OVERVIEW
Week 42
In Palestine, a fragile ceasefire led to a prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas, though tensions escalated with inter-palestinian clashes, executions of alleged collaborators, and continued israeli drone strikes amid a worsening humanitarian crisis. Turkey sent disaster responders, and a legal action in France targeted companies profiting from illegal settlements in the West Bank. Near Hebron, a palestinian child was killed by the israeli army, because he allegedly threw stones.
In Lebanon, UN officials condemned israeli strikes on civilian sites as war crimes.
In Sudan, drone attacks and famine ravaged the population, while a U.S. jury found the bank BNP Paribas complicit in funding atrocities during al-Bashir’s regime.
Syria’s interim president sought Assad’s extradition from Russia and syrian State’s employees faced attacks, likely carried out by an ISIS cell.
Afghanistan and Pakistan briefly paused hostilities before Pakistan resumed strikes, killing civilians.
Myanmar faced a severe aid shortfall for Rohingya children, risking further destabilization.
In Ukraine, the UN condemned a Russian strike on a humanitarian convoy and Burkina Faso saw the abduction of journalists and judges amid growing repression.
The DRC and M23 rebels agreed to a ceasefire monitoring mechanism. Serbia issued prison sentences over a 1993 war crime, and migrants in the Mediterranean sea faced armed attacks.
PALESTINE
Ceasefire and Prisoner Exchange
On October 13, 2025, Israel released 1,968 Palestinian detainees in exchange for 20 living hostages held by Hamas, as part of the ceasefire agreement. The Red Cross was dispatched to recover the bodies of deceased hostages in southern Gaza. By October 14, Hamas had returned nine of the 28 bodies of deceased hostages, prompting Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz to threaten a resumption of combat if all bodies were not handed over. The ceasefire remains fragile. On October 16th, Mohammad Hallaq, an 11-year-old boy, was killed by the Israeli army near Hebron in the occupied West Bank, where Israeli forces said they fired at people throwing stones at them.
Inter-Palestinian Violence
On October 13, deadly clashes erupted in Gaza City’s Sabra neighborhood between Hamas security forces and the Doghmoush clan, resulting in multiple deaths and injuries on both sides. Hamas accused the clan of collaboration with Israel and arrested 60 members, while the Doghmoush family denied collaboration but admitted some members committed “deviations.” The violence followed a Hamas-declared amnesty for non-lethal criminals, but witnesses reported acts of violence nonetheless.
Executions
On October 14, Hamas broadcast a video showing the summary execution of eight men accused of collaborating with Israel in Gaza City, with the victims blindfolded and shot. The same day, Israeli drone strikes killed six Palestinians in Shujaiya and Al-Fukhari, with Israel claiming the victims were “suspects” approaching its forces. The Gaza Civil Defense reported five civilians killed while inspecting their damaged homes, and a sixth in a separate drone attack, despite the ceasefire.
Humanitarian Crisis
The UN warned of an “absolute emergency” in Gaza, with only 13 of 36 hospitals partially operational, epidemic outbreaks, and severe malnutrition, especially among children. The World Health Organization reported 167,376 people with permanent disabilities, a quarter of them children, and a collapse of vaccination programs. The Rafah crossing remains closed, blocking aid delivery, and the UN’s diplomat for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordination Tom Fletcher called for the immediate opening of all border crossings to prevent famine and provide medical supplies. The death toll in Gaza since October 2023 has reached at least 67,938, mostly civilians.
Involvement of Turkey
Turkey deployed 81 disaster response specialists to Gaza to search for bodies under rubble, with a team already on the ground and experienced in complex rescue operations.
Complaint filed in France
A legal complaint was filed in Paris against Airbnb and Booking.com for complicity in war crimes, alleging they profit from listings in illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, and that their platforms contribute to the expansion and normalization of settlements.
LEBANON
On October 17, 2025, a UN rapporteur stated that Israeli strikes on civilian vehicles in Lebanon since the November 2024 ceasefire constitute war crimes, as recent attacks destroyed a fuel depot and a factory in southern Lebanon. Israel claimed to target Hezbollah infrastructure, but the Lebanese government accused Israel of systematically destroying civilian facilities. Local officials reported that the fuel depot was critical for water and electricity supplies, for the civilian population. The UN rapporteur warned that unless there is clear evidence of dual military use, such strikes are illegal under international law.
SOUDAN
Famine & combats
On October 15, 2025, drone strikes targeted military bases in Khartoum, with the army claiming to have downed most drones and witnesses reporting explosions in Omdurman. The conflict between the State’s armed forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) armed group has caused a humanitarian catastrophe, with millions displaced and the capital under intermittent attack. In El-Fasher, besieged civilians are reduced to eating animal skins to survive, with aid blocked and food stocks exhausted.
Judicial victory for Al-Bashir’s victims
In the courthouse of New York City, a jury found French bank BNP Paribas guilty of complicity in exactions in Sudan, having participated in commercial transactions whose proceeds financed the army and militias of Omar al-Bashir’s regime in the early 2000s. During this war, acts of genocide were perpetrated in Darfur by the al-Bashir’s forces and allied groups.
