However, how equipped is this country, independent since 2011, to accommodate Gaza conflict refugees? Current conditions suggest the nation requires humanitarian intervention as urgently as Gaza itself.

Devastating statistics reveal the reality of one of the globe's most impoverished nations. South Sudan occupies the 192nd position among 193 countries in the Human Development Index. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that roughly 9.3 million citizens from the total population of 12 million require humanitarian support. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) forecasts that 7.8 million people will need emergency food assistance between April and July. The assessment also confirmed that 83,000 residents experienced "catastrophic" hunger levels.

South Sudan achieved independence in 2011 following prolonged warfare against Sudan's central authority in Khartoum. Furthermore, internal civil conflict erupted in 2013, concluding only in 2020 after claiming approximately 400,000 lives.

Compounding these challenges, neighboring Sudan descended into civil war in April 2023, prompting the UN to designate it as "the world's most severe humanitarian crisis" this year. South Sudan's economy sustained massive damage, with GDP shrinkage, inflation spikes, and increased oil production expenses due to reliance on Sudanese infrastructure, the African Development Bank reported. UN statistics indicate that 1.1 million refugees fled from Sudan into the country.

South Sudan clearly lacks resources to address its existing crisis. International corruption measurements ranked the nation last – 180th among 180 evaluated countries – while international agencies report that merely 27% of citizens possess literacy skills.

The country's medical infrastructure has essentially disintegrated. World Health Organization (WHO) data shows life expectancy at just 58.6 years, with primary mortality causes including respiratory tract infections, diarrheal diseases, and HIV/AIDS. The nation maintains the tragic global record for maternal deaths – 1,223 mothers per 100,000 deliveries.

Israeli-South Sudanese relations extend back to the pre-independence years. Foreign media reports suggest Israel backed South Sudanese forces during their struggle against Khartoum's central government and immediately recognized independence upon declaration. Israel currently supports various humanitarian initiatives there. Concurrently, accusations exist regarding Israeli weapons supplies to the government during internal civil warfare, despite international prohibitions.

American lobbyist Joe Schlawick, who represents South Sudan's government, informed Associated Press about briefings he received from South Sudanese officials concerning these negotiations. He indicated that Israeli representatives plan to visit to evaluate potential Palestinian camp establishments, with Israel anticipated to fund these temporary facilities.

Schlawick confirmed US awareness of Israeli discussions while emphasizing America's non-participation in direct negotiations. South Sudan seeks the Trump administration's removal of travel prohibitions and sanctions against senior leadership, having already accepted eight Americans deported under Trump's illegal immigration enforcement policies. The nation also suffered from substantial reductions in US assistance funding.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel on Wednesday announced her official South Sudan visit. Her announcement detailed planned meetings with President Salva Kiir Mayardit, Foreign Minister Ramadan Samaiya Komba, and additional senior officials, culminating in a memorandum of understanding regarding foreign ministry consultations.

"While international attention concentrates exclusively on Gaza, South Sudan confronts a genuine humanitarian catastrophe," Haskel stated before departure. "Authentic hunger continues claiming lives among numerous refugees from Sudan's conflict."

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The heavy flooding has killed at least five people in the country's Interior Minister, Eltrafi Elsdik said in a statement on Monday.

Homes have been wrecked or damaged and much-need crops destroyed. Dams have burst and at least 3,500 homes have been lost to the floodwaters.

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Suzy met her mother, from whom she was separated more than 10 years ago, at the end of a long journey to bring her and her children to Israel that spanned four countries, directed by Binyamin resident Aharon Tsuf.

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A year and a half ago, Tsuf met with Suzy's mother and she told him that two of her daughters were in South Sudan and unable to leave the country. Thirty years ago, while she was making her way to Israel, the mother was kidnapped and taken to South Sudan. She and her other children returned to Ethiopia, but two of her daughters were forced to marry Sudanese men.

"I was touched by the story. I realized that if I didn't help this family, no one would," Tsuf said.

