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

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.

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.

Goma is a lucrative hub because of its niche to valuable deposits of gold, coltan and tin which are minerals essential in the global supply chain for electronics and industrial manufacturing.

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.

Foreign nationals are evacuated from Goma after rebels capture the east Congo city:::: Gisenyi, Rwanda The exodus followed M23's capture of Goma on Monday. Residents reported sporadic gunfire in outlying districts,

The M23 rebels, supported by Rwanda, have captured Goma, the capital of an eastern province in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Accusations fly between Congo and Rwanda amid denials. Historical tensions trace back to Rwanda's 1994 genocide,

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

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.

Many of the millions of people trapped in eastern Congo's escalating rebellion face a terrible choice: Retreat into Congo's interior and seek the protection of an army in disarray, or cross into nearby Rwanda,

Since Friday, people have had to cope with continuous water and electricity cuts. The supply of meals that MSF provides to patients and their families is in jeopardy, as insecurity, the risk of looting, and the closure of roads are preventing us from replenishing food stocks, which only last two to three days.