Almost three years on from its bloody coup, Myanmar’s military junta is facing the biggest threat to its hold on power as it fights wars on multiple fronts across the Southeast Asian nation.

In recent weeks, powerful armed ethnic militias have joined with resistance forces to mount major new offensives with unprecedented coordination, exposing the limits of the deeply unpopular junta’s capabilities as it loses strategic border towns, key military positions and vital trade routes at a scale not seen in decades, according to experts.

“The junta is actively collapsing right now and that’s only become possible because there is this wider effort across the country,” said Matthew Arnold, an independent Myanmar analyst.

Calling it an “existential moment for the military,” Arnold said the resistance is “now focused on taking major towns to fundamentally defeat the junta.”

An offensive named Operation 1027, launched in late October by an alliance of three powerful ethnic rebel armies in the country’s northeast, has since catalyzed into a nationwide push to take control of towns and areas in Myanmar’s north, west and southeast.

Nearly 200 civilians have been killed and 335,000 people newly displaced by the fighting since October 27, according to the United Nations.

Civil war between Myanmar’s myriad ethnic armies and successive military governments has raged for decades. But the latest escalation in fighting comes off the back of nationwide public resistance to army chief Min Aung Hlaing’s February 2021 coup, which sacked the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

The military’s post-coup crackdown on peaceful protesters and documented atrocities against civilians spurred people to take up arms and defend their towns and communities in Myanmar’s rural and urban centers.

Since then, battles between the military and resistance groups aligned with the anti-junta National Unity Government in exile have unfolded daily. Junta airstrikes and ground attacks on what the Myanmar military calls “terrorist” targets have killed thousands of civilians to date, including children, and displaced about 2 million people.

Those on the ground say they are ultimately fighting to get rid of the junta and establish a federal democracy in which all of Myanmar’s people have full rights and representation.

Routing out a deeply entrenched institution like the military, which has ruled for half a decade though brutality and fear, will not be straightforward, and the military’s refusal to back down could drag Myanmar deeper into conflict.

But while the latest escalation in conflict since October 27 has not yet stretched to major cities like Yangon, Mandalay, or Naypyidaw, it marks a turning point in that resistance. According to the UN office for humanitarian affairs (OCHA), armed clashes are now the biggest in scale and most extensive seen since the coup.

Turning point

Announcing its October offensive, the Three Brotherhood Alliance involving the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), the Kokang’s Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), Arakan Army (AA) and allied peoples defense forces, declared it was “dedicated to eradicating the oppressive military dictatorship.”

Its objectives were to “safeguard the lives of civilians, assert our right to self-defense, maintain control over our territory, and respond resolutely to ongoing artillery attacks and airstrikes.”

The alliance also vowed to combat the “the widespread online gambling fraud that has plagued Myanmar, particularly along the China-Myanmar border.”

In many of the towns dotted along the Chinese and Thai borders, Chinese-run compounds have boomed in recent years. Alleged to be centers of mass online fraud and illegal gambling and hosted by junta militias, they have trapped and trafficked thousands of people into working as online scammers.

Myanmar’s junta-installed president Myint Swe gave a rare warning at a defense and security meeting with the top brass in early November that, “if the government does not effectively manage the incidents happening in the border region, the country will be split into various parts.”

The junta has acknowledged it is engaged in “heavy assaults” and reportedly ordered all government staff and those with military experience in the capital to prepare to serve in case of emergency, according to Reuters. It has also imposed martial law in several northeast towns.

The armed forces “will continuously serve necessary security measures for ensuring peace and stability of the region,” it said during the defense meeting.

In state media, the junta has denied claims that it has stationed 14,000 troops in the capital Naypyidaw to protect the main military headquarters from the offensives, and denied it was recruiting public servants to attend military training, calling both “fake news and misinformation.”

Key border towns lost, reports of army troops surrendering

Severing those transport routes has cut off a vital revenue source for the internationally sanctioned and cash-strapped junta. The alliance claims control of Chin Shwe Haw and the roads leading to the town of Muse, through which 98% of all cross-border trade with China passes, amounting to $2.2 billion from April to October this year, according to Myanmar figures.

In western Rakhine state, ethnic minority armed group the Arakan Army (AA) renewed fighting after a year-long temporary ceasefire broke down, opening up a new front. Clashes with junta forces are ongoing in several townships and the town of Pauktaw has “turned into a war zone,” said U Nan Diya, a local village abbot monk.

There are also reports of army defections and whole battalions surrendering.

In hilly western Chin state, thousands of people have fled the fighting and crossed the Indian border to Mizoram. Among them were 43 Myanmar soldiers who fled after their military camps were seized by rebels, according to Mizoram police official Lalmalsawma Hnamte. Reuters reported that dozens were sent back to Myanmar.

