BAMAKO, May 16 — Mali is once again grappling with a worsening humanitarian crisis, as renewed violence in the northern and central regions triggers a new wave of displacement and suffering for thousands of civilians.

In early May, intensified attacks by unidentified armed groups in Gossi and surrounding areas forced hundreds of families to flee their homes, particularly in the Timbuktu (Gourma-Rharous and Bambaramaoude) and Douentza (Hombori) regions.

According to initial reports, public infrastructure has been destroyed, and the violence has had a severe psychological impact on affected communities.

Women and children account for approximately 65% of the displaced population, reflecting the broader national trend of conflict-driven displacement in Mali.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that 6.4 million people, around 28% of Mali’s population currently require humanitarian assistance.

In this latest wave of displacement, around 995 households have been forced to leave their villages in the communes of Gossi and Ouinerden. Many are now seeking refuge in safer locations, including Gossi town, Rharous, Bambaramaoude, and Hombori.

These displaced families are living in extremely harsh conditions, either in informal settlements or hosted by local families with limited resources. Access to clean water, food, shelter, and healthcare remains critically low.

In response, OCHA has called on Islamic Relief and other humanitarian partners to carry out a rapid multi-sector needs assessment to identify urgent priorities and coordinate life-saving interventions.

Islamic Relief Mali is preparing to respond with an immediate emergency intervention, proposing the distribution of unconditional cash assistance to affected households in Timbuktu and Douentza regions.

Palestinians in Gaza are facing the gravest threat to their existence for decades, Islamic Relief says as the world marks Nakba Day.

The Nakba, or “catastrophe”, refers to the mass expulsion of Palestinians from their homeland in 1948 and is commemorated annually on 15 May. 

The dispossession that began in 1948 is a process that continues today with impunity. Palestinians in Gaza are being relentlessly bombed, starved, forced from their homes and threatened with permanent expulsion from their land. Senior Israeli officials have repeatedly stated their aim to make Gaza unliveable and force Palestinians out of the territory, or into confined areas that are effectively internment camps.

For 75 days Israel has shut off all aid and supplies such as food and medicine into Gaza, resulting in a humanitarian catastrophe. Children are starving to death as food runs out and famine conditions spread. Families are burnt alive as Israeli bombs tear through health centres, tents and shelters. Medics are operating in medieval conditions without electricity or painkillers. Almost every part of Palestinian infrastructure – homes, hospitals, schools, farms, shops – have been attacked and turned to rubble.

Over 70% of Gaza is now closed to Palestinians and either turned into Israeli military zones or under forced displacement orders. Hundreds of thousands of people have been ordered from their homes and herded into ever-shrinking areas, where deadly diseases are spreading due to severe overcrowding and destruction of sewage and water systems.

Gaza belongs to the Palestinian people and calls for Palestinians to be removed amount to ethnic cleansing. International governments must uphold their legal and moral obligations and act decisively to stop the ongoing atrocities, protect civilians and ensure Palestinians are not driven from their homeland. Failing to act makes them complicit in the destruction. 

Today’s new famine alert for Gaza shows how Israel has turned starvation into a weapon of war. Palestinians are not just starving; they are being systematically starved.  

For more than 2 months Israel has completely banned all food, medicine and other vital supplies from entering Gaza, and destroyed people’s means of producing their own food.   

Now today’s new report by the UN-backed IPC finds at least half a million people face imminent starvation unless international governments pressure Israel to reopen the crossings and allow aid in. 93% of people in Gaza are now suffering severe hunger and food shortages, the report finds. 

People are already dying from hunger. Doctors report that dozens of people – mostly young children – have starved to death in the past few weeks, and most families are going whole days without eating. People are scavenging through rubbish just to try and find scraps to eat. As food runs out, prices are rising out of reach for most people and some staple foods such as wheat flour have risen by 3000% since the crossings shut.  

We know from experience around the world that formal famine declarations are often only made too late, after many people have already died from hunger and disease.  

This starvation is not inevitable, it is a political choice. Trucks full of food and medicine are blocked from entering Gaza just a few miles away from where children are starving.  

There is no excuse for inaction. Every minute that Israel’s siege remains in place puts more lives at risk. International governments must demand a ceasefire, an end to the siege, and full humanitarian access.  

The newly announced plans to militarise aid distribution in Gaza will not stop famine spreading – they will make it worse and make further deaths inevitable. It is not a plan to provide humanitarian aid; it is a plan to weaponise it. Only an end to Israel’s siege and full reopening of the crossings for humanitarian aid can save lives now.   

Islamic Relief is ready to respond to increasing humanitarian needs as tensions rise between India and Pakistan. Any further military escalation is likely to have a devastating impact on huge numbers of civilians.  

Dozens of people, including young children, have been killed and wounded in recent days by the biggest escalation the region has seen for years. Airstrikes, shelling and drones have struck infrastructure across both sides of the Line of Control, and at least 1 child was killed when a missile badly damaged a mosque in Bahawalpur in Punjab region in eastern Pakistan.   

Islamic Relief aid workers in Pakistan-administered Kashmir report that dozens of families have already fled their homes and sought shelter in school classrooms that local authorities have designated as temporary camps. Large numbers of people are likely to flee if the situation deteriorates further, and a big increase in casualties and displacement will quickly overwhelm essential services such as hospitals, school shelters and water supplies. Schools in many areas have already closed indefinitely, and hospitals across Pakistan have declared a state of emergency.   

As political tensions rise, farmers are warning that the suspension of the Indus water treaty between India and Pakistan will severely impact agriculture and exacerbate poverty and hunger. The suspension of the agreement has cut off water supply to around 80% of Pakistan’s irrigated agriculture, upon which many poor families depend. 

Islamic Relief Pakistan’s emergency response team is coordinating with local disaster management authorities to support the provision of emergency relief supplies in case of major displacement – including items such as shelter material, water, hygiene kits and blankets.  

The humanitarian impact of any further escalation is likely to be enormous, and we call for diplomatic efforts to de-escalate tensions and find a solution through political dialogue rather than military action.  

Since 2 March, Israeli authorities have reinstated a complete siege on Gaza, blocking all aid and commercial goods from entering for more than six weeks to date. This marks the longest period the Government of Israel has blocked all aid and goods from entering Gaza in history.

Since 18 March, attacks by Israeli forces in Gaza have killed over 1,630 Palestinians, injured more than 4,200, and forcibly displaced over 419,300. The Palestinian death toll now nears 51,000 in Gaza, according to the Ministry of Health, and is approaching 1,000 in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

The UN Secretary-General has called Gaza a “killing field” and warned that civilians in Gaza are in an “endless death loop”. The weaponization of aid, including withholding food, water, health care, and shelter, has led to a surge in preventable deaths and threatens the dignity and survival of Palestinians in Gaza.

A new survey of 47 international and Palestinian NGOs, conducted as part of the 11th issue of the NGO Humanitarian Access Snapshot, has found:

• 95% of agencies reported suspending or reducing services in Gaza since 18 March.
• At least 8,881 pallets of aid supplies remain stranded outside Gaza, blocked from entering.
• 95% of NGOs are facing an increase in movement restrictions across the West Bank too.
• The Israeli military has made 70% of Gaza into no-go areas.
• At least 61 aid workers killed or injured since 1 January, and at least 412 killed since October 2023.

Read more of the survey and recommendations in the latest NGO Snapshot