Hello and welcome to the first edition of the relaunched Proximities. If you missed yesterday’s relaunch email, you can read it here.
DR Congo
More than 40 people have been killed at a church in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in an attack claimed by the ISIS-linked ADF armed group. Worshippers at a night mass in the Ituri province were shot and hacked to death, and according to local reports, several people were also taken hostage. The ADF originated in neighboring Uganda but is now based over the border in the DRC, where it regularly terrorizes and kills civilians. A UN peacekeeping operation based in the country said earlier this month that there had been a resurgence in ADF attacks, with 47 people killed by the group in July.
More from Al Jazeera here.
Palestine
Violence continues in the occupied West Bank as the world is focused on Gaza. Well-known community leader Awdah Hathaleen, who helped make the Oscar-winning documentary “No Other Land,” has been shot dead by an Israeli settler who has since been arrested. In a separate attack, the Palestinian Christian village of Taybeh was attacked by settlers who set cars on fire and painted threatening graffiti in a pre-dawn raid. Almost 1,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 7,000 wounded in attacks by settlers and the Israeli military since October 7, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
More from Middle East Eye here. And AFP via RFI here.
Thailand-Cambodia
Thailand has accused Cambodia of violating a ceasefire the feuding neighbors had agreed only hours before. The Thai military said Cambodia continued firing from “multiple locations” after the ceasefire, but Cambodia - in perhaps carefully chosen words - told the AFP news agency that there had been “no armed clashes.” It comes after five days of fighting along the disputed border between the two, in which at least 38 people were killed and hundreds of thousands forced to flee. The border row between Thailand and Cambodia goes back decades.
More from the Guardian and AFP here.
Wonderful to have you back. Godspeed.
Reading my first substack!