Israel’s genocidal war may never truly end, according to many residents of Gaza. Loud booms would still be heard in the minds of Palestinians who survived more than two years of bloody conflict, even if the fragile United States-brokered ceasefire had been successful in halting deadly attacks on the besieged enclave, which it has not.
Abed al-Aziz Abu Hawishal, 15, has witnessed scenes unlike any other teenager. When the Israeli military stormed into Gaza City, we were able to get refuge in a house there, he claimed. One of the soldiers pointed his gun at me while they dragged me close to a tank.
Recommended Stories
list of 3 itemsend of list
He is now withdrawn and haunted by the thoughts of an “massacre” he witnessed close to his house. Our house was “bodies flying over it.” He claimed that as I ran after a woman without a head and as he ran, I even stepped on bodies.
His body responded to his psychological trauma, which resulted in high blood pressure, chronic diarrhoea, and, most recently, kidney failure.
A 15-year-old girl reported witnessing a “massacre” close to her home in Gaza City [Screen grab/Al Jazeera].
Lana al-Sharif, 8, has also been left with repercussions by her psychological trauma. Her former dark and shiny mop of hair is now gray, making her residents of Khan Younis refer to her as “the elderly child.”
According to her father, Khalil al-Shareef, Lana was saved from an Israeli airstrike that toppled their home. Due to exposure to the smoke and chemicals from the missiles, she developed vitiligo, a chronic skin condition that causes the loss of skin, hair, and eye color.
Her father claimed that “many doctors have tried to treat her, but with success.” She panics whenever she senses an explosion.
Psychologists warn that more than 80% of children in Gaza currently exhibit signs of severe trauma.
After surviving an Israeli attack, Lana al-Sharif, 8, developed vitiligo.
Mental trauma is frequently accompanied by symptoms like headaches, stomach aches, bone pain, hair loss, vitiligo, and weakened immunity, according to Sabreen Abu Rahman, a therapist who treats traumatized children.
More than 64, 000 children have died or been hurt in Gaza, according to UNICEF, according to its report. Essential medical services have been rendered obsolete while homes, hospitals, and schools have been destroyed.
One million children have endured the daily horrors of being a child in the world’s most dangerous place, leaving them with wounds of fear, loss, and grief, according to UNICEF Middle East and North Africa Regional Director Edouard Beigbeder.
Difficulty of Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks throughout the enclave since a ceasefire was declared on October 10. 104 people were killed in Israeli attacks, including 20 women and 46 children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry from Tuesday through Wednesday.
It’s a dramatic race to the finish line between traditional politics and a new-age, people-powered-social-media-powered campaign, as New York City prepares to vote for its next mayor.
New Yorkers will head to the polls on November 4 as a three-way mayoral race, between Democrat Zohran Mamdani, former Democratic governor and now independent Andrew Cuomo, and Republican Curtis Sliwa, draws global attention.
Recommended Stories
list of 3 itemsend of list
New York City holds mayoral elections every four years, with a two-term limit for any individual. But this year’s contest is notable for its three-way dynamic, bringing progressive, establishment and conservative forces to face off in the country’s largest city.
Here are five maps and charts to help you understand New York City and how the vote works.
How big is New York City?
New York City is the most populous city in the United States, with a population of nearly 8.5 million people as of July 2024.
It is also the most densely populated city in the country, with about 11,314 residents per square kilometre (29,303 residents per square mile).
The East Coast city comprises five boroughs, which are administrative divisions equivalent to counties.
(Al Jazeera)
They include:
The Bronx: The birthplace of hip-hop and home to Yankee Stadium. It is also home to 1.35 million people across 110sq km (42sq miles). The annual median income is $28,664, while renting a one-bedroom apartment costs $2,100 on average per month, making that about $25,200 annually.
Brooklyn: Known for its arts scene, quirky, diverse neighbourhoods, and the Brooklyn Bridge. It is home to 2.56 million people across 180sq km (71sq miles). Brooklyn has the third-highest annual median income of the five boroughs at $41,171, and a one-bedroom apartment averages $2,800 per month, which makes $33,600 annually.
