Sudan's Hamdok Calls for Urgent Meeting with Army After RSF Agreement

Commander of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo with Kenyan President William Ruto (RSF media office)
Commander of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo with Kenyan President William Ruto (RSF media office)
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Sudan's Hamdok Calls for Urgent Meeting with Army After RSF Agreement

Commander of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo with Kenyan President William Ruto (RSF media office)
Commander of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo with Kenyan President William Ruto (RSF media office)

Former Sudanese Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok invited the Sudanese army leadership for an "urgent meeting" to halt the ongoing conflict and prevent further disintegration of the country.

Hamdok, in his capacity as head of the leadership body of the Coordination of Civilian Democratic Forces (Taqaddum), signed an agreement with the commander of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti), the "Addis Ababa Declaration," after the meetings.

A joint statement from the delegations emphasized their commitment to ending the conflict.

Hamdok expressed optimism about the agreement, stating, "Its outcomes will undoubtedly contribute to the efforts to bring an end to the conflict in Sudan."

The former Prime Minister highlighted key outcomes of the Addis Ababa meetings, including RSF's full readiness for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, measures to protect civilians, facilitating the return of citizens to their homes, delivering humanitarian aid, and cooperating with the fact-finding committee.

A Taqaddum delegation, led by Hamdok, began a visit to Djibouti. He met President Ismail Omar Guelleh, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) chair.

IGAD is seeking a meeting between the army commander, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and Hemedti to stop the war.

A source told Asharq Al-Awsat that during the meeting with Guelleh and his Foreign Minister, the Taqaddum delegation introduced the Coordination and the civilian forces it represents and its agreement with the RSF leadership.

They expressed their desire to hold a similar meeting with the army leadership.

The source explained that the delegation urged IGAD to intensify its efforts to ensure the success of the planned negotiation between the army commanders, with a focus on involving civilians in the process, as outlined in the Addis Ababa Declaration.

Meanwhile, the Rapid Support Commander held discussions with Kenyan President William Ruto, addressing recent developments in Sudan, the root of the conflict's causes, ways to resolve the crisis, and ways to alleviate the suffering of the Sudanese people.

Hemedti said he arrived in Nairobi as part of a broader tour to Uganda, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Kenya. The visits will consist of other African, Arab, and regional countries, which he did not specify.

He presented President Ruto with his vision for a ceasefire and negotiations to achieve a comprehensive solution to achieve a just peace in the country.

Hemedti sensed an understanding and desire from the Kenyan President to collaborate with all parties to find a way out of the crisis that would restore security and stability to Sudan.



At Least 40 Dead in Gaza, Medics Say, as Israeli Tanks Pull back from Camp

 Palestinian men sit together inside a destroyed building after Israeli forces withdrew from a part of Nuseirat, following a ground operation amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, November 29, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinian men sit together inside a destroyed building after Israeli forces withdrew from a part of Nuseirat, following a ground operation amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, November 29, 2024. (Reuters)
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At Least 40 Dead in Gaza, Medics Say, as Israeli Tanks Pull back from Camp

 Palestinian men sit together inside a destroyed building after Israeli forces withdrew from a part of Nuseirat, following a ground operation amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, November 29, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinian men sit together inside a destroyed building after Israeli forces withdrew from a part of Nuseirat, following a ground operation amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, November 29, 2024. (Reuters)

Israeli military strikes killed at least 40 Palestinians overnight and on Friday in the Gaza Strip, many of them in the Nuseirat refugee camp at the center of the enclave, medics said, after Israeli tanks pulled back from parts of the camp.

Medics said they had recovered 19 bodies of Palestinians killed in northern areas of Nuseirat, one of the enclave's eight long-standing refugee camps.

Later on Friday, an Israeli air strike killed at least 10 Palestinians in a house in Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza Strip, medics said.

Others were killed in the northern and southern areas of the Gaza Strip, medics added. There was no fresh statement by the Israeli military on Friday, but on Thursday it said its forces were continuing to "strike terror targets as part of the operational activity in the Gaza Strip".

Israeli tanks had entered northern and western areas of Nuseirat on Thursday. They withdrew from northern areas on Friday but remained active in western parts of the camp. The Palestinian Civil Emergency Service said teams were unable to respond to distress calls from residents trapped in their homes.

Dozens of Palestinians returned on Friday to areas where the army had retreated to check on damage to their homes.

Medics and relatives covered up dead bodies, including of women, that lay on the road with blankets or white shrouds and carried them away on stretchers.

"Forgive me, my wife, forgive me, my Ibtissam, forgive me, my dear," one grief-stricken man moaned through tears beside her corpse, laid out on a stretcher on the ground.

Medics said an Israeli drone on Friday had killed Ahmed Al-Kahlout, head of the Intensive Care Unit at Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya, on the northern edge of the Gaza Strip, where the army has been operating since early October.

Contacted by Reuters, the Israeli military said it was unaware of a strike occurring in this location or timeframe.

Kamal Adwan Hospital is one of three medical facilities on the northern edge of the Gaza Strip that barely function now due to shortages of medical, fuel, and food supplies. Most of its medical staff have been detained or expelled by the Israeli army, health officials say.

DISPLACEMENTS

The Israeli army said forces operating in Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and Jabalia since Oct. 5 aimed to prevent Hamas fighters from regrouping and waging attacks from those areas. Residents said the army was depopulating the towns of Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun as well as the Jabalia refugee camp.

Meanwhile, Israeli authorities released around 30 Palestinians whom it had detained in the past few months during its Gaza offensive. Those released arrived at a hospital in southern Gaza for medical checkups, medics said.

Freed Palestinians, detained during the war, have complained of ill-treatment and torture in Israeli detention after they were released. Israel denies torture.

Months of efforts to negotiate a ceasefire in Gaza have yielded scant progress, and negotiations are now on hold

A ceasefire in the parallel conflict between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas, took effect before dawn on Wednesday, bringing a halt to hostilities that had escalated sharply in recent months and had overshadowed the Gaza conflict.

Announcing the Lebanon accord on Tuesday, US President Joe Biden said he would now renew his push for a ceasefire agreement in Gaza and he urged Israel and Hamas to seize the moment.

Israel's campaign in Gaza has killed nearly 44,300 people and displaced nearly all the enclave's population at least once, Gaza officials say. Vast swathes of the territory are in ruins.

The Hamas-led fighters who attacked southern Israeli communities 13 months ago, triggering the war, killed some 1,200 people and captured more than 250 hostages, Israel has said.