“Because of lack of support from the civilians, the soldiers on the ground are lacking morale in fighting,” said Lin Lin, spokesperson for the Burma People’s Liberation Army, which is fighting in Myanmar’s north alongside the Three Brotherhood Alliance, and in the southeast.

“When we look at fighting leading to besieging towns, it’s not that they don’t have adequate weapons, but they lack the desire to fight, unlike before… Because of their lack of desire to fight, we are winning more.”

While some towns appeared to have fallen with relative ease, others say there is intense fighting in more central strongholds, where it is easier for the military to reinforce and resupply their troops.

“When the military column goes to a certain village, we try to distract them to not get to their targeted village by using offensive tactics. There are times we were outnumbered, we had to retreat, that’s when they attacked and destroyed the civilians,” said Bo Nagar, the BNRA commander in Sagaing region.

Military stretched thin

Analysts say ongoing losses suggest the military does not possess the sufficient manpower and fighting capabilities needed to retake them, despite relying on airstrikes and heavy weaponry.

“Predicting the ultimate outcome in the ongoing military progress is challenging, as I see it still in the initial phase of the resistance’s strategy. However, one certainty is that Operation 1027 has shifted the military equilibrium in favor of the resistance,” said Ye Myo Hein, fellow at the United States Institute of Peace and the Wilson Center. The military, he said, “is currently under relentless 360-degree attacks across the country.”

Analysis from Ye Myo Hein in May suggested the Sit-Tat, as the military is known, is much smaller than commonly thought, with about 150,000 personnel and 70,000 combat soldiers – “barely able to sustain itself as a fighting force, much less a government.”

There is rising concern that the junta is taking out its battlefield losses on the people.

Violence against civilians is a long-used Myanmar military strategy and there is a growing body of evidence that army troops have regularly bombed and burnt entire villages and committed other human rights abuses since the coup.

Since the start of the October offensive, monitoring groups have documented junta airstrikes and artillery hitting several Myanmar villages. On November 15, a military airstrike hit a village in Chin state’s Matupi, killing 11 people, including eight children, according to the National Unity Government.

What comes next

Saddled between global heavyweights China and India, with Thailand to its south and Bangladesh to its west, the fighting in Myanmar is threatening to disrupt relations with regional neighbors.

Without control of its borders and with fresh waves of refugees scattering into neighboring counties, the junta’s inability to bring stability to the nation risks angering one of its only global allies and main source of investment: China.

On Saturday, China’s military conducted live-fire drills and training on the Chinese side of the border with Myanmar, as fierce fighting raged on the Myanmar side, Chinese state media Global Times reported.

“The theater command forces are always prepared to respond to various emergencies and are resolute in safeguarding national sovereignty, border stability and the safety of the people’s lives and property,” said Senior Colonel Tian Junli, a spokesperson of the PLA Southern Theater Command, according to Global Times.

The paper reported the drills were part of annual training and were “defensive and aimed at safeguarding Chinese sovereignty, stability of border area and safety of personnel from impacts caused by the civil war in Myanmar, rather than an act to intervene in the internal affairs of the neighboring country.”

According to Arnold, Myanmar’s neighbors have now lost access to the country – a “brutal reality check” for the junta.

“All of the neighboring countries have invested significantly in maintaining positive relations with the junta. But as soon as they start to lose the access to Myanmar that changes their entire geopolitical calculus. I think it’s true of China, but it’s also true of India and Thailand,” he said.

Before 2011, Myanmar’s military ruled the country for more than half a century through brutality and fear, turning Myanmar into a poverty-stricken pariah nation.

Throughout years of conflict in Myanmar’s jungles and mountains, ethnic people have witnessed and been subjected to atrocities including massacres, rape and other forms of sexual violence, torture, forced labor and displacement by the armed forces, as well as state-sanctioned discrimination.

The coup abruptly ended a 10-year transition period that briefly ushered in greater democratic and economic reforms. But the military still retained outsized influence, and for many ethnic people the long documented abuses and violence continued under Suu Kyi’s civilian government.

Some analysts say Myanmar is now closer than ever to achieving that goal of defeating the junta.

“The important thing to be clear about is that a genocidal military can be defeated outright… That there’s not a need to have another 10 years of a so-called transition that is fundamentally premised or corrupted by the idea that you have to negotiate and accommodate a genocidal military,” said Arnold.

And there is cautious optimism among those fighting.

“In order to get to a federal democratic country for equal rights, we have become stronger by coordinating with each other,” said Bo Nagar.