SYRIA
On October 15, 2025, Syria’s interim president Ahmad al-Chareh, on his first visit to Russia, requested the extradition of former president Bashar al-Assad, who fled to Russia after being ousted in December 2024. Chareh’s government seeks to normalize relations with Moscow despite past alliances, and also discussed economic cooperation, Russian military bases, and the rearmament of the Syrian army.
On October 16, an explosive device killed five Defense Ministry employees on the Deir Ezzor-Mayadeen road, with the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights suggesting ISIS cells were likely responsible.
AFGHANISTAN
On October 15, 2025, Afghanistan and Pakistan agreed to a 48-hour ceasefire after days of deadly border clashes, with both sides accusing the other of initiating attacks and targeting civilians. The violence, centered on Spin Boldak, killed dozens of civilians and combatants, with the Taliban reporting 12 civilians dead and 100 wounded, while Pakistan claimed to have killed 15–20 Taliban fighters. On October 15, a journalist, Abdul Ghafoor Abid (RTA), was killed and another wounded by Pakistani forces in Khost province while covering the conflict, with colleagues and Reporters Without Borders calling for an investigation.
On October 17th evening, Pakistan carried out strikes on Afghan soil, killing at least ten civilians and breaking the ceasefire that had brought two days of calm to the border after deadly clashes.
MYANMAR
On October 14, 2025, the UN warned that aid for Rohingya children in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar camps is on the brink of a “financial cliff,” with schools and health services closing due to lack of funding. The UNICEF representative reported rising child recruitment by armed groups (685 cases in 2025), record levels of severe acute malnutrition, and a looming crisis as traditional donors, including the US, have drastically cut assistance. The camps host about one million Rohingya refugees who fled Myanmar’s 2017 crackdown, and the UN fears the situation will deteriorate further in 2026 without immediate action.
UKRAINE
On October 14, 2025, the UN condemned a Russian strike on a UN aid convoy in Kherson region, calling it “unacceptable” and a violation of international humanitarian law. The attack, in Bilozerka, destroyed one truck and damaged another, but caused no casualties, with the UN’s Matthias Schmale emphasizing that humanitarian workers must never be targeted. Earlier, Russian shelling killed three civilians (two women, one man) and injured four in Kherson city, as the local prosecutor’s office and governor Oleksandr Prokoudine accused Russia of deliberately attacking civilian infrastructure and aid operations.
BURKINA FASO
On October 13, 2025, three magistrates from Ouagadougou’s court of appeal and two journalists—Ousséni Ilboudo (L’Observateur Paalga) and Michel Nana (Le Pays)—were abducted by individuals claiming to be from the National Intelligence Agency (ANR). The abductions occurred in Ouagadougou, with no information on their whereabouts or charges, and the media outlets reported that the journalists were taken in broad daylight by armed men in civilian clothes. Reporters Without Borders condemned the arrests and demanded their immediate release, warning that press freedom in Burkina Faso is under severe threat. The military regime, led by Captain Ibrahim Traoré, has been accused of repressing critics and forcibly mobilizing opponents, with dozens of journalists, activists, and political figures detained or disappeared in recent months.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
On October 14, 2025, the DRC government and the M23 rebel group agreed in Doha to establish a ceasefire monitoring mechanism, facilitated by Qatar, to supervise compliance and investigate violations. The committee will include equal representation from both sides, with the US, AU, and UN mission (Monusco) as observers, and is seen as a crucial step toward a broader peace agreement. Both sides have accused each other of breaching previous agreements, and the M23, backed by Rwanda, controls parts of eastern DRC, including the major cities of Goma and Bukavu.
SERBIA
On October 14, 2025, a Belgrade court sentenced Gojko Lukic and Dusko Vasiljevic to ten years, and Dragana Djekic to five years, for their roles in the 1993 Strpci massacre, in which 20 non-Serb civilians were forcibly removed from a train, robbed, beaten, and handed over to their killers. The three, members of the “Osvetnici” paramilitary group, were retried after a previous conviction was overturned, and only four of the twenty victims’ bodies have ever been found. The massacre is one of many war crimes from the 1991–1995 Yugoslav wars, and no investigation has ever been opened into those who ordered the killings.
MEDITERRANEAN SEA
On October 13, 2025, migrants rescued by Italian coast guards reported being targeted in an “armed attack” in Maltese waters, with three injured requiring urgent medical care. The boat, carrying 140 people, was intercepted 64 km from Sicily, and the survivors claimed the attack occurred 160 km southeast of Malta, in an area under Maltese search-and-rescue responsibility. The previous day, the NGO Alarmphone reported “shots fired” by Libyan coast guards at a migrant boat in the same area, with two deaths and three injuries claimed, though Malta and Libya did not confirm the incidents. This is the third such reported attack on migrant or NGO vessels in recent months, raising concerns about the safety of migrants and the role of Libyan forces trained and funded by the EU.
