The United Nations announced last week that more than 114 million people are believed to be displaced around the world, with Palestinians recently adding to the total amid Israel’s bombardment. 

The UN humanitarian agency OCHA said 1.4 million Palestinians were displaced amid Israeli bombing campaigns after the 7 October Hamas attack that killed 1,400. Israel shows no signs of slowing in its offensive and has started a ground offensive on Monday focused on the northern reaches of the city. 

The war has entered its fourth week, and Israel is still conducting a major blockade and is preventing food, medication, and fuel from entering the city. The UN said 117,000 civilians are sheltering inside hospitals in the north. As of Monday, Reuters reported that of 2.3 million Gazans, 8,306 people—including 3,457 minors—have been killed. The UN agency said about 1,800 people, including 940 children are believed to be missing “and may be trapped or dead under the rubble, awaiting rescue or recovery.” 

The UN agency announced that there has been barely a trickle of supplies allowed into the ravaged city. About 33 trucks with water, food, and medical supplies were allowed to enter on Sunday, but fuel was still barred, but the supplies were far from sufficient to prevent civil unrest. 

The UN said conflicts around the world have contributed to the historic amount of displaced people, including in Ukraine, Afghanistan, Sudan, Myanmar, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. 

“As we watch events unfold in Gaza, Sudan and beyond, the prospect of peace and solutions for refugees and other displaced populations might feel distant,” Filippo Grandi, the UN refugees agency chief, said, according to Al Jazeera. “But we cannot give up. With our partners, we will keep pushing for—and finding—solutions for refugees.”

Between June and the end of September, an additional four million were estimated to have been forcibly displaced, bringing the total to 114 million, the UN said.

“The international community’s inability to solve conflicts or prevent new ones is driving displacement and misery. We must look within, work together to end conflicts and allow refugees and other displaced people to return home or restart their lives,” Grandi said.

The report noted that Syria continues to have the most displaced people around the world, and Colombia has the most displaced internally, with 6.9 million.

TREND FORECAST: As economic conditions continue to deteriorate, the border crisis in the United States and across the globe will escalate. We maintain our forecast for the growth of anti-immigration, anti-tax, anti-vax, anti-establishment political parties. (See “SPOTLIGHT: MIGRANT MELTDOWN. CRISIS GIVES RISE TO POPULIST MOVEMENT IN EU,” 10 Oct 2023.)

These border crossings will continue to worsen as these countries face more economic hardships due to soaring inflation. 

Food prices will remain high even after the Ukraine war is settled.

Ukraine’s productive capacity has been damaged for years to come; sanctions against Russia are likely to remain in place for some time after the shooting stops. Neither country will be able to restore exports to the larger world market for an indefinite period.

At the same time, extreme weather in the Americas is becoming the norm, making commodity crops such as wheat and soybeans unreliable.

It will take years for the world’s food market to reshape itself to meet the demands of emerging nations for enough food at affordable prices.

Meanwhile, more countries will default on, or demand to restructure, their debts at a time when developed nations have less money to bankroll bailouts by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.

The result will be not only hunger in much of the troubled regions, but increasing political and social foment and instability.

As Gerald Celente has often said, “When people lose everything and have nothing left to lose, they lose it.” 

Our 2020 Top Trend “The New World Disorder 2.0” had forecast that millions will take to the streets in numbers never seen before in their fight against government control, corruption, income inequality, poverty, violence, and crime.