“With this kind of unity, I believe we can quickly defeat the bullying military. And when it’s over, this kind of unity will be a foundation to rebuilding our country.”

A green pit viper coiled around a drainpipe, three blue-banded bees sleeping on a grass blade, and a gecko climbing a tree against the backdrop of a bustling city. They’re all part of Hong Kong-British wildlife photographer Lawrence Hylton’s extensive portfolio.

Despite being one of the most densely populated places in the world, Hong Kong is a diverse home to over 1,000 animal species, and boasts one third of all bird species in China. Many of these creatures only emerge at night, but that doesn’t stop 30-year-old Hylton from seeking them out.

Embarking on nocturnal safaris multiple times a week, Hylton says his mission is to promote conservation through his artistic approach to nature photography.

“I’m hoping people view [my photographs] as an opportunity to understand that nature isn’t as scary as we might deem them to be,” he said. “The key is to show that animals have a right to live here. Just because we fear them doesn’t mean that they don’t deserve to live.”

Reptiles and amphibians are among Hylton’s favorite animals to look for – particularly snakes, because of how misunderstood they are. Despite being important predators and ecological indicators, he says many snakes face persecution.

For Hylton, finding wildlife is the easiest part, but photographing them takes a lot of patience. “You’re working with a subject that doesn’t want to be disturbed, so it’s important to try and respect wildlife where we can,” he says. “The best thing we can do if we’re documenting is to capture what we need to capture and leave it be.”

Hylton started wildlife photography when he got his first camera at the age of 17, capturing “the odd bird dancing on the branch here and the cute ladybird trampling around on a leaf there,” but it wasn’t until he moved from the UK to Hong Kong and photographed a peregrine falcon swooping past that it became a passion.

In terms of nocturnal wildlife, apart from “blood-thirsty insects” and some feral dogs, Hong Kong is relatively safe to explore in the dark. With no large predators willing to harm humans, Hylton says all someone needs to get started as a night-time wildlife spotter is a torch, some common sense and to be mindful of the subjects they encounter.

Bosco Chan, director of conservation at WWF Hong Kong, says one reason why wildlife can survive and thrive in Hong Kong is that around 40% of its land is designated as “country parks,” one of the highest ratios of protected area in the world. Coupled with the city’s hilly terrain, animals can avoid human disturbances and hunting pressure.

But despite being home to hundreds of species, biodiversity loss is also a problem in Hong Kong. “A century or two ago, we had tigers, a leopard, and a civet called the large Indian civet, which was last found in the 1940s,” says Chan. “In recent years, we have lost a lowland frog species called the floating frog. It thrives in paddy fields but as we abandon rice farming, the frog is gone in Hong Kong.”

While organizations like the WWF are helping to conserve endangered populations such as the Eurasian otter, which according to Chan is “one of the last remaining kinds of urban otters in China,” Hylton thinks more can be done for Hong Kong’s natural habitats through education.

“We have lots of [hikers] who visit this area and fear snakes and fear the unknown. [It] makes people do silly things,” Hylton says. “Hopefully someday in the future, everyone can just enjoy nature as they came out to do.”

Rescuers on Tuesday successfully drilled through to 41 men trapped inside a collapsed Himalayan tunnel, as a weekslong evacuation effort fraught with uncertainty enters its final stretch.

The men have been trapped since November 12 when the part of tunnel they were helping to construct in India’s northern Uttarakhand state gave way, blocking their only exit with more than 60 meters (200 feet) of broken rock, concrete and twisted metal.

The breakthrough follows a series of agonizing setbacks, during which rescue efforts were halted when the heavy machinery used to drill through the debris broke down, forcing workers to partially dig by hand and adopt other riskier methods to bring them to safety.

Engineers had previously attempted to excavate the debris in the exit shaft using heavy machinery, but were forced to abandon efforts late on Friday after the powerful US-made drill they were using broke down just meters from the trapped men.

Rescuers were also simultaneously drilling downward through the unstable mountain terrain as a back up way to reach the trapped men. But in the end the initial plan proved successful.

With the drilling completed, rescuers then pushed a large pipe through the last part of the exit shaft for the men to be brought to safety.

“The work of laying pipes in the tunnel to take out the workers has been completed. Soon all the labor brothers will be taken out,” Pushkar Singh Dhami, Chief Minister Uttarakhand, wrote on X.

State district information officer Kirti Panwar a struck an optimistic tone that the workers would soon be reunited with their families.

“We are at the end of it all,” he said.

Mahi Shah, the brother-in-law of a laborer trapped inside, who is at the tunnel entrance, said rescuers have gone inside the tunnel.

