By Jennifer Xin-Tsu Lin Levine
UNITED NATIONS, Jul 30 2025 – As sectarian violence rises in Syria, the number of displaced people has climbed exponentially since Syrian forces joined clashes between the Druze and Bedouin groups in the Sweida region.

Spokesperson for the Secretary-General Stéphane Dujarric reported in the daily press briefing this Wednesday, “More than 145,000 people have now been displaced due to hostilities in the Suweida governorate.” This marks a rise of over 50,000 people since Monday, when the spokesperson reported 93,000 displaced.

The conflict originated as a dispute between the Druze and Bedouin, two minorities in southern Syria. In Sweida, a Druze-majority city, armed government forces were deployed to quell the violence and regain control of local government structures primarily led by Druze people.

However, after Israel bombed Damascus, citing harms against Druze civilians, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outlined a new plan to demilitarize Syrian territory from “south of Damascus and the Golan Heights to the Druze Mountain.”

This decision was widely criticized by global actors, including Secretary-General António Guterres, who called it “essential that these attacks stop and that Israel respect Syria’s sovereignty, unity, territorial integrity, and independence.”

Israel is just one of the many countries involved in Syria’s politics and violence. During the Syrian civil war, a period of general pro-democracy political uprising in the Middle East, countries like Iran and Russia backed the current regime in efforts to prevent further Western influence. Supporting various rebel groups were Turkey, the United States, and Gulf nations like Saudi Arabia and Qatar, each with their own strategic and ideological goals.

As a result, Syria has become a battleground not only for internal factions but also for foreign powers vying for regional influence—often with devastating consequences for the civilian population.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over 15.8 million people across Syria were in need of humanitarian assistance as of March 2025, the highest number recorded since the conflict began in 2011. The escalating violence in Sweida further intensifies the crisis and strains an already overstretched aid network.

Medical services have been especially hard-hit. The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor reported that only 57 percent of hospitals and 37 percent of primary healthcare centers are operating at full capacity, many others struggling due to damaged infrastructure, medicine shortages and the departure of medical personnel.

According to UNDP assessments, there is only one doctor per 2,000 people due to migration over the past decades. Due to the sharp decline in public health spending, these flaws in healthcare infrastructure are particularly glaring in a time when violence has worsened.

However, problems in Syrian infrastructure extend beyond the immediate crisis. UNDP also reported that 30 percent to 50 percent of schools are out of service, damaged, destroyed or repurposed due to war-related destruction or lack of maintenance. Schools that are still operational often do not receive state funding for basic utilities like water, electricity, or heating.

UNICEF has raised alarms about the impact of the conflict on children. The agency estimates that over 2.4 million children are out of school, many of them having been displaced multiple times.

“Years of war and violence have shattered the lives of Syria’s children, with many enduring a lifetime of hardship,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. This has caused stagnation in Syria’s growth—without children to help rebuild infrastructure in education and healthcare, the system remains weakened.

Due to such precarious federal institutions, humanitarian access has similarly lessened. In past years, the UN Security Council has been unable to renew critical cross-border aid mechanisms due to vetoes from permanent members, leaving much of the aid delivery dependent on unstable domestic routes.

In a recent Geneva press briefing, it was confirmed that humanitarian convoys have been delayed or blocked from reaching Sweida and Daraa due to active fighting and lack of security guarantees.

As the power vacuum deepens in Syria, with the central government’s grip weakening and local militias and foreign actors carving out zones of influence, civilians are increasingly left without protection or basic services. The latest violence in Sweida illustrates the high cost of this fragmentation: an already fragile region now overwhelmed by displacement, cut off from aid, and exposed to indiscriminate attacks.

IPS UN Bureau Report

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By Shreya Komar
UNITED NATIONS, Jul 30 2025 – Africa is making progress on over two-thirds of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), but the pace remains far too slow to meet the 2030 targets, especially in areas like decent employment, gender equality, and access to social protection.

This was the central warning of the newly released Africa Sustainable Development Report (ASDR), launched during the 2025 Africa Day session at the UN’s High-Level Political Forum.

The report, which tracks alignment between the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the UN’s 2030 Agenda, offers a sobering yet actionable picture: Africa’s development efforts are gaining traction, but deep structural barriers, ranging from inadequate financing and data gaps to high youth unemployment and gender-based exclusion, continue to stall momentum.

