#civilian-displacement

#civilian-displacement

I arrived in Aleppo early on Wednesday morning after receiving reports of serious clashes between the Syrian army and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). What I encountered was far worse than I expected. Heavy artillery shelling was constant, extreme. My team came under attack four times; one bullet hit our equipment. list of 3 itemsend of list This round of clashes, we quickly understood, would not be easily contained like earlier bouts over the past year.

Beirut, Lebanon The strikes on Lebanon this week were the latest attacks conducted by Israel on its northern neighbour. Israel has consistently bombed Lebanon and conducted drone strikes despite a United States-brokered ceasefire in November 2024. The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has documented more than 10,000 ceasefire violations by the Israelis, including 7,500 airspace violations and 2,500 ground violations.

Fighting intensified along the border between Thailand and Cambodia on Tuesday, with both sides promising to defend their sovereignty. The fighting erupted after a Sunday-night skirmish during whihc a Thai soldier was killed. The two sides have blamed each other for starting the latest clashes, which call into question the strength of a ceasefire brokered by Malaysia with support from US President Donald Trump.

Fighting has continued to intensify in Sudan despite a ceasefire as Rapid Support Forces (RSF) push eastward in its battle with the Sudanese army. On Thursday, the RSF launched drone strikes in the central Kordofan region, a strategic corridor between Darfur and Sudan. A statement from the Sudanese army said Thursday's attack targeted an army headquarters, an airport and a dam. The strikes took place in Merowe, an area that has been under army control for months.

There are two cities in eastern Ukraine where street-to-street fighting is taking place, the two most-coveted targets of the Russian army: Pokrovsk, in the Donetsk region, and Kupiansk, in Kharkiv province. Both are locations of great strategic value, but while all indications are that Pokrovsk could fall into the hands of the invaders in the short term, Ukrainian troops have so far managed to reverse a defeat in Kupiansk that seemed certain a few months ago.

But Israel has continued since then to demolish hundreds of homes and critical civilian infrastructure in what residents see as an effort to not just prevent their return but erase their history. In the village of Hula in southern Lebanon, a monument engraved with the names of almost 100 Lebanese killed here in 1948 just after the creation of the state of Israel lies covered in graffiti and smashed to pieces.

The plan for the Israeli occupation of Gaza City has begun. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed Wednesday morning the approval of the military project to occupy the largest municipality in the occupied Palestinian territories, where nearly one million people live in poverty. Hours later, military spokesman Effie Defrin confirmed that the first steps are already being taken. We have begun preliminary operations and the first phases of the attack on Gaza City.