Israel has agreed to a US-proposed 60-day ceasefire and hostage deal, and put the onus on Hamas.
“Israel is serious in its will to reach a hostage deal and ceasefire in Gaza,” Saar told reporters in Jerusalem.
Austrian Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger, speaking in Jerusalem on Monday alongside her Israeli counterpart, told reporters that Vienna was very concerned about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, which she described as “unbearable.”
“Let me be frank, the suffering of civilians is increasingly burdening Israel’s relations with Europe. A ceasefire must be agreed upon,” she said, calling for the unconditional release of hostages by Hamas and for Israel to allow the uninterrupted flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Israel says it continues to allow aid into Gaza and accuses Hamas of stealing it. The group denies that accusation and says Israel uses hunger as a weapon against the Gaza population.
The US has proposed a 60-day ceasefire and the release of half the hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and the remains of other Palestinians. Hamas would release the remaining hostages as part of a deal that guarantees ending the war.
The war began when Hamas fighters stormed into Israel on October 7 2023, killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took 251 hostages back to Gaza in a surprise attack that led to Israel’s single deadliest day.
Israel’s subsequent military assault has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to the Gaza health ministry, displaced almost the whole 2.3 million population and plunged the enclave into a humanitarian crisis.
More than 80 percent of the territory is now an Israeli-militarized zone or under displacement orders, according to the United Nations.


No injuries or pollution after explosion at oil tanker off Libya, says operator

Updated 30 June 2025
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No injuries or pollution after explosion at oil tanker off Libya, says operator

  • The Marshall Islands-flagged tanker Vilamoura had left Libya’s Zuetina port and was en route to Gibraltar

ATHENS: An oil tanker carrying about 1 million barrels of crude oil suffered an explosion off Libya on June 27 but no injuries or pollution were reported, a spokesperson for the operator TMS Tankers said on Monday.

The Marshall Islands-flagged tanker Vilamoura had left Libya’s Zuetina port and was en route to Gibraltar when there was an explosion in the engine room, the operator said.

The vessel is now being towed to Greece where it is expected to arrive by July 2, it added.