Despite being home to several of the world’s fastest-growing economies, the continent faces an annual sustainable development financing gap of up to USD 762 billion, according to the report. Social protection coverage remains alarmingly low, with only 19 percent of vulnerable populations benefiting from any form of safety net. Public investment in social protection across most African countries is below 3 percent of GDP, significantly under the global average.

“The current pace of progress is insufficient to achieve the SDGs by 2030,” the report warns, prompting leaders to explore actionable strategies for scaling up inclusive growth, regional integration, and institutional capacity building across the continent.

Health outcomes have improved in areas like life expectancy and disease control, but maternal mortality and unequal access to care persist. Gender equality remains constrained by legal barriers, high rates of violence, and the burden of unpaid care work.

On SDG 8, the continent struggles with low productivity, informality, and youth unemployment, emphasizing the need for inclusive job creation and economic transformation. While the continent has seen some recovery in sectors like tourism, key indicators such as GDP growth per capita (down from 2.7 percent in 2021 to 0.7 percent in 2023) and youth employment remain weak. Over 23 percent of African youth are not in education, employment, or training (NEET), with women disproportionately affected. Despite its potential, tourism contributed just 6.8 percent to GDP in 2023.

Economic shocks, climate change, and geopolitical instability continue to undermine job creation and sustainable growth. The report calls for data-driven strategies, innovative financing, and integrated policies to bridge development gaps and build resilient, equitable systems aligned with both global and continental agendas.

“It is not enough to just create jobs, but we must ensure safe working conditions,” said H.E. Amb. Selma Malika Haddadi, Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission.

UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed acknowledged the uneven starting point for African countries, stating, “too often, Africa isn’t at the table where decisions are made but is the first to feel the impact.” She added, “Our young people deserve more than we give them,” highlighting the pressing need for inclusive investment in youth education.

Central to the discussion was the need to mobilize greater technical and financial support, scale up climate financing, tackle illicit financial flows, and reduce social and economic inequalities. Participants emphasized stronger partnerships (SDG 17), inclusive social protection systems, and youth- and women-led innovation as key enablers for transformational change. The launch of the ASDR marked a major milestone, offering data-driven insights to support national strategies.

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By Jennifer Xin-Tsu Lin Levine
UNITED NATIONS, Jul 30 2025 – As the starvation crisis in Gaza deepens into what aid organizations describe as a “worst-case scenario,” a growing coalition of nations is shifting its rhetoric and policy toward supporting Palestinian statehood. At the United Nations General Assembly this week, the humanitarian emergency has reignited global calls for a two-state solution and reignited scrutiny of the Israeli government’s blockade of aid.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification published their monthly report on the famine in Gaza on July 29, classifying the region as the highest phase in starvation, with 20 percent of households facing an extreme lack of food, 30 percent of children suffering from acute malnutrition, and two to four non-trauma deaths for every 10,000 each day.

For the past few months, Secretary-General António Guterres has repeatedly condemned the breakdown of humanitarian conditions in Palestine, criticizing the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) for its failure to protect civilians seeking food and asking Israel to allow outside aid into the borders. The representative for Malaysia called the organization a “death trap.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied these claims, alleging that there was “no starvation” in Gaza and justifying restriction of outside aid due to the possibility of theft from terrorist groups like Hamas.

However, United States President Donald Trump recently broke with Israeli claims, saying that “real starvation” is taking place and promising to set up new food centers.

The United States, as Israel’s staunchest ally and a major co-sponsor of the GHF, has historically refrained from public critique of Israeli policy regarding Gaza. Trump’s remarks mark a significant rhetorical departure from the US’s prior stance and signal what some diplomats interpret as a crack in the long-standing American federal consensus on unconditional support for Israel—especially amid growing domestic and international pressure to respond to the humanitarian toll of the war.

The United Kingdom recently announced its plans to recognize a Palestinian state in September if Israel does not allow more aid into Gaza, continues to annex land in the West Bank, fails to agree to a ceasefire, and refuses a long-term peace process. This announcement was met with extreme pushback from Israel, with Netanyahu accusing UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer of “rewarding Hamas” with his promise to officially recognize Palestine.

Earlier this week, 15 member states issued a joint statement aimed at establishing a two-state solution that officially recognized the State of Palestine and urged others to do the same. The list includes Australia, Andorra, Ireland, Iceland, Spain, Canada, Luxembourg, Malta, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Slovenia, Finland and France, many of which spoke at the General Assembly meeting on Palestine over the past few days. The conference, convened by Saudi Arabia and France, was organized with the goal of recognizing Palestinian statehood as part of a peaceful settlement to end the war in Gaza.

