UN agency for Palestinians readies to shutter operations in East Jerusalem after Israeli ban

PORT SUDAN: In a makeshift shelter carved out of a schoolyard in eastern Sudan, 14-year-old Hanim Mohammed uses her rap music to comfort families displaced by the country’s ongoing war.

For a few fleeting moments, the scars of 21 months of war seem to fade when families huddle together to hear Mohammed’s nostalgic rap lyrics about life before the war.

“When I play rap songs, everyone sings with me,” said Mohammed.

“This makes me so happy,” she said, lighting up with a radiant and captivating smile.

At a UN-sponsored space in the shelter, the young rapper, Nana, commanded the stage with electrifying energy.

Laughter and claps echoed through the air as women and children swayed and twirled to the beat — defying a war that has gripped the country since April 2023.

The conflict in Sudan has claimed the lives of tens of thousands, uprooted over 12 million people, and pushed Sudanese to the brink of famine.

The war, which has pitted army chief Gen. Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan against his erstwhile ally Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, triggered the “biggest humanitarian crisis ever recorded,” according to the International Rescue Committee.

Nana’s fans say her songs resonate deeply.

“The joy she brings is indescribable,” said Najwa Abdel Rahim, who attends Mohammed’s performances.

“I feel comfort and excitement when I listen to her music,” said Deir Fathi, another jubilant fan.

When the war erupted, Mohammed fled her hometown of Omdurman, the twin city of the capital Khartoum, with her family.

Now residing in a secondary school in Port Sudan, she uses rap to articulate her grief and preserve cherished memories of home, she said.

Her recollections of a once-vibrant city now fuel her creative expression, particularly in her poignant track “The Omdurman Tragedy.”

“You sit silently, and a fire breaks out. What do you do? Your brain itself is confused,” goes the song.

Mohammed’s love for rap took root for years, but the outbreak of war brought it home, pushing her to start writing her lyrics, she said. 

She has so far written nine songs.

“Most of the songs I composed were for the place I love the most and where I grew up — Omdurman,” she said.

“When the war erupted, this gave an even greater drive,” she added.

The teen rapper and her family share cramped quarters with dozens of displaced families at the shelter. Basic necessities are a daily struggle.

“The most difficult thing I faced was the water,” she said.

“Sometimes I found it salty, and other times it was bitter,” she added.

Conflict-ravaged Sudan, despite its many water sources, including the mighty Nile River, has long been parched and grappling with a water crisis.

Even before the war, a quarter of the population had to walk over 50 minutes to fetch water, according to the United Nations.

Now, from the arid western deserts of Darfur, through the lush Nile Valley, and to the shores of the Red Sea, a water crisis has hit 48 million war-weary Sudanese.

Yet Mohammed refuses to let such hardships keep her down.

Her music has become a lifeline for herself and the people who gather to watch her perform.

And Mohammed is not stopping there. In a small room at the shelter, she sat bent over her books — hoping to fulfill her dreams of becoming both a surgeon and a celebrated rapper.

But above all, she has one overriding wish: “The biggest wish I hope for is for the war to stop.”

WASHINGTON: There is “almost nothing left” of Gaza and rebuilding the war-ravaged enclave could take 10 to 15 years, US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff told Axios in an interview at the end of his trip to the region on Thursday.
“People are moving north to get back to their homes and see what happened and turn around and leave ... there is no water and no electricity. It is stunning just how much damage occurred there,” Witkoff told the news website after visiting Gaza.
Witkoff, a real estate investor and Trump campaign donor with business ties to Qatar and other states, was in the region to oversee implementation of a ceasefire deal between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
His assessment comes days after Trump floated the idea that some of Arab nations should get involved with and build “housing at a different location where they (Gazans) can maybe live in peace for a change.”
Any suggestion that Palestinians leave Gaza, territory they want to form part of an independent state, has been anathema to the Palestinian leadership for generations and repeatedly rejected by neighboring Arab states since the Gaza war began in October 2023.
Witkoff told Axios he had not discussed with Trump the idea of moving Palestinians from Gaza.
A UN damage assessment released this month showed that clearing over 50 million tons of rubble left in the aftermath of Israel’s bombardment could take 21 years and cost up to $1.2 billion.
The debris is believed to be contaminated with asbestos, with some refugee camps struck during the war known to have been built with the material. The rubble also likely holds human remains. The Palestinian Ministry of Health estimates that 10,000 bodies are missing under the debris.
“There has been this perception we can get to a solid plan for Gaza in five years. But it’s impossible. This is a 10 to 15 year rebuilding plan,” Witkoff told Axios.
“There is nothing left standing. Many unexploded ordnances. It is not safe to walk there. It is very dangerous. I wouldn’t have known this without going there and inspecting,” he said.