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It is often said that water is a blessing in South Sudan but the people who live in this impoverished nation have been given good reason to reconsider an unquestionable truth.

Two years of unprecedented flooding has changed the way the country looks, with thousands of kilometres of rich agricultural land now lying under water.

In the counties which surround the town of Bor, in Jonglei state, some 200,000 people have been forced to seek higher ground after an island formed on their land.

Huge areas of rich agricultural land are now under water
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Huge areas of rich agricultural land are now under water

In communities where residents raised cattle and grew cereals like sorghum, fish now dart through the water and large water lilies have spread themselves on the surface.

The entire ecosystem, in an area of some 1,300 square kilometres, has changed beyond recognition.

The neatly constructed roofs of numerous towns and villages are visible above the water line but there is no sign – or sound – of life from within. The highways and byways have been washed away.

We hitched a lift to Bor on a helicopter with the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP), which is now supporting 2.6 million people in South Sudan with emergency food aid.

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But there is no way to move beyond Bor and into the floodlands in a conventional vehicle.

Instead, the WFP uses amphibious craft called “sherps”, and Sky News was given a couple of seats in the back of one of these contraptions on a mission to save an ageing dyke.

The floodwaters overwhelming the counties of Jonglei state stem from two separate sources.

Displaced children wade through floodwaters after the River Nile broke the dykes in Pibor last year
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Children wade through floodwaters after the Nile broke the dykes in Pibor last year

Much of the water has flowed from Lake Victoria – at the head of the Nile river system – some 800 kilometres to the north.

Unprecedented rainfall has been flowing into the lake since summer 2019.

The Ugandans, who control the dam at the top of the Nile, have been releasing water to prevent what is known as “backflow” from destroying communities on the lake itself.

As a result, the White Nile has burst its banks to devastating effect in South Sudan.

The second source is found in last year’s rainy season – which never actually stopped in South Sudan.

An aerial view shows flooded homes within a village after the River Nile broke the dykes in Jonglei State, South Sudan last year
The UN uses special vehicles to get around
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The UN uses special vehicles to get around

Now, this year’s monsoon is scheduled to start. The cumulative effect of both events has resulted in fundamental environmental change.

The UN is trying to restore an aging dyke in the vicinity of Bor.

It would allow tens of thousands of people to return to the land, but the earthworks have been destroyed in more than 40 places by the flooding.

Local people want to get back to farming
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Local people want to get back to farming

We watched small groups of men lug 80kg bags of sand and mud into position in just one of these sizable gaps.

There are 1,500 working on the dyke and all are men who used to farm in the area. Now they live in displacement camps in surrounding towns and villages and everyone here dreams of returning to the land.

“We need to protect our territory – this is our territory and the water is beyond our control,” said a young man called Mangol Guy Peter.

“God has taken but he will also provide.”

But the state minister for housing in Jonglei, Elijah Mabior Bol, is less certain about God’s role. He suspects his nation will bear the brunt of decisions made by human beings in far flung places.

The state minister for housing in Jonglei state thinks global warming is to blame
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The state minister for housing in Jonglei state thinks global warming is to blame

“It is when you have given up of thinking, scientifically, that’s why you say it is God,” he said.

“But to us, we say it is global warning. I remember in 1966 and 1967 we used to walk here from Bor on foot and now it is different territory. I can’t believe it – I can’t believe this was the soil we used to walk on when in elementary school in the 60s. It has totally changed.”

The people who grew cereals and raised animals in this region have gone. Those who remain must fish or grind flowers of water lilies into small amounts of cereal.

It is a difficult new world and they are trying to adapt.

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Bodies of four hostages returned to Israel – and why finding others will be ‘massive challenge’

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Bodies of four hostages returned to Israel - and why finding others will be 'massive challenge'

The families of 24 dead hostages are still waiting to have their bodies returned from Gaza.

Only four bodies were transferred by Hamas to Israel on Monday. It remains to be seen when the remains of the remaining hostages will be handed over.

Here’s what we know about the four hostages whose bodies have been returned, while the families of others who have been declared dead await word from Israeli authorities on the fate of their loved ones.

