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Sudan Anticipates Launch of Jeddah Negotiations

Representatives of the two parties to the Sudanese conflict signed the Jeddah Agreement in May 2023 (Reuters)
Representatives of the two parties to the Sudanese conflict signed the Jeddah Agreement in May 2023 (Reuters)
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Sudan Anticipates Launch of Jeddah Negotiations

Representatives of the two parties to the Sudanese conflict signed the Jeddah Agreement in May 2023 (Reuters)
Representatives of the two parties to the Sudanese conflict signed the Jeddah Agreement in May 2023 (Reuters)

Sudan’s Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) clashed in the military zone in Nyala as the delegations of both parties are expected to arrive in Jeddah to resume negotiations on a ceasefire.

Clashes escalated in the past two days intensified reaching the three cities of the capital, Khartoum, Khartoum Bahri, and Omdurman. This coincided with the announcement of negotiations' resumption within the framework of the Jeddah Platform, sponsored by Saudi Arabia and the US.

Both parties remain steadfast in their positions, anticipating substantial progress on the ground, as cautious atmosphere prevails concerning the outcome of the negotiations.

The Sudanese doubt a political breakthrough would lead to a ceasefire, however, observers believe there is hope in this round of negotiations, especially after both warring parties failed to resolve the ongoing battles in Khartoum or Darfur.

Local sources reported that the RSF attacked for the second day the headquarters of the 16th Division to seize it and control the entire state, but the army forces confronted them.

According to eyewitnesses, fierce battles broke out in the vicinity of the headquarters of this Division, resulting in deaths and injuries among soldiers. Exchanged artillery shells struck residential neighborhoods, forcing hundreds of civilians to flee their homes.

Sources indicated that clashes took place around the army base, and strong explosions were heard as a result of heavy artillery shelling, amid confirmed reports of several deaths and injuries among civilians.

Earlier, the Rapid Support published a video clip of its Deputy Commander Abdelrahim Hamdan Dagalo inside Nyala, threatening to defeat the army forces and its allies among the leaders of the ousted regime.

Last week, the US called on the “Rapid Support” forces to stop shelling residential neighborhoods in South Darfur and other areas of Khartoum.

Washington indicated it was deeply concerned by reports that the RSF have intensified shelling in South Darfur and Omdurman.

The United States was aware of reports that the RSF and SAF were fighting within Nyala, adding that the Rapid Support may have encircled the city in preparation for an assault, potentially depriving civilians of the ability to flee to safety.

Since the outbreak of the war in mid-April, the Rapid Support Forces have been attacking the 16th Division, which is one of the largest military bases of the Sudanese army in the Darfur region.

During the past months, Nyala witnessed violent clashes, leaving hundreds dead and wounded and thousands of displaced people.

Meanwhile, the UN Sec-Gen Deputy in Sudan, Clementine Nkweta-Salami, said Sudan’s growing humanitarian crisis is due to intense conflict, and the number of people needing humanitarian assistance increases daily.

On behalf of the UN family in Sudan, Nkweta-Salami urged all parties to stop the fighting and commit to a permanent cessation of hostilities. This came in a statement via the UN Support Mission’s Facebook page.

She asserted that both parties must abide by their obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law to protect civilians and enable safe humanitarian access to those in need.

The official reaffirmed the Mission’s commitment to helping build a Sudan where peace, sustainable development, and human rights for all prevail throughout the country, adding that it received and recorded reports of human rights violations and abuses.

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Israeli Officials Demand the Right to Strike Hezbollah under Any Ceasefire Deal for Lebanon

An Israeli fighter jet flies over the northern border with Lebanon on 20 November 2024. (EPA)
An Israeli fighter jet flies over the northern border with Lebanon on 20 November 2024. (EPA)
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Israeli Officials Demand the Right to Strike Hezbollah under Any Ceasefire Deal for Lebanon

An Israeli fighter jet flies over the northern border with Lebanon on 20 November 2024. (EPA)
An Israeli fighter jet flies over the northern border with Lebanon on 20 November 2024. (EPA)

Israeli officials demanded Wednesday the freedom to strike Lebanon's Hezbollah as part of any ceasefire deal, raising a potential complication as a top US envoy was in the region attempting to clinch an agreement.