Manhattan: The economic and cultural centre of the city, home to Wall Street, Broadway, and Central Park, it’s a main character in many US television shows and movies. It is home to 1.59 million people across 59sq km (23sq miles). Manhattan has the highest annual median income of $61,439 but also has the highest rental rates, averaging $4,200 per month for a one-bedroom apartment, which is $50,400 per year.
Queens: The largest of the boroughs and home to two major airports – JFK International and LaGuardia. It is also home to 2.56 million people across 280sq km (109 sq miles). The annual median income is $40,549 and renting a one-bedroom apartment costs $2,700 per month on average, almost $32,400 annually.
Staten Island: Accessible by ferry from Lower Manhattan, this historic suburban borough, known for its parks and historical sites, is home to nearly 500,000 people across 152sq km (59sq miles). The annual median income is the second highest at $47,218, and renting a one-bedroom apartment costs $2,000 per month on average, which is $24,000 per year.
Together, the five boroughs cover a surface area of about 778.2 square kilometres (300 square miles) which is about the same size as Memphis in Tennessee, Berlin in Germany, or Singapore.
Who are New Yorkers?
At 38.8 years, New York City’s median age is slightly lower than the national median age of 39.2, reflecting its younger, more urban population.
The largest age group in New York City is that of 30-34 year olds (8.49 percent), followed by 25-29 year olds (8.02 percent), and 35-39 year olds (7.26 percent). Together, they make up nearly a quarter of the city’s total population.
New York City has slightly more females (4.29 million) than males (3.96 million).
(Al Jazeera)
New York City is widely regarded as one of the most diverse cities in the world, with residents speaking more than 200 languages.
According to City of New York data, 37 percent of New Yorkers were born outside the United States, and as many as 49 percent speak a language other than English at home.
Additionally, almost half of the city’s businesses are owned by immigrants.
At the time of the 2020 census, 30.9 percent of New Yorkers were white, followed by Hispanics at 28.3 percent, Blacks at 20.2 percent, and Asians at 15.6 percent. Residents identifying as two or more races, or other groups, including Native Americans, Pacific Islanders, and Hawaiians, make up the remaining five percent of the city.
(Al Jazeera)
The different boroughs, however, do not replicate citywide numbers, which vary greatly, and according to the 2020 census, are as follows:
Brooklyn population: 2.73 million
White: 35.4%
Black: 26.7%
Hispanic: 18.9%
Asian: 13.6%
Two or more races: 4.1%
Some other race: 1.4%
Queens population: 2.4 million
Hispanic: 27.8%
Asian: 27.3%
White: 22.8%
Black: 15.9%
Two or more races: 3.5%
Some other race: 2.8%
Manhattan population: 1.69 million
White: 46.8%
Hispanic: 23.8%
Black: 11.8%
Asian: 13%
Two or more races: 3.7%
Some other race: 1%
The Bronx population: 1.47 million
Hispanic: 54.8%
Blacks: 28.5%
White: 8.9%
Asian: 4.6%
Two or more races: 1.9%
Some other race: 1.3%
Staten Island population: 495,747
White: 56.1%
Hispanic: 19.6%
Black: 11.9%
Asian: 9.4%
Two or more races: 2.3%
Some other race: 0.8%
Who are the candidates running for mayor?
New York City is one of 27 US cities holding mayoral elections on November 4.
The current mayor, Democrat Eric Adams, who has been in office since January 2022, withdrew his candidacy earlier in the year following several controversies, most notably his federal criminal indictment on bribery and conspiracy charges, which was ultimately dismissed by a judge in April.
The last non-Democratic mayor of New York City was Republican Rudy Giuliani, who was elected in 1993 and served two terms until 2001. Since then, the city has consistently chosen Democratic mayors, including Michael Bloomberg (2002-2023), Bill de Blasio (2014-2021) and Eric Adams.
