The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) secured a rare humanitarian ceasefire last week to deliver a medical convoy to Minembwe, a remote area in the high plateaux of South Kivu (a conflict-ridden province in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo), where fighting between government forces and the AFC/M23 rebel alliance has been at its most intense. First-hand accounts from the convoy describe a severe crisis: widespread food insecurity, isolated civilian populations, and health facilities stripped of medicines for months while struggling to cope with a surge of combat casualties — with UN sources reporting tens of thousands of people displaced in the region since January 2026. The humanitarian pause proved fragile, with drone strikes recorded on 1 and 2 May near Rugezi, and a Western diplomat in the region warned that access must be renegotiated case by case, with no guarantee aid corridors will remain open.