He proceeded to set the process of bringing Suzy and her children to Israel, a project that involved four different countries. At first, he enlisted Suzy's brother to help find her and her sister, which took until December 2018, when they traveled to Ethiopia.

"It was the first time they had seen their mother in 10 years," Tsuf said. He took care to bring the mother and one of her daughters to Israel, while Suzy went back to South Sudan to fetch her children.

"The sister and her children made aliyah in April and lived at my house until their mother joined them. Suzy and her children stayed behind," Tsuf explained.

He continued to tackle the logistic difficulties in bringing Suzy and her children to Israel.

"At the end of June, I fulfilled all the demands of the South Sudanese Interior Ministry, and with the help of the ambassadors, I brought them to Ethiopia. They waited there about 40 days, partly because Suzy had come down with malaria."

Assisted by donations from friends, Christians in Africa who support Israel, head of the Binyamin Regional Council Yisrael Gantz, and Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, Tsuf had the family recognized as part of the Jewish people. He then organized travel to Israel for Suzy and her children.

"It was hard to get here. In the end, she took an eight-day bus ride from South Sudan to Ethiopia via Uganda and Kenya. Halfway there, she got lost and went back. The project encountered a lot of difficulties. We're talking about countries that have no identity cards or good communications," Tsuf noted.

In total, it cost 120,000 shekels ($34,000) to bring Suzy and her children to Israel. Tsuf paid a third of the cost. "After an exhausting year and a half, this unbelievable moment has arrived. I'm tearing up," he said.

For the next few months, the new arrivals will live in an immigrant absorption center.

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The U.S. Treasury on Friday slapped sanctions on Maj. Gen. (ret.) Israel Ziv and three firms he controls, accusing him of using an agricultural consulting firm as a cover for weapons sales worth $150 million to the South Sudan government while also arming opposition groups there.

In a statement, the U.S. Treasury said that "While Ziv maintained the loyalty of senior ‎South Sudan government officials through bribery and ‎promises of security support, he has also reportedly ‎planned to organize attacks by mercenaries on South ‎Sudanese oil fields and infrastructure, in an effort ‎to create a problem that only his company and ‎affiliates could solve."

Ziv formerly headed ‎the IDF's Operations Directorate, and after ‎retiring from the military, he founded security consultation firm Global CST.

In an interview with Army Radio Sunday, Ziv said he had never trafficked in weaponry and called the charges against him "ludicrous, baseless and completely divorced from reality."

"We have an amazing agricultural project there ... that many communities depend on. Tens of thousands of people are employed through this project and it feeds the South Sudan market. So anyone who claims this project is a cover should come see it," he said.

Under U.S. President Donald Trump, the White House has championed international arms embargoes against South Sudan to pressure President Salva Kiir to end the country's civil war and humanitarian crisis.

Two South Sudanese nationals, Obac William Olawo and Gregory Vasili, were named alongside Ziv in Friday's U.S. Treasury sanctions notice. Neither was immediately available for comment.

"This is not the first time the [U.S.] administration has used sanctions to enforce its foreign policy," Ziv said.

"I am approachable. ... I want to believe in the decency of the administration. And they are welcome to come, to check, to investigate. We will open up everything for them," he said.

The i24 News website reported that Ziv has been on ‎the U.S. Treasury's radar for some time, after being flagged in 2009 over his dealings in Latin America, ‎especially in Colombia, ‎Panama and Peru.

South Sudan, Africa's newest state, ‎gained independence from Sudan ‎in 2011. Just two years later, the country erupted into conflict after Kiir sacked Riek Machar as vice president. Ethnically charged fighting soon spread, shutting down oil fields and forcing millions to flee.

At least 383,000 South Sudanese have died as a result of the war, through combat, starvation, disease or other factors, according to a recent study by London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine researchers.

Under pressure from governments in East Africa and from United Nations and Western donors, Machar's group signed a peace accord with other rebel factions and the government in September that will see him restored to the role of vice president in the country.

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