Following primary elections within the two major parties, the three leading contenders for mayor are now: Zohran Mamdani, 34; Andrew Cuomo, 67; and Curtis Sliwa, 71.
(Al Jazeera)
Zohran Kwame Mamdani, 34
Mamdani is the Democratic Party candidate and also endorsed by the progressive Working Families Party.
An immigrant, Muslim and Democratic Socialist, Mamdani’s campaign has been focused on making New York more affordable, with rent freezes, free universal childcare and lower public transport costs.
Mamdani has been serving as a member of the State Assembly since 2021. His popularity has risen hugely over the past year, as the mayoral campaigns have got under way and, now, as early voting has begun. Nearly 370,000 ballots have already been cast as of Thursday.
The millennial candidate has appealed greatly to younger voters. On Sunday, he addressed a crowd of 13,500 people at the Forest Hills Stadium in Queens, with a promise that “New York isn’t for sale” – meaning it should be owned by the people generally, not by corporations and the “billionaire class”. Mamdani was joined by long-term Democratic Socialist senator, Bernie Sanders, and Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, New York congresswoman who won congressional elections in 2018 with record numbers.
Andrew Cuomo, 65
The independent candidate was New York’s Democratic Governor from 2011-2021, and served as the attorney general of New York from 2007-2010, US secretary of housing and urban development from 1997-2001, and assistant secretary of housing and urban development from 1993-1997.
The government stalwart has decades of federal and state-level political experience, but in his last term as New York governor, he was accused by 13 women of sexual harassment and was forced to step down from office.
An independent investigation by the Office of the New York State Attorney General concluded that Cuomo had sexually harassed multiple women. This included unwanted touching, kissing and hugging, inappropriate comments, and retaliation against at least one complainant.
Initially, Cuomo ran as a Democratic candidate for mayor, but lost in the primaries to Mamdani. Cuomo received 43.61 percent of the votes, and Mamdani 56.39 percent.
Cuomo’s political experience may resonate with older voters but, according to all the major polls, Mamdani is at least 10 points ahead of him.
In April, the New York City Campaign Finance Board (CFB), the campaign finance regulator, found Cuomo’s campaign had not provided evidence of digital donations, a requirement to qualify for public funds.
Cuomo’s campaign lost out on nearly $3 million in public funds as a result of this.
Then, in May, the CFB fined his campaign $675,000 for “improper coordination” with a supporting Super PAC.
Cuomo has been supported by billionaires William P Lauder, Barry Diller, Michael Kors and Michael Bloomberg.
How the voting works
Since early voting began on October 25, almost 300,000 ballots have already been submitted. So far, Mamdani has maintained a 10-point lead over Cuomo, according to the Quinnipiac University Poll. The RealClearPolitics average has Mamdani leading at 46 percent, followed by Cuomo at 30.5 percent, and Sliwa trailing at 16.6 percent.
Unlike in the primaries, in which voters rank their choices, New York City voters will mark just one choice for mayor. Candidates are listed by party on the ballot paper, so some appear more than once if they have been endorsed by more than one.
As of February, there were 5.1 million registered voters in New York City, of whom 65 percent were Democrats and 11 percent were Republicans. About 1.1 million voters were not registered with any party and voter registration closed on October 25, one week before the November 4 election.
In the last New York City mayoral election, just more than 1.1 million voters cast ballots – about 21 percent of registered voters.
To be eligible to vote, residents of New York must:
Be a US citizen
Have been a New York City resident for at least 30 days
Be at least 18 years old (you may pre-register at 16 or 17, but can’t vote until you’re 18)
Not be in prison for a felony conviction
Must not have been judged mentally incompetent by a court
Not have registered to vote elsewhere.
When do polls open and close?
Polling stations will be open between the hours of 6am (10:00 GMT) and 9pm (01:00 GMT on November 5) on November 4.
Timings vary from location to location in the city, but polling stations open between 8am and 10am and close between 4pm and 9pm.
Early voting began on October 25 and will end on November 2.
A full list of polling stations open for early voting is available on the Board of Elections in the City of New York website.
