Sudan's Army Rejects US Call to Return to Peace Talks

War-torn Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan visits casualties receiving treatment at a hospital in the southeastern Gedaref state, on the first day of Eid al-Fitr that marks the end of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan on April 10, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
War-torn Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan visits casualties receiving treatment at a hospital in the southeastern Gedaref state, on the first day of Eid al-Fitr that marks the end of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan on April 10, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
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Sudan's Army Rejects US Call to Return to Peace Talks

War-torn Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan visits casualties receiving treatment at a hospital in the southeastern Gedaref state, on the first day of Eid al-Fitr that marks the end of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan on April 10, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
War-torn Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan visits casualties receiving treatment at a hospital in the southeastern Gedaref state, on the first day of Eid al-Fitr that marks the end of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan on April 10, 2024. (Photo by AFP)

Sudan's army on Wednesday rejected a call to return to peace talks with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces following a conversation between General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Thousands of people have been killed and more than 9 million have fled their homes in the war between the army and RSF that erupted in April 2023 over a transition to free elections, said Reuters.
"We will not go to Jeddah (venue for talks in Saudi Arabia) and whoever wants us to should kill us in our country and take our bodies there," said Malik Agar, a former rebel leader and Burhan's number two on the country's Transitional Sovereign Council.
Intense fighting continued in northern areas of the capital Khartoum on Wednesday, with residents reporting heavy aerial bombing and artillery fire.
On Tuesday, the State Department said Blinken discussed with Burhan the need to end the war and to resume talks sponsored by the US and Saudi Arabia in Jeddah, which have been stalled for months after failing to achieve a sustained ceasefire.
On Wednesday, Sudan's army-aligned foreign ministry welcomed an Egyptian invitation for a summit of civilian political groups, but placed conditions on the types of groups and foreign actors invited.
In his statement, Agar suggested that a separate summit for civilian political parties taking place in Addis Ababa was a distraction from the aim of ending the war.
The RSF has said previously it is open to talks, though neither side has abided by commitments made in prior rounds.
In Tuesday's call, Blinken also discussed the need to defuse hostilities in al-Fashir, the North Darfur capital where fighting has escalated since May 10, killing at least 145 people and displacing over 3,600 families, most of them this week, according to UN and Medecins Sans Frontieres aid group reports.
The RSF has surrounded al-Fashir and raided civilian neighborhoods, while the army, fighting to maintain its presence in its last stronghold in the Darfur region, has carried out costly air strikes in the area.
Residents say projectiles from either side have fallen and destroyed homes, while few people are able to reach hospitals and water and electricity services have been cut off.

 



Israeli Strikes Kill 14 Palestinians in Gaza, Medical Officials Say

Displaced Palestinians walk near their tents, set up along the beach in the west of Al-Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, 11 November 2024. (EPA)
Displaced Palestinians walk near their tents, set up along the beach in the west of Al-Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, 11 November 2024. (EPA)
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Israeli Strikes Kill 14 Palestinians in Gaza, Medical Officials Say

Displaced Palestinians walk near their tents, set up along the beach in the west of Al-Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, 11 November 2024. (EPA)
Displaced Palestinians walk near their tents, set up along the beach in the west of Al-Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, 11 November 2024. (EPA)

Palestinian medical officials say two Israeli strikes in Gaza killed at least 14 people, including two children and a woman, most in an Israeli-declared humanitarian zone.

One strike late Monday hit a makeshift cafeteria used by displaced people in Muwasi, the center of the so-called humanitarian zone. At least 11 people were killed, including two children, according to officials at Nasser Hospital, where the casualties were taken. Video from the scene showed men pulling bloodied wounded from among tables and chairs set up in the sand in an enclosure made of corrugated metal sheets.

The strike came hours after the Israeli military announced an expansion of the zone, where it has told Palestinians evacuating from other parts of Gaza to take refuge. Hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians are sheltering in sprawling tent camps in and around Muwasi, a largely desolate area of dunes and agricultural fields with few facilities or services along the Mediterranean coast of southern Gaza.

Israel faces a deadline this week for the Biden administration’s ultimatum for it to allow more aid into Gaza or risk possible restrictions on US military funding.

Another strike early Tuesday hit a house in the urban Al-Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, killing three people including a woman, according to al-Awda Hospital, which received the casualties. The strike also wounded 11 others, it said.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment on either strike.

Israel’s 19-month-old campaign in Gaza has killed more than 43,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities who don’t distinguish between civilians and fighters in their count, but say more than half the dead were women and children.

Israel says it targets Hamas fighters and blames the armed group for civilian deaths, saying it operates in residential areas and infrastructure and among displaced people.

The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led gunmen stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 and killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted about 250. Around 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, about a third believed to be dead.