The International Criminal Court (ICC) has sounded the alarm over worsening atrocities in Sudan, where civil war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has killed over 40,000 people and displaced nearly 13 million since April 2023.

Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan told the UN Security Council on Thursday that famine is escalating, humanitarian aid is being blocked, and sexual violence is being weaponized against civilians in Darfur, particularly in El Fasher, which remains under siege by RSF forces.

Khan stated the ICC has “reasonable grounds to believe” that war crimes and crimes against humanity are being committed, citing over 7,000 pieces of evidence collected from refugee camps in Chad.

Meanwhile, Sudan’s military accepted a UN-proposed ceasefire in El Fasher last month to allow aid delivery, but the RSF rejected the truce and resumed attacks, including a drone strike on a civilian shelter that killed eight people this week.

The humanitarian crisis is compounded by cholera outbreaks, destroyed hospitals, and targeted attacks on aid convoys. UNICEF reports that over 40,000 children were treated for severe malnutrition in the first five months of 2025 alone.

In a separate development, U.S. Ambassador Dorothy Shea condemned the ICC’s arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Galant, calling them politically motivated.

The Trump administration escalated its opposition to international accountability by sanctioning Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, for her report linking corporate profits to Israel’s war in Gaza.

Albanese described the sanctions as “obscene” and said they were retaliation for her support of ICC investigations into alleged genocide and war crimes in Gaza. She vowed to continue her work despite what she called “mafia-style intimidation”.

UN officials, including High Commissioner Volker Türk, condemned the sanctions as a dangerous precedent that undermines the independence of human rights experts.

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