CAIRO (AP) — A new cholera outbreak in Sudan has killed 172 people and sickened more than 2,500 over the past week, authorities said Tuesday as a leading medical group warned that the country's existing health facilities were unable to cope with the surge of patients.
The bulk of the cases were reported in the capital, Khartoum, and its twin city of Omdurman, but cholera was also detected in the provinces of North Kordofan, Sennar, Gazira, White Nile and Nile River, health officials said.
According to Joyce Bakker, the Sudan coordinator for Doctors Without Borders — also known as Médecins Sans Frontières or MSF — the alarming spike began in mid-May, with MSF teams treating almost 2,000 suspected cholera cases in the past week alone.
On Saturday, Sudan’s Health Minister Haitham Ibrahim said the increase in cholera cases just in the Khartoum region has been estimated to average 600 to 700 per week over the past four weeks.
Bekker said MSF's treatment centers in Omdurman are overwhelmed and that the “scenes are disturbing.”
“Many patients are arriving too late to be saved,” she said. “We don’t know the true scale of the outbreak, and our teams can only see a fraction of the full picture.”
She called for a united response, including water, sanitation and hygiene programs and more treatment facilities.
In March, MSF said that 92 people had died of cholera in Sudan’s White Nile State, where 2,700 people had contracted the disease since late February.
The World Health Organization said that the water-borne disease is a fast-developing and highly contagious infection that causes diarrhea and leads to severe dehydration and possible death within hours when not treated. The disease is transmitted through the ingestion of contaminated food or water.
The outbreak is the latest crisis for Sudan, which was plunged into a war more than two years ago, when tensions between the Sudanese army and its rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces group, or RSF, exploded with street battles in Khartoum that quickly spread across the country.
Since then, at least 20,000 people have been reported killed, though the number is likely far higher, and more than 14 million have been displaced and forced from their homes.
Sudan has also been engulfed by what the United Nations says is the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, and disease outbreaks, famine and atrocities have mounted as the African country entered its third year of war.
Last week, the Sudanese military said it had regained control of the Greater Khartoum area from the paramilitary forces.
Ibrahim, the health minister, attributed the cholera surge to the return of many Sudanese to the Khartoum region — people who had fled their homes to escape the fighting and are now coming back. Their returns have strained the city’s dwindling water resources, he said.
People fill a container by water due to water outages in Khartoum, Sudan, Sunday, May 25, 2025. (AP Photo)
People swim in the Nile River as another fills a water container due to water outages in Khartoum, Sudan, Sunday, May 25, 2025. (AP Photo)
People fill water containers at a distribution point due to water outages in Khartoum, Sudan, Sunday, May 25, 2025. (AP Photo)
JERUSALEM (AP) — The White House says it is moving into the second phase of President Donald Trump’s Gaza ceasefire plan – breathing new life into a proposal that aims to rebuild the war-ravaged area and reshape the wider Middle East.
Trump’s Mideast envoy, Steve Witkoff, broke the news Wednesday in a post on X, saying the new phase will include the establishment of a transitional Palestinian governing committee and begin the complicated tasks of disarming Hamas and reconstruction.
But the announcement included few details about the new Palestinian committee or other key aspects of the plan, signaling just how much work lies ahead.
Trump's 20-point plan — which was approved by the U.N. Security Council — lays out an ambitious vision for ending Hamas’ rule in Gaza. If successful, it would see the rebuilding of a demilitarized Gaza under international supervision, the normalization of relations between Israel and the Arab world, and the creation of a possible pathway to Palestinian independence.
But if the deal stalls, Gaza could be trapped in an unstable limbo for years to come, with Hamas remaining in control of parts of the territory, Israel’s army enforcing an open-ended occupation, and its residents stuck homeless, unemployed, unable to travel abroad and dependent on international aid to stay alive.
“We’re going to do our best to try and see if we can work with the Palestinian people to try something new,” said a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the evolving plan. “It will be hard to do,” he acknowledged.
Here is a closer look at the next stages of the ceasefire and the potential pitfalls.
The ceasefire took effect on Oct. 10, halting two years of fighting between Israel and Hamas. It also included the release of all remaining hostages held in Gaza in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians held by Israel.
The ceasefire has largely held, though both sides accuse each other of ongoing violations. Israeli fire has killed more than 400 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials. Israel says it has targeted militants or responded to violations of the ceasefire, but the Palestinians say scores of civilians have been shot.
