UN Calls for Immediate Cease-fire in Sudan and Path to Renewed Democratic Transition Talks

Sudanese army soldiers rest next to a building in Khartoum on May 25, 2023. (Photo by AFP)
Sudanese army soldiers rest next to a building in Khartoum on May 25, 2023. (Photo by AFP)
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UN Calls for Immediate Cease-fire in Sudan and Path to Renewed Democratic Transition Talks

Sudanese army soldiers rest next to a building in Khartoum on May 25, 2023. (Photo by AFP)
Sudanese army soldiers rest next to a building in Khartoum on May 25, 2023. (Photo by AFP)

The UN Security Council called Friday for an immediate cease-fire in Sudan to be followed by a permanent halt to hostilities and fresh efforts to reach a lasting democratic political settlement in the conflict-wracked country.

The UN’s most powerful body strongly condemned all attacks on civilians since fighting between rival generals vying for power broke out in mid-April and called for “rapid, safe and unhindered access throughout Sudan” to help millions in need.

The fighting has killed at least 866 civilians and wounded thousands more, according to the Sudanese Doctors’ Syndicate which tracks civilian casualties. And more than 1.3 million people have fled their homes to try to escape the violence, with over a million still in the country and 320,000 in neighboring Egypt, South Sudan, Chad, Ethiopia, and the Central African Republic, according to the UN’s International Organization for Migration.

The press statement from the council was issued before the council voted unanimously to extend the UN political mission in Sudan for six months, instead of a year, to give members time to see what happens on the ground and consider its future.

United Arab Emirates Ambassador Lana Nusseibeh, the current council president, called it “very positive” that all members not only voted to extend the UN mission but united behind a “very substantive” statement “that lays out the council’s expectations of what should happen next in Sudan -- and that is clearly an immediate and permanent cease-fire arrangement.”

The Security Council underlined the need “for strengthened international coordination and continued collaboration” and reaffirmed “their firm support for African leadership,” noting the African Union’s six-point roadmap to resolve the conflict as well as efforts by the Arab League and the regional group IGAD.

Gabon’s UN Ambassador Michel Biang told the council after the vote that the security situation in Sudan continues to worsen.

“The country is at a critical stage of its history with a heightened risk of civil war if the conflict continues,” he warned, speaking on behalf of the two other African members on the council, Ghana and Mozambique, as well. “And there is, if that occurs, a grave risk of serious consequences being visited upon all countries in the region.”

Biang stressed that the presence of the UN mission “is now more important than ever before to coordinate the UN’s response to the complex challenges plaguing the country.”

On Wednesday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres asked to brief the council behind closed doors for only the fifth time since he took office in January 2017 about the impact of the ongoing conflict on the UN mission known as UNITAMS. It was established by the council on June 3, 2020, to provide support to Sudan during its political transition to democratic rule.

In a brief statement to reporters after the meeting, the UN chief said he told the 15 council members it’s up to them to decide whether to continue the political mission to Sudan or whether “it’s time to end it.”

Following the ouster of Sudanese strongman Omar al-Bashir in 2019, Sudan embarked on a shaky democratic transition led by civilian and army leaders. But the generals seized complete power in a coup in October 2021, before turning against each other.

Sudanese leader Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan and Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, who heads the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, agreed to restore the transition but clashed over the terms of the RSF’s merger into the army, a disagreement that exploded into open conflict on April 15.

A week ago, Burhan demanded in a letter to Guterres that the UN special envoy to Sudan, Volker Perthes, be removed, saying his approach in pre-war talks between the generals helped inflame the conflict and accusing him of “being partisan.” The UN chief was “shocked” by the letter.

After Wednesday’s meeting, Guterres said he reaffirmed to the council “my full confidence in Volker Perthes.”



Netanyahu Offers Hamas Leaders Gaza Exit but Demands Group Disarm

A general view shows tents housing displaced Palestinians during Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, in Gaza City on March 30, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
A general view shows tents housing displaced Palestinians during Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, in Gaza City on March 30, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
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Netanyahu Offers Hamas Leaders Gaza Exit but Demands Group Disarm

A general view shows tents housing displaced Palestinians during Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, in Gaza City on March 30, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
A general view shows tents housing displaced Palestinians during Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, in Gaza City on March 30, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday offered to let Hamas leaders leave Gaza but demanded the group abandon its arms, as his country kept up its bombardment of the Palestinian territory.

Gaza's civil defense agency said an Israeli air strike on a house and tent sheltering displaced Palestinians killed at least eight people, including five children.

The strike in Khan Yunis came in the morning on the first day of Eid al-Fitr, the festival marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

Israel resumed intense bombing of the Palestinian territory on March 18 and then launched a new ground offensive, ending a nearly two-month ceasefire in the war with Hamas.

Netanyahu rejected criticism that his government was not engaging in negotiations aimed at releasing hostages held in Gaza, insisting the renewed military pressure on Hamas was proving effective.

"We are negotiating under fire... We can see cracks beginning to appear" in Hamas's positions, the Israeli leader told a cabinet meeting.

In the "final stage", Netanyahu said that "Hamas will lay down its weapons. Its leaders will be allowed to leave".

"The military pressure is working," Reuters quoted him as saying.

"The combination of military pressure and diplomatic pressure is the only thing that has brought the hostages back."

Hamas has expressed a willingness to relinquish Gaza's administration, but has warned its weapons are a "red line".

Egypt, Qatar and the United States are attempting to again broker a ceasefire and secure the release of Israeli hostages still held in Gaza.

A senior Hamas official stated on Saturday that the group had approved a new ceasefire proposal put forward by mediators and urged Israel to support it.

Netanyahu's office confirmed receipt of the proposal and stated that Israel had submitted a counterproposal in response.

However, the details of the latest mediation efforts remain undisclosed.