Bodies are lying on the streets. Medical staff in overwhelmed hospitals are treating hundreds of wounded civilians against the backdrop of gunfire and mortar fire.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM), is deeply concerned about the hundreds of thousands of civilians displaced over the last few days in Goma, North Kivu Province, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

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 M23 rebels, who said that they captured the city on Monday after a weekslong advance, are one of about 100 armed groups vying for a foothold in mineral-rich eastern Congo. The conflict escalated with the rebels' advance into Goma, which left bodies on the streets and drove hundreds of thousands of already displaced people to flee once again.

A rebel alliance spearheaded by the ethnic Tutsi-led M23 militia said it had seized the lakeside city of more than 2 million people.

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.

The Ugandan army said Friday that its troops stationed in eastern DR Congo would adopt a "forward defensive posture" amid escalating fighting in the region.

Rwanda is illegally occupying the Democratic Republic of Congo and attempting to orchestrate regime change, the country's foreign minister has told the BBC. Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner said this followed decades of impunity and failure to hold Rwandan President Paul Kagame accountable for violating international law.