What else are New Yorkers voting for?
New Yorkers will also cast votes for the positions of public advocate and comptroller in citywide elections. Many districts will also choose a new borough president, City Council seats, judges and other local offices.
In addition to that, voters must vote in favour of or against the following proposals on the ballot:
Proposal 1: Allow an Olympic Sports Complex on State Forest Preserve Land
Proposal 2: Fast Track Affordable Housing
Proposal 3: Simplify Review of Modest Housing Projects
Proposal 4: Establish an Affordable Housing Appeals Board
Proposal 5: Create a Digital City Map
Proposal 6: Move Local Elections to Presidential Election Years
Following a contentious and contentious election, hundreds of demonstrators have squared off with police in Tanzania’s commercial capital to demand that the electoral body stop releasing results.
The government has forced the government to impose an internet shutdown and deploy the military onto the streets in response to the most recent developments on Friday. The sounds of gunfire and tear gas were heard on Thursday in Dar-es-Salaam, a city of more than seven million people, where protesters who defied a curfew were confronted by the Mbagala, Gongo la Mboto, and Kiluvya neighbourhoods.
Recommended Stories
list of 4 itemsend of list
On Wednesday afternoon, as young people took to the streets to protest opposition leaders’ limited election options and harassment, chaos erupted. Protesters set on fire several vehicles, a gas station, and police stations.
At least two people died this week, according to Amnesty International.
The Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party, which has ruled Tanzania since independence in 1961, was attempting to extend its rule in the electoral process on Wednesday.
Infuriating citizens and rights organizations have decried an intensifying crackdown against opposition members, activists, and journalists as a result of President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s and two biggest challengers being excluded from the election on Wednesday.
Samia Suluhu Hassan, president of Tanzania, casts her ballot on October 29, 2025 at the Chamwino polling station in Dodoma, Tanzania.
Hassan took office in 2021 after John Magufuli’s death, and she has received growing criticism for what the UN has called a pattern of “escalating” attacks, disappearances, and torture of critics.
After long-standing leaders in the Ivory Coast and Cameroon, who both clung to power, this is the most recent election in Africa to wreak deep rage among the electorate.
After the Independent National Electoral Commission disqualified , Tanzania’s main opposition party, Chadema, in April for refusing to sign an electoral code of conduct, only minor opposition figures were eligible to contest the election.
The decision was made days after Tundu Lissu, the party’s leader, was detained and charged with treason at a rally where he called for electoral reforms.
Following the attorney general’s objection, the commission also forbade Luhaga Mpina, the opposition candidate for ACT-Wazalendo, whose second-largest party is ACT-Wazalendo.
Over the past few months, local and international watchdogs have been raising concerns about election-related violence and repression.
A panel of nine UN experts said the government’s actions were “unacceptable” and that they had reported more than 200 disappearances since 2019; they had also called them “unacceptable.”
Additionally, Human Rights Watch (HRW) announced in September that it had documented at least 10 recent instances of politically motivated assault, harassment, abduction, and torture as well as “extensive restrictions” on the media and civil society organizations.
Nomathamsanqa Masiko-Mpaka, a researcher for HRW in South Africa, previously warned that Tanzania’s elections were “very vulnerable.”
Masiko-Mpaka argued that the authorities should stop censoring opposition voices and the media and instead engage in meaningful reforms to guarantee free, fair, and credible elections.
Massive fraud in Zanzibar
The semi-autonomous archipelago of Zanzibar, which remained calm on Friday despite heavy military presence, remained unaffected. The ruling CCM is now in charge of the presidency.
The incumbent, President Hussein Mwinyi, had 78.8% of the votes, according to the Zanzibar electoral commission’s report on Thursday.
The opposition announced it would reveal its next steps and claimed there was “massive fraud” in Zanzibar’s results.
The government has delayed the government’s planned reopening of colleges and universities for next Monday because the protests have spread throughout the nation.
During the trade truce between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping in South Korea, experts debated which leader prevailed.
There is hardly any disagreement about the shifting power balance between the leaders, though.