Gaza latest: ‘Six killed’ as Israeli troops open fire on ‘suspects’

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Jubilation as hostage families reunited

Who are the four hostages whose bodies have been found?

The bodies of Yossi Sharabi, Guy Illouz, Daniel Peretz and Bipin Joshi have been returned to Israel.

The Israeli military has officially identified the bodies of Mr Illouz and Mr Joshi.

The two men were both in their 20s when Hamas took then during the October 7 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the war.

Mr Illouz, who is from Israel, was taken from the Nova music festival, while Mr Joshi, a student from Nepal, was taken from a bomb shelter.

Israel said Mr Illouz died from his wounds while being held captive without proper medical treatment, while Mr Joshi was murdered in captivity during the first months of the war.

Palestinians walk past the rubble of destroyed buildings in Gaza City. Pic: Reuters
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Palestinians walk past the rubble of destroyed buildings in Gaza City. Pic: Reuters

What about the remaining hostages’ bodies?

Hamas has said recovering the remaining bodies could take time, as not all burial sites are known. Israeli authorities have said some of those remains may not be located.

The Red Cross said it will take time to hand over the remains of hostages and detainees killed in the war, calling it a “massive challenge” considering the difficulties of finding bodies amid Gaza’s rubble.

“That’s an even bigger challenge than having the people alive being released. That’s a massive challenge,” said Christian Cardon, spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross.

He said it could take days or weeks – and there was a possibility some may never be found.

An international task force will work to locate the bodies of the deceased hostages who are not returned within 72 hours, said Gal Hirsch, Israel’s coordinator for the hostages and the missing.

What has been the response of hostages’ families?

The Israeli Hostages Families Forum has called for the suspension of the ceasefire agreement, saying “Hamas’s violation of the agreement must be met with a very serious response”.

“We demand all 28 hostages back. We will not give up on anyone, until the last hostage is returned,” it added.

Under US President Donald Trump’s ceasefire agreement, all the hostages – including the deceased – should be returned as part of the first phase of the ceasefire.

Read more:
Inside rooms where hostages will spend first nights of freedom
Songs of celebration in Tel Aviv as crowds greet hostages

Twin brothers Gali and Ziv Berman embraced after their release. Pic: IDF
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Twin brothers Gali and Ziv Berman embraced after their release. Pic: IDF

Released Israeli hostage Omri Miran is reunited with his wife Lishay Miran-Lav. Pic: IDF
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Released Israeli hostage Omri Miran is reunited with his wife Lishay Miran-Lav. Pic: IDF

Release of living hostages brings pause to two years of war

On Monday, Hamas released all 20 living hostages, bringing a pause to two years of war that has levelled much of Gaza and killed tens of thousands of Palestinians.

Crowds in Khan Younis in southern Gaza cheer freed Palestinian prisoners released by Israel. Pics: Reuters
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Crowds in Khan Younis in southern Gaza cheer freed Palestinian prisoners released by Israel. Pics: Reuters

Tens of thousands of Israelis watched the hostage transfer at public screenings across the country. Tap on their pictures to read more about the hostages:

The hostages were exchanged for more than 1,900 Palestinian prisoners – including 250 serving life sentences for convictions for attacks on Israelis, as well as 1,700 Gazans detained during the war.

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Who are the released Palestinian prisoners?

Issues remain with ceasefire plan

The exchange of hostages and prisoners has raised hopes it marks the end of the bloody conflict between Israel and Hamas.

A second phase of the plan, which all sides have yet to agree on, could see Israeli troops withdraw from Gaza.

However, issues remain, such as whether Hamas will disarm, and who will govern Gaza.

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Trump addresses Knesset – key moments

Trump calls for new era of peace in Middle East

Mr Trump travelled to the region to celebrate the deal.

He received a rapturous welcome and multiple standing ovations as he addressed Israel’s parliament, though at one point he was heckled by two left-wing politicians who were ejected from the chamber after they interrupted his speech.

“This is a historic dawn of a new Middle East,” Mr Trump told the Knesset.

“Generations from now this will be remembered as the moment that everything began to change, and change very much for the better.”