Indrajeet Kumar, whose brothers Subodh and Biswajit were among those trapped said families were standing and waiting for their loved ones to walk out.

“They are not out yet, but we have been told to be ready to accompany them for medical aid soon,” he said.

Video broadcast on local television showed jubilant scenes outside the tunnel, with workers smiling and breaking into song after the drilling stopped. An ambulance could be seen driving into the tunnel.

The laborers – all migrant workers from some of India’s poorest states – have been receiving food, water and oxygen through a 53-meter (173 foot) pipe that has been inserted through the debris and authorities say they remain in good health.

Doctors on site have kept in regular contact with the men inside, giving them tips on how to remain positive and calm. Their families have been gathering at the tunnel exit each day to pray for their safe return.

The tunnel is part of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Char Dham Highway route, a controversial multimillion dollar project to upgrade. the country’s transport network and improve connectivity to important Hindu pilgrimage sites in the region.

This is a breaking news story. More to come.

A Russian-Israeli hostage who managed to escape from Hamas was recaptured by Gazans and returned to the militants, before being finally released on Sunday, his aunt has said.

Roni Kriboy was abducted from the Nova music festival during the Hamas terror attack on October 7, and was then held at a building in Gaza, Yelena Magid told Israeli radio station Kan Reshet B on Monday.

The 25-year-old dual national managed to escape when the building was bombed, but after hiding out for a few days, he was caught and returned to Hamas, Magid said during a call to the radio station.

“He said that he was kidnapped by terrorists and they brought him inside some building,” she said.

“I understood from the bombings, the building collapsed and he managed to escape from there… and for several days he hid there and was alone and in the end the Gazans caught him and returned him to the hands of the terrorists,” Magid added.

“He tried to reach the border. I think that because he didn’t have the means to understand his whereabouts and where to run away, he probably got into a bit of disorientation there in the area. He was alone for four days,” she added.

Kriboy suffered a head injury when the building he was being held in collapsed, but is doing fine now, Magid told the radio station.

Kriboy is the first adult male captured on October 7 to be released by Hamas. His release was not officially part of the hostages-for-prisoners deal between Israel and Hamas.

That deal paved the way for potentially 50 women and children held captive in Gaza to be released, while Israel will release up to 150 Palestinian women and child detainees.

Hamas credited Kriboy’s release to the intervention of Russian President Vladimir Putin and “the supportive Russian position for the Palestinian cause.”

Magid said her nephew’s parents moved from Russia to Israel in 1992, six years before Kriboy was born. “The boy was born here and grew up here all of his life. He hardly speaks Russian,” she told the radio station.

Amir Tal reported from Jerusalem, and Stephanie Halasz wrote in London.

Alex Sherman has only been able to sleep a few hours each night since his son Ron was taken away from an army base close to Gaza on October 7 by Hamas militants. Because Ron is a soldier, Sherman worries the 19-year-old will be among the hardest to negotiate out of Gaza.

The retiree is desperate to be reunited with his son, but thinks fighting will resume before it happens. Hamas’ political leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, “will keep Ron very close to him – my son is like a human shield,” he predicted.  It’s a fear shared by many families of soldiers abducted by Hamas.

Each weekend since the Hamas attacks, Sherman has taken part in a rally in Tel Aviv for the hostage families. This swelled in size on Saturday, as Israelis urged their government to work toward the release of all the hostages captured on October 7, and a potential extension of the current pause in fighting.

Under the truce agreement between Israel and Hamas, groups of Israeli citizens and other nationals have been freed from Gaza every day since Friday, while Israel has released Palestinian women and children detainees.

Qatar’s foreign ministry announced Monday that an agreement had been reached to extend the truce in Gaza by an additional two days.

Israel had earlier indicated that it would be open to a daily extension for every 10 new hostages released by Hamas after the four-day deal ends, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu describing the possibility as “welcome” when talking Sunday to US President Joe Biden.

Hamas had also expressed interest in extending the truce “through serious efforts to increase the number of those released from imprisonment as stipulated in the humanitarian ceasefire agreement.”

It’s a move which has the support of key nations, including the United States and Qatar, and would provide further respite for civilians in Gaza who have endured weeks of Israeli bombardment and a worsening humanitarian crisis.

Another potential complication is that Hamas does not itself hold all the Israelis abducted into Gaza. An estimated 40 to 50 are thought to be held by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, as well as other groups or individuals.

And despite international calls for a ceasefire that would bring sustained humanitarian relief to Gaza, the Israeli government has said it is committed to continuing the war until its goal of eliminating Hamas is achieved.

Eyal said the Israeli public is largely behind the government’s war effort and is united in a desire to get as many hostages back as possible before “the second part of the war” begins.

