A report released by the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) program on Aug. 22 found that a "famine is currently occurring in Gaza Governorate," the district covering Gaza City, and is "rapidly spreading" under seige conditions imposed by Israel. Multiple international aid agencies and organizations have renewed their calls for an immediate ceasefire to facilitate an "unimpeded, large-scale humanitarian response that can save lives."

The UN Syria Commission of Inquiry on Aug. 14 reported that the wave of violent attacks that engulfed coastal and western central Syria in March may constitute war crimes, and urged accountability to restore public confidence in the authorities.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia and President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan signed a joint declaration at the White House on Aug. 8, with Donald Trump boasting that the US-brokered deal ends decades of conflict between the Caucasus neighbors. Critically, the agreement calls for a new transport corridor across Armenian territory, linking Azerbaijan to its exclave of Nakhchivan, which lies between Armenia and Iran. The corridor is to be named the "Trump Route for International Peace & Prosperity," and Armenia has granted the United States the right to manage it for 99 years. US companies will  have exclusive development rights on the corridor throughout this period.

French President Emmanuel Macron sent a letter to Cameroonian President Paul Biya, dated July 30 but released this week, in which he officially acknowledged his country's use of repressive violence before, during, and after Cameroon's war of independence.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Aug. 6 condemned a recent surge in deadly attacks against civilians by M23 fighters and other armed groups in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The attacks come in spite of a June 27 Washington-brokered ceasefire agreement between the DRC government and Rwanda, which backs the M23 rebels.

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.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly told his ministers this week that he will seek cabinet approval for a plan to fully occupy the Gaza Strip. According to reports in the Israeli media, several ministers said Netanyahu used the term "occupation of the Strip" in private conversations describing his plan. One anonymous official was quoted as saying: "The die is cast—we are going for a full occupation of the Gaza Strip." Referring to IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, who is said to oppose such plans, the official added: "If the chief of staff doesn’t agree, he should resign." (ToI)

Amnesty International on July 28 called on Syria to investigate abductions of Alawite women and girls, and bring perpetrators to justice.

Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International's secretary general, said that the Syrian authorities must "act swiftly and transparently in locating missing women and girls, bringing perpetrators to justice, and providing affected families with timely, gender-sensitive and credible information and support."