Countries like Malta and Nigeria called for Palestinian self-determination at the General Assembly, and Guatemala, recognizing its status as the first Latin American country to recognize the state of Israel, advocated for a two-state solution that centered the maintenance of humanitarian law and condemned both “abhorrent terrorist attacks” and “the response by the state of Israel.”

The Representative for Oman celebrated new countries’ plans to recognize the Palestinian state and criticized Israel’s “deliberate undermining of chances for peace in the Middle East” through attacks on civilians.

The representative said, “In light of this reality, talking about the two-state solution is no longer enough but should be translated into a viable plan backed by serious political will and practical measures based on the approved international points of reference.” The representative continued, “a recognition [of Palestinian statehood] that represents not only a legal and political position but also a moral expression of siding with justice and human rights. These positions enhance the chances for real peace and constitute positive pressure towards ending the occupation and achieving a just settlement.”

As famine takes hold and the death toll rises, what was once considered a symbolic gesture—recognizing Palestinian statehood—has become a diplomatic lever for change. In a world increasingly polarized by geopolitical interests, the renewed push for self-determination is being framed not only as a political necessity but as a moral imperative. Whether this international momentum will shift conditions on the ground remains uncertain. But at the United Nations this week, the message from much of the world was clear: justice and peace in Gaza demand more than sympathy—they require sovereignty.

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Excerpt:

As the starvation crisis in Gaza worsens, more nations speak out in support of Palestine’s statehood.

By James E. Jennings
ATLANTA, USA, Jul 30 2025 – Why is a grinning Netanyahu, Israel’s Prime Minister, wildly cheered by both Democrats and Republicans whenever he addresses the US Congress, while at the same time in Gaza countless innocent civilians are being killed by American bombs and bullets—and now babies are starving?

Shamefully, Israel’s leader, a certified genocidaire, is one of the few global leaders to have ever been granted the privilege of speaking to Congress, which he has done frequently. But the world sees and will remember his Big Lie that “There is no starvation in Gaza.”

The mantle of righteousness that once adorned the American flag after WW II is shredded, perhaps beyond repair. President Roosevelt’s global goal of “Four Freedoms”—freedom of speech, of religion, of want, and of fear, are no longer defended or even recognized by the US government.

US presidents from Kennedy to Obama have asserted American exceptionalism by using the Biblical “City on a Hill,” as a figure of speech. President Ronald Reagan frequently claimed in his speeches during the Cold War that the United States is like that city, a position so prominent that all the world can see our purity of motives and good works in the struggle against the Evil Empire. That might have been true once but today is laughable.

Most of the jet planes and bombs Israel has used over the past months to kill and wound civilians have come from the United States. They have been instruments to pulverize a high percentage of the buildings in Gaza and torment with fire and death unarmed families seeking handouts of food or just huddling in their tents.

The Israeli army’s dominance of Gaza’s tiny territory is total, with no military objectives left, yet they keep bombing despite the worldwide outcry that this is not truly a war but a genocide against the civilian population. US citizens have mostly ignored the fact that for nearly two years President Biden and President Trump have merrily kept feeding the Israeli war machine’s Turkey Shoot.

So far, the result of nearly twenty-two months of unremitting bombing of Gaza’s homes and tents with US-supplied money and weapons has been killing and wounding more than 100,000 mostly unarmed, innocent, unprotected civilians, the greatest number of them women and children.

By now Hamas has no power to resist, if they ever did in the past. They have repeatedly agreed to release the remaining hostages in exchange for a permanent ceasefire. No deal. The Likud government is greedy for land for new settlements and is down to three options for the millions of people in Gaza—either kill them by continued bombing; blockade and starve them as now; or forcibly remove them.

But forcible transfer is the very definition of genocide. Another option—to enslave them, has already been tried on a smaller scale before the Hamas outbreak of October 7, 2023. Many Gazans used to travel to jobs in Israel under punishing and humiliating low wage conditions, but no longer.

The US government and people cannot continue to deny the plain fact of what has happened and is happening daily and nightly in Gaza. We Americans must choose the high road of civilized behavior or else forever be classed with the some of the most rapacious, bloody, and evil regimes in history.

James E. Jennings PhD is President of Conscience International. A former professor of Middle East History, he has led numerous aid teams to Gaza since 1987.

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