Donald Trump gives a speech during the world leaders' summit  on ending the Gaza war. Pic: Reuters
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Donald Trump gives a speech during the world leaders’ summit on ending the Gaza war. Pic: Reuters

Mr Trump later travelled to the Egyptian Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh, where he called for a new era of peace in the Middle East, saying the region has “a once-in-a-lifetime chance to put the old feuds and bitter hatreds behind us”.

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Speaking to world leaders attending the summit, he urged them “to declare that our future will not be ruled by the fights of generations past”.

The war began when Hamas stormed into Israel on October 7 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage.

Israel invaded Gaza in retaliation, with airstrikes and ground assaults devastating much of the enclave and killing more than 67,000, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

Its figures do not differentiate between civilians and combatants but it says around half of those killed were women and children.

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Trump achieves something remarkable, but will his ‘goldfish’ attention span stay the course?

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Trump achieves something remarkable, but will his 'goldfish' attention span stay the course?

Two things can be true at the same time – an adage so apt for the past day. 

This was the Trump show. There’s no question about that. It was a show called by him, pulled off for him, attended by leaders who had no other choice and all because he craves the ego boost.

Gaza deal signed – as it happened

But the day was also an unquestionable and game-changing geopolitical achievement.

World leaders, including Trump and Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, pose for a family photo. Pic: Reuters
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World leaders, including Trump and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, pose for a family photo. Pic: Reuters

Trump stopped the war, he stopped the killing, he forced Hamas to release all the hostages, he demanded Israel to free prisoners held without any judicial process, he enabled aid to be delivered to Gaza, and he committed everyone to a roadmap, of sorts, ahead.

He did all that and more.

He also made the Israel-Palestine conflict, which the world has ignored for decades, a cause that European and Middle Eastern nations are now committed to invest in. No one, it seems, can ignore Trump.

Love him or loathe him, those are remarkable achievements.

‘Focus of a goldfish’

The key question now is – will he stay the course?

One person central to the negotiations which have led us to this point said to me last week that Trump has the “focus of a goldfish”.

Benjamin Netanyahu applauds while Trump addresses the Knesset, Israel's parliament. Pic: Reuters
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Benjamin Netanyahu applauds while Trump addresses the Knesset, Israel’s parliament. Pic: Reuters

It’s true that he tends to have a short attention span. If things are not going his way, and it looks likely that he won’t turn out to be the winner, he quickly moves on and blames someone else.

So, is there a danger of that with this? Let’s check in on it all six months from now (I am willing to be proved wrong – the Trump-show is truly hard to chart), but my judgement right now is that he will stay the course with this one for several reasons.

First, precisely because of the show he has created around this. Surely, he won’t want it all to fall apart now?

He has invested so much personal reputation in all this, I’d argue that even he wouldn’t want to drop it, even when the going gets tough – which it will.

Second, the Abraham Accords. They represented his signature foreign policy achievement in his first term – the normalisation of relations between Israel and the Muslim world.

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Trump’s peace summit: As it happened

Back in his first presidency, he tried to push the accords through without solving the Palestinian question. It didn’t work.

This time, he’s grasped the nettle. Now he wants to bring it all together in a grand bargain. He’s doing it for peace but also, of course, for the business opportunities – to help “make America great again”.

Peace – and prosperity – in the Middle East is good for America. It’s also good for Trump Inc. He and his family are going to get even richer from a prosperous Middle East.

Read more:
Trump hails ‘peace in the Middle East’
His team ripped up golden rule to pull off peace plan

Then there is the Nobel Peace Prize. He didn’t win it this year. He was never going to – nominations had to be in by January.

But next year he really could win – especially if he solves the Ukraine challenge too.

If he could bring his coexistence and unity vibe to his own country – rather than stoking the division – he may stand an even greater chance of winning.

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Trump warned his plan for future of Gaza ‘doesn’t make sense’

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Trump warned his plan for future of Gaza 'doesn't make sense'

One of the most high-profile and influential Palestinian politicians has told Sky News that Donald Trump is now “calling the shots” for Israel – and warned it “doesn’t make sense” to have a Western-led government ruling Gaza or the return of a “British mandate” under Sir Tony Blair.

Nasser al-Qudwa, 72, insisted Hamas should be involved in the territory’s future and that a new structure is needed that would allow a single authority to govern both the West Bank and Gaza.

