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GENEVA: Sudan has seen a significant rise in civilian killings during the first half of this year due to growing ethnic violence, largely in the western region of Darfur, the UN human rights office said on Friday.

The conflict that erupted in Sudan in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has unleashed waves of ethnically-driven killings, caused mass displacement, and created what the UN has called the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
At least 3,384 civilians were killed between January and June, mostly in Darfur, according to a new report by the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights. The figure is equivalent to nearly 80 percent of the civilian casualties in Sudan documented last year. 
Throughout the war, casualty numbers have been hard to track because of the collapse of local health services, fighting, and communications breakdowns, among other reasons.
“Every day we are receiving more reports of horrors on the ground,” OHCHR Sudan representative Li Fung said in Geneva.
The majority of killings resulted from artillery shelling as well as air and drone strikes in densely populated areas, the report said.
It noted many deaths occurred during the RSF’s offensive on the city of El-Fasher, the last holdout of its rivals in Darfur, as well as on the Zamzam and Abu Shouk camps for displaced people in April.
At least 990 civilians were killed in summary executions in the first half of the year, the report found, with the number between February and April tripling. That was driven mainly by a surge in Khartoum after the army and allied fighters in late March recaptured the city previously controlled by the RSF, the OHCHR said.
“One witness who observed SAF search operations in civilian neighborhoods in East Nile, Khartoum, between March and April, said that he saw children as young as 14 or 15 years of age, accused of being RSF members, summarily killed,” OHCHR spokesperson Jeremy Laurence said.
Fung said ethnicity was a motivating factor for violence, which she described as very concerning.
She explained that certain ethnic communities were being targeted because they are associated with the leadership of the SAF and RSF, building upon decades of discrimination and division between different groups and identities in the diverse nation.
Both sides in Sudan’s war have repeatedly denied deliberately attacking civilians.
The humanitarian situation in Sudan was dire and worsening, said Patrick Youssef, Africa regional director for the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent.
Sudan faces its worst cholera outbreak in four years across the country, with 2,500 cases reported in Khartoum since June, he said.
“We really pray that it’s contained within days or weeks ... My worst nightmare would be a bigger spread in Khartoum, if the populations want to return back to Khartoum,” he said.

LONDON: Nearly 94 percent of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in Gaza since March have been civilians, according to data released on Friday from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data organization.

The figure is among the highest recorded during the conflict and comes as Israeli forces advance into Gaza City, forcing up to a million people to evacuate and raising the risk of further large-scale civilian casualties.

among Hamas and allied groups using reports from the Israeli military, local and international media, and statements from Hamas over a six-month period.

The report said: “Since March 18, Israel claims it killed more than 2,100 operatives, though ACLED data indicates that the number is closer to 1,100, and includes Hamas’ political figures, as well as fighters from other groups.”

More than 16,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel broke a two-month ceasefire in March, according to UN statistics, equal to 15 out of every 16 deaths.

The report highlighted a sharp rise in building demolitions, with 500 incidents recorded in the six months since March, compared with 698 in the preceding 15 months.

A senior Israeli officer there is “a tension” between protecting civilians and the “demands of fast-moving military operations,” adding: “We are fighting a very different war from any previous conflict anyone has fought anywhere in the world … We are now fighting in Gaza to ensure that Hamas is not ruling Gaza.”

ACLED noted that Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 40 senior Hamas commanders since March.

Ameneh Mehvar, ACLED’s senior analyst for the Middle East, said: “Hamas has been weakened undoubtedly and does not think they can now stop or defeat Israel and push them out of Gaza through military force.

“At this point Hamas is trying to preserve what is left of the movement.”

The group now largely operates in Gaza City and Deir Al-Balah, relying on booby-trapped buildings and roadside bombs to inflict casualties.

The report also said there is no evidence of Hamas systematically stealing UN aid, though some smaller nongovernmental organization assistance may have been diverted.

“Israel has created conditions of chaos and violence around aid distribution,” ACLED said, warning that the long-term Israeli strategy appears aimed at degrading Hamas while pushing Gaza toward unlivable conditions and obstructing Palestinian sovereignty.