The word "ceasefire" seems like a misnomer for the situation in the Gaza Strip since Israel and Hamas agreed to a deal that was supposed to end two years of war almost a month ago. The Israeli military is still deployed in over 50% of the territory and has continued to shell and fire on Palestinians, killing more than 240 people and injuring over 600 since Oct. 11. Aid is also still entering the enclave at a trickle—far from the levels needed to address a hunger crisis caused by months of Israeli-enforced deprivation—with Israel rejecting many requests to bring in supplies. A UN resolution creating an international stabilization force to deploy to Gaza—a key part of the 20-point US peace plan–is supposed to be ready in two weeks but may face delays over disagreements about its mandate and the timetable for Israel's withdrawal from the territory. In the meantime, the Israeli military seems well entrenched in the 58% of Gaza where its forces are deployed and where Palestinians have been forced out.

The Tunisian government on Oct. 27 ordered a prominent advocacy organization, the Tunisian Forum for Social & Economic Rights (FTDES), to suspend its activities for one month. The organization has been outspoken in its criticism of President Kais Saied's crackdown on Black African asylum seekers and migrants in the country, and his promotion of racist tropes about migration. The move comes amid a broader repression of civil society.

​​Protests have escalated in Tanzania following elections on Oct. 29 widely viewed as a sham. Violence erupted on polling day over the exclusion from the ballot of President Samia Suluhu Hassan's two biggest challengers, and increasing government repression. The protesters defied a heavy security presence to target polling stations, police vehicles, and businesses connected to the ruling party, some chanting "We want our country back!" An unknown number of people were shot dead, and Amnesty International has called for an investigation. Protests continued Oct. 30 despite an internet blackout and the deployment of soldiers to enforce a lockdown. Tanzania's main airports were also closed, with clips posted of people surging onto the runway in Dar es Salaam. Protesters were again on the streets on Oct. 31, this time trying to reach State House.

The UN Security Council on Oct. 1 approved a resolution transforming the Kenya-led Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission—whose mandate ended the following day—into a Gang Suppression Force (GSF).

The international process to tackle climate change is still alive—but the vital target of restricting warming to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels under the 2015 Paris Agreement might not be. More than 100 countries submitted their national climate plans to the UN General Assembly meeting in New York. The "nationally determined contribution" policies (NDCs) are crucial for collective global progress to reduce greenhouse emissions. The fact that officials turned up with documents in hand is itself notable in a year fraught with international tension and growing climate-denialist narratives (Donald Trump in his speech to the General Assembly dismissed climate change as "the greatest con job ever.") But the NDCs, including from major polluter China, are nothing close to sufficient to meet the 1.5°C "survival limit," said Romain Ioualalen, policy chief at Oil Change International.

A coalition led by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has announced formation of a parallel government in Sudan, further cementing the country's territorial split between army-held and RSF-held regions. Paramilitary leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo ("Hemedti") will head a 15-person council with Abdel Aziz al-Hilu, head of the SPLM-N rebel group, as deputy. The African Union urged member states to not recognize the new administration. The RSF-led government wants to rival the Port Sudan-based army-led transitional government, which installed a prime minister in May, former UN official Kamil Idris.

At least 17 people were killed in an armed attack on a bar in El Empalme, a small town north of Ecuador's port city of Guayaquil July 28—three days before US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem visited the country and signed a deal to fight organized crime and illegal migration. The deal includes training for Ecuadoran security forces in the US and collaboration on border security.

At a meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Brussels July 15, the bloc opted not to take punitive action against Israel over widespread evidence of war crimes and atrocities committed in Gaza. For weeks, the EU had been discussing a range of potential actions, including: suspending its free trade agreement with Israel, an arms embargo, banning the import of products from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, and ending visa-free travel for Israeli citizens. Instead of taking any of these measures—which advocates argue are necessary to avoid complicity in serious violations of international law—EU ministers pointed to an aid deal for Gaza struck on July 10 as justification for inaction. The details of that deal remain vague, and it has so far shown little on-the-ground impact. Amnesty International assailed the apparent quid pro quo as a "cruel and unlawful betrayal" of the Gazans.