What may come next in the war?

Once the truce is over, Israel is expected to continue its ground and air operation – and has already indicated that it could expand its focus to the south of the enclave. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) dropped leaflets on parts of southern Gaza in mid-November, warning communities east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza to “head towards known shelters.” Large numbers of Gazans have already moved south, heeding earlier IDF warnings to leave the northern part of the strip.

However, Eyal said Hamas would be unlikely to agree to such a move. “Israeli cabinet ministers want that, the US wants that, Egypt wants that, and I presume many Palestinians in the Gaza Strip would want it too, but I am not sure it is going to happen,” he said.

Critics say Israel’s leaders have yet to provide a clear vision for post-war Gaza as they focus on eradicating Hamas from Gaza.  

According to Eyal, there is “consensus” within Israel that the war needs to end “with military control of the Gaza Strip.”

“Israel cannot survive in this region with Hamas just across the border,” Eyal added. A survey by the Israel Democracy Institute, conducted November 19-20, found that about half of all Jewish and Arab Israeli respondents believed the most important goal of Israel’s war on Hamas was securing the release of all hostages in Gaza. About a third of Jewish respondents said toppling Hamas was the most important goal, with a tenth citing “restoring deterrence” and 3% giving “distancing Gaza residents from Israel and creating a buffer zone,” as the most important aim. A majority of those surveyed did not believe the Israeli government has a clear plan of action for when the fighting in Gaza ends.

Nevertheless, whenever Israel’s war restarts, it will be amid mounting global diplomatic pressure to lessen the impact on civilians in Gaza, where the death toll has already surpassed 14,000, according to the enclave’s Hamas-controlled interior ministry.

On Saturday, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant that more humanitarian aid needed to get into Gaza – a logistical challenge given Israel’s campaign of airstrikes – and “that civilians must have safe areas to receive aid across Gaza, which will require deconfliction with the United Nations,” according to a readout of the call.

“It will be very difficult for the Israeli military to plan ahead around these conditions,” said Oren, of Haaretz.

“The real issue is that Israel has lost control of the (events) – it is up to others, from Sinwar to Biden, to decide the next course” of action, he added.

Stuck in the middle are the families of the hostages, who tread a fine line between maintaining pressure to secure their loved ones’ release and staying apolitical for the sake of the broad political church that supports and is part of the hostage family movement.

The president of Sierra Leone has described a foiled assault on a military barracks in the capital Freetown as an “attack on democracy.”

In a video statement posted on X, formerly Twitter, late Sunday, President Maada Bio said most of the ringleaders had been arrested and calm restored. He vowed to “ensure that those responsible are held accountable through due process.”

Bio said in the statement following the attacks on the barracks, there was also a security breach at a Freetown prison, where an undisclosed number of inmates escaped.

The news sparked fears of another potential coup attempt in West Africa.

A nationwide curfew was imposed following an attack in the early hours of Sunday on the military barracks, leading to widespread flight disruption.

Authorities revised the indefinite curfew, saying it would now run from 9:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. daily local time, starting Monday.

The country’s airspace was also closed but the country’s aviation authority later said the Freetown International Airport would resume full operations after the curfew was lifted.

“This will be in effect until further notice,” the country’s information ministry said.

A divisive election

President Bio described the incident as an “attack on democracy,” but did not state outright that it was a coup attempt. Global condemnation has however been swift.

In a strong statement, the West African regional bloc ECOWAS said it “has learnt with utter disgust a plot by certain individuals to acquire arms and disturb the peace and constitutional order in Sierra Leone.”

ECOWAS, which has been trying to prevent a contagion effect after a spate of coups in the region, called for the prosecution of the masterminds behind the attacks while reiterating its “zero tolerance for unconstitutional change of government.” 

The US embassy in Sierra Leone condemned the attacks while adding in another statement on X, on Monday that: “We honor and remember those who gave their lives yesterday in defense of Sierra Leone’s Constitution and government.”

Sierra Leone has grappled with a political crisis since the conclusion of a disputed general election in June. Bio was sworn in for a second term after being declared winner of a fiercely contested presidential election that was fraught with controversies and described by international observers as “lacking adequate levels of transparency.”

According to local media in the West African nation, there have been three failed coup attempts to depose Bio’s government in the last year.

West Africa has been plagued by recurring coups in recent years, including one in Sierra Leone’s closest neighbor Guinea.

Bio assured residents following the Sunday attacks saying, “As your Commander in Chief, I want to assure everybody who is resident in Sierra Leone that we have overcome this challenge, and together, we will continue on the path of progress and development.”