Palestinian militants, meanwhile, continue to hold the remains of the last hostage — an Israeli police officer killed in the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made clear he is in no rush to move forward until the remains are returned.
Netanyahu appeared to play down Witkoff’s announcement as symbolic, calling the creation of a new Palestinian committee a “ declarative move.”
The new committee will consist of independent Palestinian experts who are to run Gaza’s daily affairs under American supervision.
Wednesday’s announcement didn't say who will serve on the committee. But the other mediators of the ceasefire — Egypt, Turkey and Qatar — said it would be led by Ali Shaath, an engineer and former deputy minister in the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.
The U.S. official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said other names are expected in the next two days, and the committee will focus on attracting investment and improving the quality of life.
“This really will be a technocratic committee,” he said. “They seem to be a group that wants to have peace.”
The committee will report to the Board of Peace, a group of world leaders supervising the ceasefire and led by Trump. If the Palestinian committee is seen as just a façade, it risks not gaining public support.
Also, its exact powers remain unclear. Hamas has said it will dissolve its government once the committee takes office, but it has shown no signs that it will dismantle its military wing or security forces.
The board will oversee the ceasefire, reconstruction and an open-ended reform process by the Palestinian Authority, with the goal of one day allowing the internationally recognized authority to return to Gaza to govern.
The U.S. official said invitations for the board have been extended, but he declined to name any of the people expected to join. “It’s going to be a great list,” he said.
The key challenge will be forming a board that can work with Israel, Hamas, the mediators and international aid agencies.
One key appointment appears to have been made. Nickolay Mladenov, a former Bulgarian politician and U.N. Mideast envoy, is expected to serve as the board’s on-the-ground representative. He already has met with Netanyahu and Palestinian leaders in the occupied West Bank.
Trump's plan calls for the formation of an International Stabilization Force to maintain security and train Palestinian police to one day to take over. That force hasn't been formed yet, and a deployment date hasn't been announced.
The U.S. official insisted there is “great excitement” over the force and said there would be important announcements in the coming weeks.
But the force’s command structure and authorities remain unknown.
Hamas said it will oppose any attempts by the force to disarm it, and contributing nations may not to want to risk clashes with the militant group. Israel, meanwhile, is hesitant to trust an international body with its security needs.
Trump’s plan calls for an economic development outline to “rebuild and energize Gaza,” which suffered widespread destruction during the war and where most of the territory’s 2 million people are displaced and unemployed.
Still, no such plan has been announced, and it remains unclear who will pay for a process the U.N. estimates will cost $70 billion.
The ceasefire deal calls for Hamas to surrender its weapons under the supervision of international monitors. Militants who disarm will be granted amnesty and the option to leave Gaza.
However, Hamas, whose ideology is based on armed resistance against Israel, has said it won't disarm until Israel ends its occupation of Palestinian territories.
Bassem Naim, a senior Hamas official, told The Associated Press last month that the group is open to “ freezing or storing” its weapons while a political process takes place, perhaps over many years. It is unclear whether that would be sufficient for Israel.
Failure to disarm Hamas could lead to renewed fighting with Israel and clashes with international troops, and could block progress on the rest of the peace plan.
Under the ceasefire, Israel is to withdraw from all of Gaza, with the exception of a small buffer zone along the border. At the moment, Israel retains control of just over half of Gaza.
The plan says further withdrawals will be based upon “standards, milestones and timeframes linked to demilitarization” to be negotiated by Israel, the U.S., the international force and other “guarantors.”
There are no firm timelines for further withdrawals, and Israel may refuse to pull back further.
The plan calls for an overhaul of the Palestinian Authority, which runs the West Bank, and the creation of conditions for a “credible pathway” to Palestinian statehood.
Palestinian officials say they have begun making reforms in key areas such as corruption, the education system and payments to families of prisoners convicted in attacks on Israelis.
Israel rejects the creation of a Palestinian state and opposes any role for the authority in postwar Gaza. Without a pathway to statehood, any Palestinian support for the new system could crumble. The plan also offers no clear benchmarks or timelines for the reform process.
US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff delivers a speech upon the signing of the declaration on deploying post-ceasefire force in Ukraine during the 'Coalition of the Willing' summit on security guarantees for Ukraine, at the Elysee Palace in Paris Tuesday, Jan 6, 2026. (Ludovic Marin, Pool photo via AP)
Palestinians walk amid buildings destroyed by Israeli air and ground operations in Gaza City Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Makeshift tents shelter displaced Palestinians stand among buildings destroyed by Israeli air and ground operations in Gaza City Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