The development came as an airstrike hit the historic Syrian town of Palmyra, killing 36 people, according to Syrian state-run media, which blamed the attack on Israel. The Israeli military declined to comment.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz and Foreign Minister Gideon Saar each said Israel sought to reserve the right to respond to any violations by Hezbollah under an emerging proposal, which would push the group’s fighters and Israeli ground forces out of a UN buffer zone in southern Lebanon.

There have been signs of progress on the ceasefire deal, with Hezbollah’s allies in the Lebanese government saying the militant group had responded positively to the proposal.

“In any agreement we will reach, we will have to maintain our freedom to act if there will be violations,” Saar told dozens of foreign ambassadors in Jerusalem. “We will have to be able to act in time, before the problem will grow.”

Katz, in a meeting with intelligence corps officers, said “the condition for any political settlement in Lebanon” was the right for the Israeli military “to act and protect the citizens of Israel from Hezbollah.”

Amos Hochstein, the Biden administration’s point man on Israel and Lebanon, has been working in recent days to push the sides toward agreement. He has been meeting this week with officials in Lebanon and said Wednesday he would travel to Israel in an attempt to “try to bring this to a close if we can.”

On Tuesday, Hochstein said an agreement to end the Israel-Hezbollah war is “within our grasp.”

The emerging ceasefire deal would push Hezbollah and Israel out of southern Lebanon Hezbollah began firing into Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, in solidarity with Hamas after its attack on southern Israel that sparked the war in the Gaza Strip. Israel has been responding with strikes in Lebanon, and dramatically escalated its bombardment in late September by launching a ground invasion just inside the border.

In the more than a year of exchanges, more than 3,500 people have been killed in Lebanon, most in the past month, the Health Ministry reported, and over 1 million people have been displaced. It's unknown how many of the dead were Hezbollah fighters.

In Israel, more than 70 people have been killed by Hezbollah fire, and tens of thousands have fled their homes.

Hochstein’s proposal is based on UN resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel. The resolution stipulates that only the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers should operate in southern Lebanon.

Still, after 2006, Hezbollah never fully ended its presence in the south. Lebanon accuses Israel of also violating the resolution by maintaining hold of a small, disputed border area and conducting frequent military flights over Lebanon.

Israel says that since then, Hezbollah built up a military infrastructure throughout villages and towns in southern Lebanon.

The proposal currently being discussed would include an implementation plan and a monitoring system to ensure each side follows its obligations to fully withdraw from the south. That could involve the US and France, but details are still unclear.

There’s been progress, but the deal isn’t done yet The Israeli ministers did not outline what Israel’s demand to maintain freedom of operation would entail. Since the 2006 war, Israel has struck Hezbollah on the few occasions when border violence did flare up, but any larger scale response could push the region back into turmoil.

It is also unlikely that Lebanon would agree to a deal that permits Israeli violations of its sovereignty.

And although the proposal attempts to nail down an implementation mechanism, the failure to fully implement the UN resolution after the 2006 war could point to the difficulties in getting the sides to uphold a sustainable ceasefire that would bring long-term quiet.

Israel has continued to pound Hezbollah throughout the ceasefire attempts, and rockets have continued to rain down on northern Israel. Any perceived escalation could derail the talks.

Even if a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah is reached, the war in Gaza grinds on into its 14th month.

Israel is still battling Hamas there, sending the death toll soaring to nearly 44,000 dead — over half of them women and children, according to local health officials, who do not distinguish between civilians and combatants in their count.

While Hezbollah throughout the war in Gaza said it wouldn’t stop firing at Israel until the fighting in the Palestinian territory ends, that condition was dropped in September after Israel intensified its offensive on the group, killing its top leadership and degrading its military capabilities.

That leaves Gaza waiting for a ceasefire of its own, as people there continue to endure a humanitarian crisis that has displaced much of the territory’s 2.3 million people and prompted widespread hunger, especially in the north, where the UN says virtually no food or humanitarian aid has been delivered to for more than 40 days because of the Israeli military’s siege there.