Recommended Stories
list of 4 itemsend of list
Xi and the US president had a much stronger bargaining position at their previous face-to-face meeting in 2019 and he left with some uncommon concessions, such as a partial rollback of technology-related export controls.
The Chinese leader appeared to emphasize their equality while Trump and Xi exchanged handshakes and niceties on the APEC summit’s side, drawing inspiration from two ship captains.
We should maintain the right course in the face of the current conditions, navigate through the challenging landscape, and ensure the giant ship’s forward momentum, according to Xi.
China believes it is “far, far closer to a peer now,” according to Dexter Roberts, a senior non-resident at the Atlantic Council’s Global China Hub.
He told Al Jazeera, “I believe that China has definitely increased its stature while the US has definitely decreased.”
Beijing has strengthened the Chinese economy to better withstand US pressure and put additional pressure on it against Washington since Trump started his first trade war with China in 2018.
Beijing announced that businesses anywhere in the world would need approval to export goods containing even trace amounts of its rare-earth metals shortly after the Trump administration dramatically expanded the scope of its export blacklist to include thousands of Chinese subsidiaries last month.
Beijing’s willingness to use its effective stranglehold on the crucial minerals to defend its interests, which are essential for everything from smartphones to electric cars and fighter jets.
The restrictions had raised the possibility of a catastrophic disruption to global supply chains because China had a controlling interest in 90% of rare earth mining and 90% of separation and processing.
According to Gabriel Wildau, senior vice president at global business advisory firm Teneo, “Beijing’s ability to use export controls on rare earths as leverage has been decisive in shifting the balance of negotiating leverage.”
According to Wildau, “Beijing’s leverage over global supply chains will serve as a restraint on other governments that are considering imposing tariffs, export controls, or other coercive measures against China,” adding that it was unclear whether China “intends to go on the offensive.”
Prior to the summit, China had also significantly reduced its dependence on US agricultural products, particularly soya beans, which had also grown stronger.
Due to tit-for-trade disputes between Washington and Beijing, China had already been able to more than halve the share of American beans imported by turning to Brazil and Argentina by the end of May, when it stopped purchasing them.
Farmers in states across the midwestern US, including Iowa, Nebraska, and Indiana, were negatively impacted by China’s effective embargo, making them a political liability ahead of the midterm elections in 2026.
The Atlantic Council fellow Roberts claimed that China had figured out how to manipulate Trump’s “transactional nature and proclivity.”
According to Roberts, “I believe they figured out that Trump actually has some things in mind.”
And I believe that the US president gains legitimacy from negotiation, and that China is willing to do so if cooperating with the US is what they want.
He continued, “I believe they played this all very well to their advantage.”
The agreement largely restores the two countries’ relations to the status quo that existed prior to Trump’s crippling “liberation day” tariffs in April, while China is scheduled to resume purchases of US soybeans and postpone planned export controls on five of its 12 rare earths under the truce.
China benefits from a 20% to 10% reduction in his fentanyl-linked tariff, which is the only major concession that precedes Trump’s April trade war.
While China has bolstered its position over the past ten years, it was difficult to predict whether either superpower would have a clear advantage in their heated strategic conflict, according to Ja Ian Chong, an associate professor of political science at the National University of Singapore.
The US was able to control technology more effectively the last time. The People’s Republic of China, or PRC, was then discovered a way to control rare earths, Chong told Al Jazeera.
“In the future, the US will change and discover something new. That is how things operate.
Some analysts in China are much less equivocal.
The power balance between China and the US has changed since Trump’s first term, according to Wang Wen, dean of the Renmin University of China in Beijing, and his trade war may now be deemed a failure.
Wang told Al Jazeera, “The US has to learn respect because of China’s strength.”
At an annual economic regional forum that Donald Trump had pointedly snubbed, Chinese President Xi Jinping demanded efforts to promote economic globalization and multilateralism.
As Trump left the nation a day earlier after reaching agreements meant to end the escalating trade war with China, Xi took center stage at the two-day Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit that kicked off Friday in the south Korean city of Gyeongju.
