Hamdok to Visit Juba to Present Roadmap for Sudan’s Crisis

A Sudanese woman fleeing violence in Darfur carries her belongings before crossing into Chad, Nov. 10. (Reuters)
A Sudanese woman fleeing violence in Darfur carries her belongings before crossing into Chad, Nov. 10. (Reuters)
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Hamdok to Visit Juba to Present Roadmap for Sudan’s Crisis

A Sudanese woman fleeing violence in Darfur carries her belongings before crossing into Chad, Nov. 10. (Reuters)
A Sudanese woman fleeing violence in Darfur carries her belongings before crossing into Chad, Nov. 10. (Reuters)

The Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) exchanged artillery shelling in the capital’s neighborhoods and the city of Omdurman.

Eyewitnesses said that the army carried out intense artillery strikes on the positions of the RSF in the neighborhoods of southern and eastern Khartoum and central Omdurman, noting that violent explosions were heard near the Armored Corps, south of the capital.

Army drones also launched strikes on RSF positions south of Khartoum in conjunction with artillery shelling.

The pace of ground battles between the army and the RSF has decreased over the past weeks in the three cities of the capital, as both sides are now relying on artillery and air strikes.

Meanwhile, the command of the Civil Democratic Forces (Taqaddum) said that its president, Abdullah Hamdok, received an invitation from the government of South Sudan to hold a meeting next week to present proposals and a “road map” to resolve the crisis in the country.

Taqaddum’s executive office announced, in a statement on Wednesday, “the approval of a road map to end the war, achieve peace, and establish a sustainable democratic civil transition.”

“The roadmap came after extensive discussions that took place over the past few days, aimed at coming up with practical visions that would accelerate the end of fighting in our country and stop the humanitarian catastrophe that befell millions of our people,” the statement read.

It continued: “The roadmap presented practical proposals on how to support the ongoing efforts in the Jeddah Platform, in order to reach a cessation of hostilities an to develop a comprehensive ceasefire with effective monitoring mechanisms, in addition to linking these efforts to an inclusive political process....”



Gaza: Polio Vaccine Campaign Kicks off a day Before Expected Pause in Fighting

A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child at a hospital in Khan Younis, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child at a hospital in Khan Younis, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
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Gaza: Polio Vaccine Campaign Kicks off a day Before Expected Pause in Fighting

A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child at a hospital in Khan Younis, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child at a hospital in Khan Younis, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A campaign to inoculate children in Gaza against polio and prevent the spread of the virus began on Saturday, Gaza's Health Ministry said, as Palestinians in both the Hamas-governed enclave and the occupied West Bank reeled from Israel's ongoing military offensives.

Children in Gaza began receiving vaccines, the health ministry told a news conference, a day before the large-scale vaccine rollout and planned pause in fighting agreed to by Israel and the UN World Health Organization. The WHO confirmed the larger campaign would begin Sunday.

“There must be a ceasefire so that the teams can reach everyone targeted by this campaign,” said Dr. Yousef Abu Al-Rish, deputy health minister, describing scenes of sewage running through crowded tent camps in Gaza.

Associated Press journalists saw about 10 infants receiving vaccine doses at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis.

Israel is expected to pause some operations in Gaza on Sunday to allow health workers to administer vaccines to some 650,000 Palestinian children. Officials said the pause would last at least nine hours and is unrelated to ongoing cease-fire negotiations.

“We will vaccinate up to 10-year-olds and God willing we will be fine,” said Dr. Bassam Abu Ahmed, general coordinator of public health programs at Al-Quds University.

The vaccination campaign comes after the first polio case in 25 years in Gaza was discovered this month. Doctors concluded a 10-month-old had been partially paralyzed by a mutated strain of the virus after not being vaccinated due to fighting.

Healthcare workers in Gaza have been warning of the potential for a polio outbreak for months. The humanitarian crisis has deepened during the war that broke out after Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many were militants.

Hours earlier, the Health Ministry said hospitals received 89 dead on Saturday, including 26 who died in an overnight Israeli bombardment, and 205 wounded — one of the highest daily tallies in months.