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.”


UN conference on Israel-Palestinian conflict postponed, Macron says

Updated 44 sec ago
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UN conference on Israel-Palestinian conflict postponed, Macron says

  • Postponed for logistical reasons as members of Palestinian Authority could not travel to New York

PARIS: President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that a United Nations conference co-hosted between France and Saudi Arabia to work toward a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians has been postponed after Israel launched a military attack on Iran.

Macron told reporters that the conference, which had been planned for June 17-20, had been postponed for logistical reasons as members of the Palestinian Authority could not travel to New York and that it would be re-scheduled as soon as possible.

“While we have to postpone this conference for logistical and security reasons, it will take place as soon as possible,” Macron said.


Palestinian ambassador: UK should recognize statehood to help end ‘deadly status quo’

Updated 13 June 2025
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Palestinian ambassador: UK should recognize statehood to help end ‘deadly status quo’

  • Husam Zomlot urges Britain to ‘right historic wrongs,’ show ‘political courage’
  • UN conference on 2-state solution could see states, including France, Canada, recognize Palestine

LONDON: The Palestinian ambassador to the UK has called on the Labour government to fulfill its manifesto pledge and recognize his nation as an independent sovereign state.

Husam Zomlot wrote in The Guardian that the move was “long overdue” ahead of a UN conference on the two-state solution next week in New York, and that it would help end the “deadly status quo” with Israel.

“I call on the British government to end this vicious path, right its historic wrongs and officially recognize the state of Palestine while the conditions are uniquely ripe to do so,” Zomlot wrote.

“Recognition is neither a reward for one party nor a punishment for another. It is a long-overdue affirmation of the Palestinian people’s unconditional right to exist and live freely in our homeland,” he added.

“Peace is not made between occupier and occupied. It can only exist between equals.”

Ahead of the UN conference on June 17, set to be co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, several states yet to recognize Palestine have begun discussions about doing so, including the UK and Canada. 

Middle East Minister Hamish Falconer came under pressure in the House of Commons on Tuesday for the government to recognize Palestine unconditionally.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy recently told Parliament the UK had held direct talks with France about Palestinian statehood, but added the UK wanted the move to amount to more than just a symbolic gesture.

But Zomlot wrote: “Recognition (should not) be subject to ever more conditions on the Palestinian side. Delaying recognition simply reinforces the deadly status quo, denying Palestinians’ equal rights until Israel consents, thus granting our occupier a permanent veto over the future.”

Ahead of the conference, the French government, which is also believed to be among those set to recognize Palestine, published a letter laying out political commitments made by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, including that a future Palestinian state would require Hamas “laying down its weapons” and “no longer ruling Gaza.”

The commitments included holding democratic presidential elections within a year, and Hamas accepting nonviolence, disarmament, and the two-state solution. Abbas also condemned the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by the militant group, and demanded the release of all remaining hostages in Gaza.

Hugh Lovatt, from the European Council on Foreign Relations, told The Guardian: “Recognition would certainly allow London and Paris to press the PA towards political renewal, including the holding of long-overdue elections, but it does not provide them with much leverage over Hamas which does not consider recognition by itself as being of sufficient value of itself to disarm before a peace agreement with Israel is reached.”

A senior diplomat from a Gulf state told The Guardian that Hamas had agreed to the proposal to end its rule in Gaza, but not to disarming.

Another Gulf diplomat told the paper: “Israel is seeking the total annihilation of Hamas and will not be willing to hand security in Gaza to the PA or a multinational force.”

The US government sent a diplomatic cable on Tuesday urging countries not to attend the conference, calling it “counterproductive to ongoing, lifesaving efforts to end the war in Gaza and free hostages.”

But Zomlot wrote: “This is a moment of historic consequence. It demands moral clarity and political courage. I urge the UK to rise to the moment and act now.”


Arab world, Middle East condemn Israel’s attacks against Iran

Updated 13 June 2025
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Arab world, Middle East condemn Israel’s attacks against Iran

DUBAI: The Arab world has responded to Israel’s strikes against Iran, each country offering its condemnation of the attacks that killed at least two top military officers, raising the potential for an all-out war between the two bitter Middle East adversaries.

The UAE, through its foreign affairs ministry, stressed the importance of “exercising the utmost self-restraint and judgment to mitigate risks and prevent the expansion of the conflict.”

 

 

“Enhancing dialogue, adhering to international law, and respecting the sovereignty of states constitute essential principles for resolving the current crises,” the foreign affairs ministry added.

The UAE emphasized the need to resolve disputes through diplomatic means rather than confrontation and escalation, and called on the United Nations Security Council to take urgent and necessary measures to achieve a ceasefire, and to reinforce international peace and security.

Oman offered its “strong condemnation of the brutal military aggression launched by Israel on the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which targeted sovereign facilities and caused casualties.”

 

 

“Oman considers this action a dangerous and reckless escalation that constitutes a flagrant violation of the United Nations Charter and the principles of international law. It also represents unacceptable and ongoing aggressive behavior that undermines the foundations of stability in the region,” the country’s foreign affairs ministry said.

And Jordan’s foreign ministry spokesperson Sufian Qudah warned of the “consequences of such escalatory actions, saying they threatened regional security and stability and risk exacerbating tensions”, state news agency Petra reported.