Recommended Stories
list of 3 itemsend of list
During the opening session, Xi said, “The more turbulent the times, the more we must work together.” “The world is going through a period of rapid change, with the world’s situation becoming more complex and volatile.”
The Chinese leader positioned his nation as the protector of free trade agreements, which according to observers are threatened by Trump’s “America first” and “treasure first” policies.
Xi urged other nations to work together to expand cooperation in green industries and clean energy, as opposed to US efforts to decouple its supply chains from China.
Solar panel exports from China, electric vehicles, and other green technologies have received criticism for undermining domestic industries in the nations they export to.
After striking a number of deals with Xi to ease their growing trade war, the US president left the nation before the summit. Trump claimed that Beijing had agreed to allow the export of rare earth elements and to begin purchasing US soya beans in exchange for lowering tariffs, and that his meeting with Xi on Thursday was a roaring success.
The US president’s decision to skip APEC, a forum that accounts for nearly 40% of the world’s population and handles more than 50% of global goods trade, is in line with his well-known dislike of large, multi-nation forums, which have traditionally been used to address enormous global issues. He favors grand spectacle one-on-one meetings that generate broad media coverage.
According to Al Jazeera’s Jack Barton, who is based in Gyeongju, Xi is “filling the vacuum” that Trump has created.
Xi will meet with new Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung separately on Friday for his first visit to the country in 11 years. On Saturday, Xi and Lee will have a meeting to discuss denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
Barton claimed that the meeting with Takaichi would “set the tone for the foreseeable future” in terms of diplomatic relations. Chinese media portrays the Japanese prime minister as a far-right nationalist who has visited the polarizing Yasukuni Shrine.
A political bulwark in East Asia, the site is dedicated to 2.5 million Japanese who perished in conflicts that started in the 19th century. Among those honored are former World War II leaders who were found guilty of crimes against humanity as “Class A,” some of whom committed atrocities in China during the 20th century under the Imperial Japan flag.
According to Barton, “South Korea and China have some of these historical misunderstandings with Japan.” They basically stated, “We’re going to put legacy issues on one side and diplomacy on the other, so there’s room for a positive outcome.”
On Friday, Xi had a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to talk about trade. According to Barton, “We’re anticipating the conclusion of perhaps the most significant significant economic deal.”
At the APEC meeting, leaders from 21 Asian and Pacific Rim countries and representatives of their respective countries will discuss ways to promote economic cohesion and address common issues.
The APEC region is plagued by a number of issues, including the US-China strategic competition, supply chain flaws, ageing populations, and job-killing AI effects.
To prevent repeating the failure to issue a joint statement in Papua New Guinea in 2018 due to US-China trade friction, South Korean officials said they have been in contact with other nations.
Due to the divergent opinions of APEC members, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun stated last week that issuing a joint statement strongly supporting free trade would be unlikely.
The outcome, according to Al Jazeera’s Barton, might be a “watered-down version.”
Abubakr Ahmed was prepared to perish from Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), despite his tireless fighting.
El-Fasher was a member of the “popular resistance,” a neighborhood organization that helped the army and allies fight back against the RSF, their adversary during the two-and-a-half-year civil war, for 550 days.
Recommended Stories
list of 3 itemsend of list
Up until its fall on October 26, the besieged city served as the last army stronghold in the sprawling Darfur region.
In an effort to stop a bloodbath, the army surrendered and negotiated the safe exit of its troops, according to Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
However, their withdrawal left 250,000 people, mostly beleaguered and starving, without access to the RSF.
Ahmad recalls “shooting” his way out of town with a small group of underage men. After a nearby car was destroyed by a rocket-propelled grenade, shrapnel struck Ahmed in the abdomen during the final clashes.
He was able to escape, unlike many others.
After fleeing El-Fasher, Ahmed, 29, told Al Jazeera, “The RSF killed civilians and left their bodies in the streets.”