Gaza deal signed – as it happened

It comes after Donald Trump hailed the signing of a peace deal in Egypt on Monday – the first phase of a plan to end the two-year Gaza war, which included the return of all 20 living Israeli hostages.

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Peace deal signed – but will it hold?

But there is much in the president’s 20-point proposal for Gaza still to be made real, chiefly a “board of peace” to oversee the creation of a transitional authority. It would be chaired by Mr Trump, who has floated a role for former UK prime minister Sir Tony and does not want a role for Hamas.

Al-Qudwa is strongly tipped for a return to the front line of politics, either within the existing Palestinian Authority or a new framework for Gaza.

Nasser al-Qudwa. Pic: Reuters
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Nasser al-Qudwa. Pic: Reuters

Since leaving his role as foreign minister for the Palestinian Authority in 2006, he has served in a variety of roles, including as a diplomat at the United Nations and as head of the Yasser Arafat Foundation.

Al-Qudwa is the nephew of Arafat, ex-chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, who died in 2004 aged 75.

Yasser Arafat at the White House in 1993. Pic: AP
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Yasser Arafat at the White House in 1993. Pic: AP

Trump’s proposal ‘doesn’t make sense’

Al-Qudwa has just been welcomed back into the central committee of Fatah, which runs the Palestinian Authority, the governing body of the West Bank.

Asked how he feels about the prospect of an international body ruling Gaza, including both Mr Trump and Sir Tony, he told Sky News: “The Palestinian people do not deserve to be put under international trusteeship or guardianship.

“And definitely it does not deserve to be put on the British mandate again.

“The whole notion that you are bringing a Western land to build a lot in Gaza after all these sacrifices and all this bloodshed, it doesn’t make sense.”

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Blair asked about Gaza peace board

Netanyahu ‘not calling the shots’

Al-Qudwa is a strong advocate for a two-state solution and says the only way to stem the anger of Palestinian youths “is to give them a better life”.

Asked if he was confident Israel would observe the ceasefire and move into the second phase of the Trump plan, Al-Qudwa said: “I don’t trust anybody.

“But, to be frank with you, I don’t think it’s the Israeli leader that’s calling the shots.

“I think it’s Mr Donald Trump. And he has promised that repeatedly.

“It’s going to be difficult because the second phase is going to be more difficult. But I do hope that it’s going to happen because we need it to.”

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Trump asks Israel’s president to pardon Netanyahu

A role for Hamas

Al-Qudwa wants a new unitary governing body for the West Bank and Gaza “that is organically linked… to ensure the territorial integrity and the unity of the Palestinian people”.

He said under his model, Hamas would be invited to be part of the political landscape. It would be a different form of Hamas – a political party rather than an organisation with a military wing.

“It would be a different Hamas,” said al-Qudwa. “What is missing from the debate is the serious, comprehensive positions. I spoke about ending the role of Hamas in Gaza, ending the control of Hamas over Gaza in all its forms, political, administrative, as well as security, which means the official body needs to have control over weapons.

“And then I think it’s very right to transform into a political party and then participate in the Palestinian political life, including elections under Palestinian law enforcement.”

Donald Trump and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Pic: Reuters
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Donald Trump and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Pic: Reuters

Despite being closely linked to a future role in Gaza, al-Qudwa, who was born in Khan Younis in the south of the strip, said you would have to be “crazy” to want to work in the territory now.

He cast doubt over the plan to have elections within a year of the war coming to an end, saying it was impossible to imagine how you could hold such a logistically demanding event in a ruined country like Gaza.

Israel’s war in Gaza, launched following the killing of 1,200 people and capture of 251 more by Hamas during its October 7 attacks, has seen more than 67,000 Gazans killed, according to Palestinian health officials. Its figures don’t differentiate between civilians and combatants but says around half of the victims are women and children.

But al-Qudwa pointedly refused to deny speculation about his future ambitions.

Asked if he would be interested in becoming the next president of the Palestinian Authority, after Mahmoud Abbas, al-Qudwa simply smiled.

“There is no vacancy,” he said.

“That’s not a no,” I suggested. “It’s also not a yes,” he replied.

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