 

 

Elsewhere Qatar said it “considers the assault a blatant violation of Iran’s sovereignty and security, as well as a clear breach of international law and its established principles,” state news agency QNA meanwhile reported.

“The State of Qatar voices its grave concern over this dangerous escalation, which forms part of a recurring pattern of aggressive policies that threaten regional peace and stability and hinder efforts aimed at de-escalation and diplomatic resolution.”

Qatar emphasized “the urgent need for the international community to assume its legal and moral responsibilities and to act swiftly to halt these Israeli violations.”

 

 

“The State of Qatar reaffirms its firm position in rejecting all forms of violence, and reiterates its call for restraint and the avoidance of escalation that could widen the scope of conflict and undermine regional security and stability,” QNA reported.

Turkiye also condemned “in the strongest terms” Israel’s air strike on Iran, calling it a provocation that violates international law and risks further escalation in the region.

The Turkish foreign ministry in a statement said the attack showed Israel “does not want issues to be resolved through diplomatic means” and urged it to halt “aggressive actions that could lead to greater conflicts.”

 

 

Jassim Mohammed Al-Budaiwi, Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), also described the Israeli attacks as a ‘clear violation of international law and the United Nations Charter.’

Al-Budaiwi, in a statement, called on the ‘international community and the Security Council to assume their responsibilities towards immediately halting this aggression and avoiding escalation that could ignite a wider conflict, which would have dire consequences for regional and international peace.’

In its condemnation of the attacks, Bahrain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned of its “grave repercussions on regional security and stability”.

And it called for “de-escalation, restraint, and a reduction in tensions”.

The Ministry reiterated Bahrain’s call for an immediate halt to military escalation to spare the region and its people from the consequences on regional stability, security, and international peace.

And it affirmed Bahrain’s stance advocating for the resolution of the crises through dialogue and diplomatic means, as well as the necessity of continuing US-Iranian negotiations regarding the Iranian nuclear file.


Trump urges Iran to ‘make a deal, before there is nothing left’

Updated 13 June 2025
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Trump urges Iran to ‘make a deal, before there is nothing left’

  • Trump earlier told Fox News he was aware Israel was going to conduct strikes on Iran before it happened
  • Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier Thursday that the United States was “not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region”

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump urged Iran on Friday to “make a deal,” warning that there will be more “death and destruction” after Israel launched deadly strikes targeting Iranian nuclear facilities.

His comments on his Truth Social platform came after Israel pounded Iran in a series of air raids on Friday, striking 100 targets.

The operation killed senior figures – among them the armed forces chief and top nuclear scientists – and Iran has called Israel’s wave of strikes a “declaration of war.”

On Friday morning, Trump said: “I gave Iran chance after chance to make a deal.”

He added that Israel – which Trump has aligned Washington to since his return to the White House – has a lot of weapons thanks to the United States and “they know how to use it.”

“There has already been great death and destruction, but there is still time to make this slaughter, with the next already planned attacks being even more brutal, come to an end,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.

“Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left... JUST DO IT, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE,” he said.

Trump earlier told Fox News he had been made aware of the Israeli strikes before they happened, and stressed that Tehran “cannot have a nuclear bomb,” the US broadcaster said.

He also said that “we are hoping to get back to the negotiating table,” according to Fox News.

During Trump’s first term, he pulled the United States out of a landmark agreement to relieve sanctions on Iran in return for curbs on its nuclear program.

Fox News also reported that Trump’s administration reached out to at least one key Middle Eastern ally to acknowledge that the strike was going to happen, but said the United States was not involved.

“Trump noted the US is ready to defend itself and Israel if Iran retaliates,” Fox News said.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier Thursday that the United States was “not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region.”

“Let me be clear: Iran should not target US interests or personnel.”

Trump will be attending a National Security Council meeting Friday morning.


UN nuclear watchdog chief ready to travel to Iran to assess situation

Updated 13 June 2025
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UN nuclear watchdog chief ready to travel to Iran to assess situation

VIENNA: UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said on Friday he was ready to travel to Iran to assess the situation there after Israel carried out widespread military strikes that hit the sprawling nuclear complex at Natanz.

In a statement to a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors, Grossi said the other main enrichment center in Iran, Fordow, was not hit and neither was another nuclear facility in Esfahan, citing Iranian authorities.

There are no elevated radiation levels at Natanz, he added.

“I call on all parties to exercise maximum restraint to avoid further escalation. I reiterate that any military action that jeopardizes the safety and security of nuclear facilities risks grave consequences for the people of Iran, the region, and beyond,” Grossi said in his statement.

“I have indicated to the respective authorities my readiness to travel at the earliest to assess the situation and ensure safety, security and non-proliferation in Iran.”

He did not say what the extent of the damage at Natanz was or what parts of the site were hit. The site includes a vast underground uranium enrichment plant and a smaller, above-ground pilot enrichment plant.

Iran is enriching to up to 60 percent purity, close to the roughly 90 percent of weapons grade, at the pilot plant, but it is producing smaller quantities of that material there than at Fordow, a site dug into a mountain that military experts have said would be difficult for Israel to destroy through bombardment.

“Despite the current military actions and heightened tensions, it is clear that the only sustainable path forward – for Iran, for Israel, the entire region, and the international community – is one grounded in dialogue and diplomacy to ensure peace, stability, and cooperation,” Grossi said.