内容摘要：Al-Khatib, who moved his family from Aleppo province to the Sayyida Zeinab area shortly before Assad’s fall, said Assad had branded himself as a protector of minorities. “When killings, mobilization ... and sectarian polarization began,” the narrative “of the regime and its allies was that ‘you, as a Shiite, you as a minority member, will be killed if I fall.’”

Al-Khatib, who moved his family from Aleppo province to the Sayyida Zeinab area shortly before Assad’s fall, said Assad had branded himself as a protector of minorities. “When killings, mobilization ... and sectarian polarization began,” the narrative “of the regime and its allies was that ‘you, as a Shiite, you as a minority member, will be killed if I fall.’”

People demonstrate outside the Foreign Office in London, Thursday, May 22, 2025, after a British court blocked the U.K. from transferring sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius hours before the agreement was due to be signed. (AP Photo/Thomas Krych)People demonstrate outside the High Court in London, Thursday, May 22, 2025, after a British court blocked the U.K. from transferring sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius hours before the agreement was due to be signed. (AP Photo/Thomas Krych)

People demonstrate outside the High Court in London, Thursday, May 22, 2025, after a British court blocked the U.K. from transferring sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius hours before the agreement was due to be signed. (AP Photo/Thomas Krych)While political leaders spoke about international security and geopolitics, the deal meant only one thing for Chagossians: That the prospect of ever going back to live in their homeland now seems more out of reach than ever.Chagossian Bernadette Dugasse speaks, during an interview with The Associated Press, at her home in London, Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Chagossian Bernadette Dugasse speaks, during an interview with The Associated Press, at her home in London, Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)Chagossian Bernadette Dugasse looks at a Chagos Islands map during an interview with The Associated Press, at her home in London, Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Chagossian Bernadette Dugasse looks at a Chagos Islands map during an interview with The Associated Press, at her home in London, Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

“We are the natives. We belong there,” said Dugasse, who has reluctantly settled in Crawley, a town south of London. “It made me feel enraged because I want to go home.”and driven around 90% of the population from their homes, has left the territory almost entirely reliant on international aid.

Most community kitchens have shut down. The main food providers inside Gaza — the U.N.’s World Food Program and World Central Kitchen — say they are out of food. Vegetables and meat are inaccessible or unaffordable. Crowds line up for hours for a small scoop of rice.Food security experts said last week that Gaza would likely fall into famine if Israel doesn’t lift

Nearly 500,000 Palestinians— living in “catastrophic” levels of hunger — and 1 million others can barely get enough food, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a leading international authority on the severity of hunger crises.