Amid escalating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, the IDF’s plans to establish a buffer zone deep inside southern Lebanon have intensified fears of prolonged instability. Foreign minister Israel Katz, stating that the aim is to protect northern communities, has proposed military control up to the Litani River and the demolition of border villages even after the war with Hezbollah ends. Lebanese leaders and international voices have condemned the move, warning it risks further displacement and destruction. Since early March, widespread violence has resulted in significant casualties, including civilians, healthcare workers, and journalists, while more than a million people have been displaced. Critical infrastructure, including hospitals, has been severely affected, worsening an already fragile humanitarian situation. The crisis shows how civilians are bearing the heaviest burden as insecurity, loss, and uncertainty continue to shape daily life across affected areas.

Calls for buffer zones to be introduced outside abortion clinics to stop patients being harassed have been rejected by the Home Secretary, who said that protest-free areas around clinics ‘would not be a proportionate response’. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said his decision was a ‘shocking failure to protect women’ and should be reversed. Be Here For Me, a campaign group which opposed the ban, welcomed the commonsense decision which would mean ‘women could continue to be offered much needed help and support’. The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children said they were ‘delighted’ by the decision: ‘This is a massive victory for common sense, democracy and above all for the hundreds of vulnerable women who are saved from the horror of abortion at the very gates of the abortion clinic.'

Several deals have been struck across Syria over the years of the civil war, but few have made significant differences. Pray that the agreement between Russia and Turkey to create a military buffer zone in Syria's Idlib holds fast and is successful in preventing further deaths as Syria’s last remaining opposition stronghold is included in a demilitarised zone. Turkey's foreign minister declared that only terrorist groups, not civilians, will be removed from Idlib province under the deal. EU spokesperson Maja Kocijancic stressed that the Turkish-Russian deal must protect civilians.