An agreement has been reached to extend the truce in Gaza between Israel and Hamas by two more days, Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari said on Monday on X.

The announcement comes after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a call on Monday with the prime minister of Qatar, which helped broker the original four-day truce, according to a source familiar with the discussions.

Egypt had said earlier that there were ongoing efforts to extend the pause by two days.

The four-day truce in Gaza, which was slated to end on Tuesday, marked the first major diplomatic breakthrough in the conflict, bringing temporary respite for Palestinians in the besieged enclave and allowing the release of 40 Israeli hostages.

Hamas said it agreed with Qatar and Egypt, to extend the truce for an additional two days “under the same conditions reached before.”

Regev said that under the agreement Hamas will release 10 hostages each day.

“For every 10 hostages released, we’re willing to give an extension of another day, and if Hamas will release Israeli hostages as agreed we will extend — that’s the bottom line,” Regev said.

Regev said he believes the hostages released over the next two days would be women and children.

“My understanding is that there’s still enough women and children in Gaza held by Hamas for the next 20,” Regev said.

Regev credited US President Joe Biden for helping arrange the parameters of the deal.

“These were negotiated with the help of President Biden and we thank him for putting his effort and his office behind these arrangements. I don’t think we would have reached the deal without his input,” he said.

In a statement, Biden praised the extension and said he has been “deeply engaged” as the truce has played out. He went on to thank the leaders of Israel, Qatar, and Egypt “for their commitment to this process and in reaching the agreement for an extension.”

“We will not stop until all of the hostages held by Hamas terrorists are released,” he added.

Israeli and US officials believed that there were more women and children being held in captivity than 50, but agreed to the terms of the deal as Hamas insisted that it needed to use the pause in fighting to gather up additional hostages.

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby welcomed news of the extension of the truce Monday, saying that “Hamas has committed to releasing another 20 women and children over the next two days.” The White House also said they “hope to see” the pause extended further.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story said the prime minister of Qatar held a call with President Biden. This has been corrected.

The United Arab Emirates’ team organizing the COP28 climate talks that begin this week was planning to use its position as host of the summit to strike new oil and gas deals with foreign governments, a cache of leaked documents shows.

The documents, which were published by the UK-registered Centre for Climate Reporting, appear to be briefing notes for Sultan Al Jaber — who will preside over the UN climate negotiations — for meetings with foreign officials in the run-up to the summit. They are organized as country profiles, with each document describing talking points for Al Jaber to raise in the meetings.

The documents detail each country’s climate progress in key areas — including finance, decarbonizing food systems, uptake of renewables — and identify how their ambitions could be raised.

But among those points are also several suggestions to offer new oil and gas projects with the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), which Al Jaber leads.

The documents were first shared with the BBC.

In addition to documents’ talking points around climate issues and promoting ADNOC are other suggestions to promote projects with the UAE’s main renewables vehicle, Masdar, which Al Jaber also runs.

The US, China, France, Germany and the UK are among the countries with briefing notes published by the Centre for Climate Reporting. The organization said there were 27 country profiles in all, but that it had decided to share 15.

The Conference of the Parties (COP) host country, which changes every year, typically sends its nominated president-designate to meet with foreign officials to try and ramp up climate action ahead of the talks. The briefing notes read as would be expected for such meetings, until the end of each country’s notes, where suggestions to promote ADNOC and Masdar are included.

UN rules say these meeting should not be used to promote the economic interests of the host country. According to the UN’s climate body, the UNFCCC, an elected or appointed COP official should remain “impartial” throughout the process. They are expected to act “without bias, prejudice, favoritism, caprice, self-interest, preference or deference” in the process, according to the body’s code of ethics. “They are also expected to ensure that personal views and convictions do not compromise or appear to compromise their role and functions as UNFCCC Officer.”

Among the talking points outlined in the leaked briefing notes was that ADNOC was ready to “expand” its provision liquefied natural gas, or LNG, to Germany. Methane, the main component of natural gas, is a significant contributor to climate change. The leaked notes said ADNOC has already provided some LNG to the country in February 2023 to help it wean of Russian gas, part of Germany’s new strategy since Russia launched its war on Ukraine.

ADNOC has the ambition to supply up to 25% of Germany’s hydrogen import demand, the notes say. Hydrogen can be made from natural gas, which the UAE has large reserves of.

Another document showed a talking point for China centered around ADNOC’s growth supporting energy security in the country, saying that the company was willing to “jointly evaluate” opportunities for LNG projects in places including Mozambique, Canada and Australia.

