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Our editors’ weekly take on humanitarian news, trends, and developments from around the globe.
On our radar
Israeli ministers push plan to expel Palestinians from Gaza
Two Israeli government ministers have said that Israel is seeking to forcibly expel Palestinians from the Gaza Strip en masse – which would be a war crime under international law. On 2 September, Defence Minister Israel Katz said Israel was seeking Donald Trump’s permission to expel Palestinians from Gaza, adding there was “no real solution for Gaza without migration” and that the Israeli government was “organised and ready to get them out”. On 3 September, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir followed up by saying that Israel has a plan to forcibly expel all 2.1 million Palestinians from Gaza over the next six years, starting with 250,000 people in the first year. Ben-Gvir said there were countries willing to take in expelled Palestinians, but did not specify which ones. The comments come in the lead-up to tightly contested Israeli elections next month. However, the mass expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza is something Israeli leaders and government agencies have consistently mooted since 7 October 2023. According to reporting, Israel’s Intelligence Ministry proposed plans for the removal of Palestinians from Gaza as early as 13 October 2023. The vast majority of Palestinians are barred from entering the nearly 70% of Gaza currently under direct Israeli military occupation. Around 2.1 million Palestinians are crammed into the remaining territory, over which Israel also exerts significant control, including continuing to restrict aid access and the blocking of any reconstruction efforts.
Nepal flood puts loss and damage funding to the test
Nepal’s catastrophic Himalayan flood is rapidly becoming a test case for climate justice. On 26 August, a collapse of glacier, rock, and ice near the Nepal-China border sent a wall of material down the Bhoteloshi-Trishuli river system, killing more than 1,250 people in Nepal and leaving more than 4,200 people missing. Kathmandu formally asked the UN’s Loss and Damage Fund for an unspecified amount of emergency financing, arguing that the destruction exceeded its response capacity. On 3 September, Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal said the government had sought an immediate $20 million from the fund, adding that this assistance alone was “definitely not adequate”. The appeal is unusually urgent: The fund has yet to make its first country payout, and its next board meeting is not until December. Khanal has also called on the US, China, and India – the world’s top greenhouse gas emitters – to contribute “climate compensation”. Officials have estimated Nepal’s direct losses at $2.56 billion, with recovery costs at $4-$7 billion. For more on how early warning systems were overwhelmed and on what can be done to prevent similar disasters in the future, read our in-depth analysis.
Somalia’s political fight is spilling onto the battlefield
Somalia’s insecurity is worsening. Federal forces this week beat off an attack on Baidoa, the largest city in South West State, by militia loyal to ousted governor Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed Laftagareen. The government accused Laftagareen’s fighters of collaborating with al-Shabab insurgents in the assault. Türkiye has thrown its weight behind the President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s government. A Turkish drone was reportedly used in a strike on a pro-Laftagareen general, while Ankara’s F-16 fighter jets have also been in the air, reflecting a relationship that has evolved from “Islamic humanitarianism” to hardnosed strategic interest. Several federal states and regions oppose Mohamud, accusing him of centralising power, pushing electoral reforms to extend his rule, and ousting uncooperative regional leaders. Laftagareen suffered that fate in March, triggering repeated attacks on Baidoa by his militia. Meanwhile, the drawdown – and looming funding crisis – of the African Union's peacekeeping force is intensifying the power struggle between Mogadishu and the states. No unified security architecture exists, creating fertile ground for further fragmentation.
Algeria’s rare intervention betrays fears of a fracturing Sahel
A surprising outcome of the failed coup against Niger’s military junta on 29 August was the arrival, a day later, of an Algerian air detachment, including four SU-30 fighter jets. The powerful deployment was a clear signal that Algeria was breaking from its non-interventionist traditions and wanted its troubled southern neighbours in the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) – Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger – to take note. Algeria was not involved in the quashing of the putsch against General Abdourahamane Tchiani by disgruntled soldiers angered by command failings in the war against jihadist insurgents. That win was down to the presidential guard, backed by Russia’s Africa Corps. But Algeria does fear state collapse, triggered by Islamist insurgencies that have their roots in its own violence of the 1990s. Algeria’s new-found interest happens to coincide with the start of construction of a Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline that will stretch from Nigeria to the Mediterranean coast. While Algeria offers a strategic alternative to Russia’s military intervention in the AES, military backing alone will not resolve the political grievances that fuel armed opposition and leave Sahelian juntas vulnerable to coups.
Tech and rights collide as new Human Rights Council session begins
A new session of the Human Rights Council opens 7 September in Geneva, with a wide swathe of escalating crises in the foreground and the UN’s budget crunch overhead. New updates or sessions on genocide prevention, an updated database on businesses in Israeli settlements in Palestine, and examinations of rights in Sudan and Afghanistan, are among the many pressing issues on the schedule. Tech is colliding with human rights and that’s reflected on the agenda: There are sessions on technology-facilitated gender-based violence, protecting human rights defenders in the digital era, how mercenaries use tech, and how artificial intelligence affects cultural and development rights. As on any multilateral stage these days, money troubles are never far away. Rights experts mandated by the council will be reporting less often to the General Assembly, weakening oversight and political attention, the International Service for Human Rights warned. Meanwhile, the advocacy NGO is urging more scrutiny of a country where rights and the rule of law are eroding: the United States.
Weekend read
And finally…
The pressure to tell a story of suffering
In this relatively short New York Times essay, author David Treuer deftly weaves in so many themes that are likely of interest to Cheat Sheet readers. He writes of being Indian (his word of choice for Native American) and moving from the Leech Lake Ojibwe Reservation to the hallowed halls of Princeton University, and initially feeling driven to tell false tales of suffering because that’s what people expected of someone like him, not understanding that someone like him could be relatively happy, or complicated, or even mediocre. And the realisation that he had also been consuming lies about Princeton vs. his home, which were really about civilised vs. savage. Treuer’s piece offers plenty of food for thought about the expectations and narratives we place on marginalised groups – and, ultimately, on ourselves.