On the shores of Lake Kivu, Goma residents were busy filling up plastic jerrycans with lake water. Less than a week since Rwanda-backed rebels claimed control of the city, basic services like water, internet and electricity were completely cut off.

Rwanda-backed rebels claimed on Monday they captured eastern Congo’s strategic city of Goma, the hub of a region containing trillions of dollars in mineral wealth that remains largely untapped.

With tensions rising and the fear of violence casting a heavy shadow over the city, Goma stands as a ghost town, its streets stripped of the energy that once defined it. The hum of daily life has been replaced by the distant roar of artillery fire,

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with U.S. Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, on Wednesday, Netanyahu said in a statement, amid the Gaza ceasefire and a regional diplomatic push.

The scene is the result of the invasion of Goma on January 27th by M23, an armed group under the control of Rwanda, Congo’s neighbour, which abuts the city. Paul Kagame, Rwanda’s president, has escalated a crisis whose origins go back decades.

Bishop of Willy Ngumbi Ngengele of Goma in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Willy says he is dismayed at the scale of violence in his diocese as M23 rebels advanced into the town.

The Rwandan defence ministry has confirmed the surrender and evacuation of Romanian mercenaries from the private military company Congo Protection, an ally of the Congolese army since the end of 2022.

The Democratic Republic of Congo's President Félix Tshisekedi is not taking part in regionally brokered talks aimed at ending the rebel assault on the key eastern city of Goma, state media has reported.

MSF teams are treating an influx of wounded people arriving at Kyeshero hospital in Goma, DRC, following the armed clashes and insecurity that have hit the city in recent days

The fighting is complicating contact tracing, infection prevention and food access, all of which increase the risk of disease.

Rwanda-backed fighters advanced on a second front in their offensive across eastern DR Congo on Wednesday after seizing control of the key city of Goma during heavy fighting with the Congolese military.