Discrepancy Over Sudanese Army’s Conditions to Return to Jeddah Talks

Smoke billows in the distance around a Khartoum district amid ongoing fighting on July 14, 2023. (Photo by AFP)
Smoke billows in the distance around a Khartoum district amid ongoing fighting on July 14, 2023. (Photo by AFP)
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Discrepancy Over Sudanese Army’s Conditions to Return to Jeddah Talks

Smoke billows in the distance around a Khartoum district amid ongoing fighting on July 14, 2023. (Photo by AFP)
Smoke billows in the distance around a Khartoum district amid ongoing fighting on July 14, 2023. (Photo by AFP)

The Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirmed the army delegation’s readiness to return to the Jeddah negotiations as soon as the Saudi and American mediators managed to overcome the obstacles that prevented the continuation of the talks.

The army delegation withdrew from the negotiations on Wednesday, accusing the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of obstructing an agreement to end the hostilities, because of its refusal to evacuate homes and service facilities. For its part, the RSF attributed the faltering of the agreement to the army delegation’s condition to open a safe passage for the exit of its commanders besieged in military headquarters in Khartoum.

In the statement, the Foreign Ministry expressed Sudan’s desire to reach a just agreement to stop hostilities, which would pave the way for discussing the post-war phase.

“The Foreign Ministry renews its appreciation for the efforts made by Saudi Arabia and the United States to facilitate the rounds of negotiations in Jeddah, and their keenness to make them a success,” it said, adding that the intransigence of the Rapid Support Forces and their non-compliance with the implementation of their obligations were the reason behind the failure of the Jeddah negotiations, which prompted the army delegation to return to the country.

The RSF commander, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as “Hemedti”, stressed that the war would end if the current army leadership stepped down.

The RSF claims that it is besieging the army commander, Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, his deputy, Lieutenant General Shams al-Din Kabashi, and senior officers at the main headquarters of the army command, in the center of the capital, Khartoum. Al-Burhan and Al-Kabashi appeared more than once in the vicinity of the place in video recordings.

On the other hand, Vice-President of the Sovereignty Council Malik Agar, accused the RSF of committing heinous crimes against civilians, pointing to the targeting of some ethnic groups in the Darfur region.

Addressing the Russian-African summit in St. Petersburg, Agar blamed the RSF for the current crisis in Sudan, saying that the group launched an all-out war on the capital and some cities, causing heinous crimes and unprecedented human suffering.



Israeli Defense Minister Says He Will End Detention without Charge of Jewish Settlers

Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)
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Israeli Defense Minister Says He Will End Detention without Charge of Jewish Settlers

Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)

Israel’s new defense minister said Friday that he would stop issuing warrants to arrest West Bank settlers or hold them without charge or trial — a largely symbolic move that rights groups said risks emboldening settler violence in the Israeli-occupied territory.

Israel Katz called the arrest warrants “severe” and said issuing them was “inappropriate” as Palestinian militant attacks on settlers in the territory grow more frequent. He said settlers could be “brought to justice” in other ways.

The move protects Israeli settlers from being held in “administrative detention,” a shadowy form of incarceration where people are held without charge or trial.

Settlers are rarely arrested in the West Bank, where settler violence against Palestinians has spiraled since the outbreak of the war Oct. 7.

Katz’s decision was celebrated by far-right coalition allies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. National Security Minister and settler firebrand Itamar Ben-Gvir applauded Katz and called the move a “correction of many years of mistreatment” and “justice for those who love the land.”

Since Oct. 7, 2023, violence toward Palestinians by Israeli settlers has soared to new heights, displacing at least 19 entire Palestinian communities, according to Israeli rights group Peace Now. In that time, attacks by Palestinian militants on settlers and within Israel have also grown more common.

An increasing number of Palestinians have been placed in administrative detention. Israel holds 3,443 administrative detainees in prison, according to data from the Israeli Prison Service, reported by rights group Hamoked. That figure stood around 1,200 just before the start of the war. The vast majority of them are Palestinian, with only a handful at any given time Israeli Jews, said Jessica Montell, the director of Hamoked.

“All of these detentions without charge or trial are illegitimate, but to declare that this measure will only be used against Palestinians...is to explicitly entrench another form of ethnic discrimination,” said Montell.