The UAE wants to be removed from Brazil’s tax haven list, which would allow Masdar to invest more in the country, the briefing for that country showed. They also suggested Venezuelan “resources” could be monetized, since the US relaxed its energy sanctions on the country, and that ADNOC and Masdar could help Azerbaijan become an energy hub for Europe, “exporting natural gas and potentially clean electricity.”

The other briefing notes shared were for Egypt, Kenya, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Saudi Arabia and Switzerland. The notes did not suggest oil and gas projects would be discussed with all those countries.

For the US, for example, the briefing notes touch on potential renewable energy deals, saying Masdar hoped to grow its presence in the US by carrying out “acquisitions” in the short term.

The COP28 climate talks come at a critical time, as scientists say the world is “virtually certain” to have experienced its hottest year on record in 2023, extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and severe, and the Earth is approaching a series of crucial tipping points.

Greenpeace International said that the content of the briefings, if true, were “totally unacceptable and a real scandal.”

“The climate summit leader should be focused on advancing climate solutions impartially, not backroom deals that are fuelling the crisis,” Kaisa Kosonen, policy coordinator at Greenpeace International, said in a statement. “This is exactly the kind of conflict of interest we feared when the CEO of an oil company was appointed to the role.”

“This summit is the world’s most powerful forum to avert the biggest threat to the survival of humankind, and we urge the Presidency to act accordingly.”

For more than six weeks, the conditions in which the Israeli hostages captured by Hamas were being held in Gaza were virtually unknown to the outside world.

But testimony from some of the hostages released by the militant group in recent days is now beginning to emerge, giving a glimpse into their lives in captivity following Hamas’ brutal attack on Israel on October 7.

Those who have spoken of their experiences described living off limited supplies, as bombs rained overhead. Some knew throughout their time as hostages that family members or friends had died on the day of Hamas’ assault, while others were left without clues as to their safety.

Adva Adar, whose 85-year-old grandmother Yafa was among those released in the first exchange of hostages for Palestinian detainees, said her family “were asked to let (Yafa) share whatever she feels comfortable sharing, and not to ask a lot of questions so she wouldn’t feel obligated (to answer) or that it wouldn’t be too much for her.”

Adva said her grandmother had lost weight during the ordeal, and other hostages have revealed that little food was available for those in captivity.

Rice and bread

Freed hostages Keren Munder, her mother and her 9-year-old son endured days with only pita bread to eat during their captivity, her cousin Merav Mor Raviv told journalists Sunday.

Munder and her mother both lost between six and eight kilograms in weight due to the lack of regular nutrition, Mor Raviv said, adding: “They were eating, but not regularly.”

Their diet in captivity included a lot of rice and bread, she added.

Following the Israeli military’s strikes and ground offensive on Gaza, the Strip has been gripped by a humanitarian crisis. Most people in the territory have been focusing on the basics: finding shelter, fleeing the fighting and getting access to food and water.

Over the first three days of the truce, Hamas released a total of 58 hostages, primarily women and children, and Israel freed 117 Palestinian prisoners.

For some of them, the conditions were manageable. Roongarun Wichanguen, the sister of released Thai hostage Vetoon Phoome, said Saturday that her brother seemed healthy after he was released by Hamas in a separate deal.

“His face was very happy, and he seemed OK. He said that he was not tortured, or assaulted, and had been fed good food,” she said in a video interview. “He was taken care of very well. It looks like he just stayed in a house, not the tunnel,” she added.

But a number of hostages have been admitted to hospital with serious injuries or medical conditions.

Eighty-four-year-old Alma Avraham, who was among the Israeli hostages freed from Gaza on Sunday, has been admitted to the intensive care unit, Israel’s Soroka Medical Center said.

“She is in critical condition, she is (being) treated in the emergency department after significant medical neglect for the past several weeks while being held by Hamas. She is currently in unstable condition with risks to her life,” Dr. Shlomi Codish, chief executive of Soroka Medical Center, said in a video statement Sunday.

Another hostage, 72-year-old Adina Moshe, endured “horrible” conditions while she was held captive, according to her nephew.

“They were fed only by rice and some beans from [a] can, which they tried to avoid [eating] in order not to have stomach-ache,” he said. “Not to mention that they didn’t have any decent facilities like [a] shower. They didn’t shower for seven weeks.”

Escape attempt thwarted

Yelena Magid, an aunt of freed Russian-Israeli hostage Roni Kriboy, on Monday told Israeli radio station Kan Reshet B about her nephew’s ordeal in Gaza. Kriboy is the first adult Israeli male captured on October 7 to be released by Hamas; his release was not officially part of the hostages-for-detainees deal between Israel and Hamas.

Magid said in a phone call that Kriboy, 25, had told her how he was held in a building that collapsed while being bombed, and he managed to escape, he told his aunt. But after hiding for a few days, he was caught and returned to Hamas captivity.

