It has now been two years since Yemen’s Houthi rebels began arresting aid workers in Yemen, and at last count 73 UN staff and dozens of others who worked at international NGOs remain in custody. Three rights groups released a statement about the ongoing detentions this week, demanding their release and arguing that the arrests have had a “direct impact on the delivery of lifesaving assistance to people in critical need of aid.” (TNH)

The United Nations has documented that at least 13 civilians have been killed by recent Pakistani airs-trikes in eastern Afghanistan. The attacks were carried out in the provinces of Paktika, Khost, and Kunar in the late evening hours between June 9 and 10. (TNH)

The number of internally displaced people reached a record high of 1.5 million in mid-May, according to a new UN report. The figure represents an 845% increase over nearly three years. The situation is particularly alarming as communities that used to host displaced families are now increasingly turning into displacement hotspots themselves while gang violence continues to expand. (TNH)

The governor of Afghanistan’s western province of Herat has confirmed that dozens of women were picked up by female workers of The Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice for “improper” hijab wearing in the eponymous capital city. Those detentions, which took place between June 6 and 7, led to a June 9 protest in which the United Nations reported that at least one juvenile boy was killed by gunfire. A security official in Herat told local media that the protests were a “disruption” to local security and were dealt with accordingly. (TNH)

Amnesty International released a new report finding that Bedouin and herding communities are being pushed off their West Bank lands in a “state-sanctioned, state-driven, state-implemented” ethnic cleansing campaign. (TNH)

As the Iran war once again flared, Israel announced the closure of all border crossings into the Gaza Strip on June 8. The move was short-lived but a reminder that Israel can easily cut Gaza off from the outside support that its population—squeezed into an ever smaller sliver of the enclave and almost entirely living in tents—is dependent on to survive. The Kerem Shalom/Karem Abu Salem crossing re-opened for humanitarian deliveries on June 9, and the Rafah crossing with Egypt re-opened the following day for limited medical evacuations. Some 18,500 Palestinians need treatment that is not available in Gaza, but only a small number are being allowed to leave. (TNH)

Kenyan police killed a protester June 9 in Nanyuki, where residents have repeatedly marched against a 50-bed quarantine facility the US is building at Laikipia Air Base for Americans exposed to Ebola in DR Congo, Uganda and South Sudan. Two protesters were killed in similar protests a week ago. A court suspended work on May 28, but US military flights have continued ferrying staff and equipment in defiance of that order. President William Ruto insists Kenya is “doing the right thing,” calling refusal to work with the Americans on the facility “inhuman,” and citing decades of partnership with Washington. As the latest death unfolded, Trump adviser Massad Boulos was in Oslo thanking Ruto for his “steadfast partnership.” (TNH)

The Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is failing to match the speed of the virus’ spread, health authorities are warning. Tchomia, in the northeastern province of Ituri, is the latest outbreak zone. Countrywide there have been 136 confirmed deaths and 676 confirmed cases, according to the latest grim tally. Conflict-affected Ituri accounts for more than 94% of those cases, but the virus has also emerged in neighbouring North Kivu, South Kivu, and across the border in Uganda. Contact tracing remains a huge hurdle, with only around 12% of the connections of Ebola patients in Ituri reached. Uganda has imposed cross-border movement restrictions—although health experts say such measures could be counterproductive. (TNH)