They were not shown mercy, they were killed. ”
Exodus in large numbers
According to the local monitor Sudan’s Doctors’ Network, the RSF killed at least 1,500 people in the first three days after capturing El-Fasher. The World Health Organization has also verified the murders of 460 patients and their companions at the nearby al-Saud hospital.
Sanad, Al Jazeera’s own verification unit, verified a number of videos that showed RSF soldiers executing rows of unarmed young men while standing over a pile of dead bodies.
More than 33,000 people have already fled as a result of the mass murder, many of whom have already departed from Tawila and Tine, which are located about 60 kilometers (37 miles) away.
Most people are still hid from RSF gunmen in El-Fasher, though.
People are still making the long, tiring journey through the open desert, likely without food or water, to safety.
Mohammed, a survivor, claimed he arrived in Tawila on October 28 and that he anticipates seeing tens of thousands of newcomers soon.
Mohammed is a member of one of the sedentary “non-Arab” tribes, like most people from El-Fasher, which has historically been targeted by the nomadic “Arab” tribes that make up the majority of the RSF.
The RSF has terrified the majority of people, so they choose to stay in El-Fasher. They don’t trust the RSF because they are aware that they will face persecution, Mohammed said.
The non-Arabs will reside in another place, while the Arabs will reside in another. Unfortunately, that is the way it is right now, he continued.
Rwandan echoes
Mohamad Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo, the head of the RSS, stated in a speech on Wednesday that he would investigate reports of “abuses” occurring.
However, survivors claim that the killing in El-Fasher appears to be a deliberate attempt to eradicate the non-Arab population.
In a report released on October 28th, the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL), which analyzes the fighting in Darfur, claimed there was clear evidence that the RSF was killing people as they attempted to flee.
According to the HRL report, the scale of these mass killings cannot currently be determined from satellite imagery alone, and it is likely that any estimates of the total number of RSF victims’ deaths are underestimated.
The United Nations Children’s Foundation (UNICEF) representative for Sudan, Sheldon Yett, described the scenes in El-Fasher as “killing fields.”
There are echoes of this here because I was in Rwanda during the genocide. What frightens me is the kind of slaughter we are witnessing, as well as the pride the perpetrators have in killing innocent people in El-Fasher, Yett told Al Jazeera.
He added that UNICEF has lost communication with many of the local relief workers and initiatives they are supporting on the ground, including those that oversee community kitchens, which are crucial for reducing hunger in Sudan.
Many of them are in immediate danger, he claimed.
Local relief workers in Sudan have a history of being targeted by the RSF because they frequently accuse them of “collaborating” with the army.
We have had trouble contacting many of the people we rely on to provide services to people because of the precarious nature of many of our national partners [in El-Fasher].
They are not dead, they simply are. But many are hiding and moving, he continued.
condemnation in a loud manner
The UN, the US, and the European Union all issued condemnations of the atrocities committed in El-Fasher in response to news reports and videos.
They all demanded that the RSF follow international law and “protect civilians.”
However, survivors and analysts claim that the international community should have used its diplomatic leverage to stop atrocities from ever occurring.
The RSF attempted to take control of El-Fasher for a long time, and it did so right away. If El-Fasher were to succeed, we would know what would happen, according to Manchester University PhD candidate Hamid Khalafallah.
The international community has shown no sign of being proactive in protecting civilians, he told Al Jazeera, especially from multilateral organizations like the UN and Western powers.
According to Jean-Baptiste Gallopin, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch’s Crisis, Conflict and Arms Division, the RSF regularly commits mass atrocities after seizing or invading new territory, as it did in El-Geniena and Aradamata in West Darfur.
He argued that diplomats had failed to put an end to the practice of impunity by denying support to RSF leader Hemedti, possibly out of fear that it would stifle ceasefire talks.
According to Gallopin, this persistent impunity has made the RSF comfortable enough to film their own crimes in El-Fasher.
Diplomats are focused on achieving a elusive ceasefire, and they disregard any measures they take to protect civilians or prosecute those who violate it, he told Al Jazeera.