“He tried to reach the border. I think that because he didn’t have the means to understand his whereabouts and where to run away, he probably got into a bit of disorientation there in the area. He was alone for four days,” Magid told the radio station.

Kriboy suffered from a head injury in the building collapse, but is now doing fine, his aunt added.

Meanwhile, some hostages were aware during their captivity that loved ones been killed on October 7.

Omri Almog, the brother of an Israeli hostage who was released Sunday together with two of her children, described on Monday how his sister knew that her husband and daughter had been slaughtered.

“I’m very happy to inform everybody that my sister Chen Goldstein-Almog and the three kids Agam, Gal and Tal are back with us and they (are) feeling good and well,” Almog said in a short video released by the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum.

“They knew the whole time that Nadav and Yam were murdered in the house… they went to Gaza as hostages, kidnapped, with this idea,” he said. Chen Goldstein-Almog’s daughter Yam was 20 when she was killed, while her husband Nadav was 48.

Another hostage, 13-year-old Hila Rotem Shoshani, was released by Hamas on Saturday, but her mother Raaya remains in detention.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has said that their separation violates the terms of the deal.

“I urge all the parties involved to pressure Hamas to respect the deal,” Yair told Blitzer.

“We need to respect it, they need to respect it. Stop playing those games,” he added.

That creates a complication in potentially extending the length of truce, because the agreement calls for Hamas to hand over the hostages in exchange for Palestinian detainees held by Israel – so Hamas must have the hostages to hand over.

As the bulldozers worked their way through the remains of the southern Gaza town of Al Qarara on Sunday morning, a group of people watched with anxiety.

They were hoping the truce between Hamas and Israel would allow enough time for the bodies of their loved ones to be recovered from underneath the rubble.

Then they can finally be buried.

For nearly seven weeks, most people in the Gaza Strip have been just trying to survive, focusing on the basics: finding shelter, fleeing the fighting, getting access to food and water.

The pause in hostilities has given Gazans a moment to breathe – and take stock of the devastation around them.

The town of Al Qarara is in the southern Khan Younis governorate, an area that has seen a marked increase in the damage to buildings in the past two weeks, according to analysis of radar satellite data.

One woman, called Um Ihab, said Sunday was the first time she had been out with her family. “We were always afraid of going out and being struck by rockets and airstrikes. But since the first day of the ceasefire, we have been able to go buy what we need safely,” she said. “For 47 days, we were living in war and fear. Our kids were terrified.”

“Everything seemed very expensive, not like before (the war),” she said, adding: “We thank God that at least we can come and feel safe.”

The market had been deserted for most of the past seven weeks, with most shops closed and people afraid to go out. On Sunday, it was buzzing with activity, shoppers rushing out to stock up, children running around among the stalls with vegetables, garbage piling up on the sides of the streets.

Yet for many in Gaza, the truce brought heartache as they were able to see the full scale of the devastation for the first time. The weeks of fighting have left entire neighbourhoods levelled to the ground. Thousands of people have been killed.

Of the 2 million people living in Gaza, 1.7 million are internally displaced, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).

The situation is most dire in northern parts of Gaza, where some civilians have remained despite repeated orders by the Israel Defense Forces to evacuate to the southern part of the Gaza Strip.

As part of the truce agreement, more humanitarian aid is now allowed into Gaza.

On Saturday, 61 trucks delivered food, water, and emergency medical supplies to northern Gaza, according to the United Nations. It was the largest shipment to reach the north since October 7 – but nowhere near enough to meet people’s needs.

Hamas said on Saturday night the truce agreement could be in danger if sufficient trucks failed to make it to northern Gaza, where the needs are greatest. The dispute over the amount of aid entering Gaza contributed to a brief delay in the planned handover of a group of hostages held by Hamas on Saturday.

UNRWA said Sunday the amount of aid reaching the Gaza Strip remained completely insufficient.

“We need 200 aid trucks a day continuously for two months at least to meet the needs. We need even more fuel so we can operate the services and sectors we support, like water desalination, sewage, hospitals, bakeries and UNRWA services and communications. The aid going in at the moment is just a drop in the ocean of humanitarian needs,” said Adnan Abu Hasna, UNRWA media adviser.

Before the war, about 455 trucks entered Gaza daily with aid supplies, according to the United Nations.

“The (humanitarian) situation in northern Gaza is dangerous, there is no drinking water and no food, so the aid we are sending is important. Today we are also sending convoys towards Gaza City and northern Gaza. The humanitarian situation is dangerous in both southern and northern Gaza,” he added.