The International Committee of the Red Cross headquarters building on Avenue de la Paix in Geneva, Switzerland. (Keystone/Martin Ruetschi)

✂️ICRC to slash 2026 budget by 17 per cent. The humanitarian organisation’s decision to cut CHF 300 million from its budget is part of earlier efforts to respond to declining donor support. Though anticipated, the cuts signal a deepening uncertainty in humanitarian funding.

📑 US-backed aid group proposed ‘Human Transit Area’ for Palestinians in Gaza. A plan bearing the name of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) to build housing compounds where Palestinians could “temporarily reside, deradicalise, re-integrate and prepare to relocate if they wish to do so” in a bid to “replace Hamas” was reportedly discussed in the White House. The GHF denies being behind the proposal.

🏳️‍🌈UN council votes to keep researching abuses for LGBT people despite US U-turn. The Human Rights Council’s decision to renew the mandate of its LGBTQI rights expert for another three years faced opposition from Pakistan and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

🚨Mass killings, sexual violence and famine grip North Darfur as rebels prepare El Fasher assault. In a report based on interviews with over 80 civilians, Médecins Sans Frontières describes the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in the besieged city and warns of the risk of mass atrocities.

💳ICYMI: UBS, Goldman passed on opening bank accounts for US-backed Gaza aid foundation, sources say. The GHF's requests to open a Swiss bank account to receive donations in Europe were rejected over transparency concerns and reputational risks.