Sudan Government Delegation Will Consult with US on Ceasefire Talks

 Families flee RSF advances in Sudan's El Gezira state, on Sennar Road in the city of al-Dinder, Sennar state, Sudan, June 6, 2024. (Reuters)
Families flee RSF advances in Sudan's El Gezira state, on Sennar Road in the city of al-Dinder, Sennar state, Sudan, June 6, 2024. (Reuters)
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Sudan Government Delegation Will Consult with US on Ceasefire Talks

 Families flee RSF advances in Sudan's El Gezira state, on Sennar Road in the city of al-Dinder, Sennar state, Sudan, June 6, 2024. (Reuters)
Families flee RSF advances in Sudan's El Gezira state, on Sennar Road in the city of al-Dinder, Sennar state, Sudan, June 6, 2024. (Reuters)

The Sudanese government said on Friday it will send a delegation to Jeddah to consult with the United States regarding an invitation to ceasefire talks in Geneva to be held on August 14.

The talks aim to end a 15-month-old war between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary.

The Geneva talks, which the RSF has agreed to attend, would be the first major attempt in months to mediate between the two warring sides in Sudan.



Blinken: US Will Continue to Press Israel to Do More to Spare Humanitarian Sites in Gaza

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken boards his plane at the Chopin Airport in Warsaw on September 12, 2024. (Photo by Mark Schiefelbein / POOL / AFP)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken boards his plane at the Chopin Airport in Warsaw on September 12, 2024. (Photo by Mark Schiefelbein / POOL / AFP)
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Blinken: US Will Continue to Press Israel to Do More to Spare Humanitarian Sites in Gaza

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken boards his plane at the Chopin Airport in Warsaw on September 12, 2024. (Photo by Mark Schiefelbein / POOL / AFP)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken boards his plane at the Chopin Airport in Warsaw on September 12, 2024. (Photo by Mark Schiefelbein / POOL / AFP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday the United States will continue to urge Israel to do more to spare humanitarian sites in the Gaza Strip after an Israeli airstrike on a UN school complex sheltering displaced Palestinians killed six UN staffers.

When asked at a news conference in the Polish capital about Israel’s bombing of the school complex in central Gaza the day before, Blinken told reporters that “we need to see humanitarian sites protected.”

“That’s something we continue to raise with Israel,” he said.

Wednesday's strike on the UN-supported al-Jaouni Preparatory Boys School in Nuseirat refugee camp, in central Gaza, killed at least 14 people, including two children and a woman, hospital officials said. Among those killed were six staffers from the UN Palestinian refugee agency, known as UNRWA, the main UN relief agency in Gaza.

UNRWA described the strike as the deadliest single incident for its staff members. Among those killed at the school, it said, were the manager of the shelter and others working to help the thousands of displaced people taking refuge there, including teachers.

The head of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, said at least 220 UNRWA staffers have been killed in Gaza since Israel’s military offensive began in response to Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

Blinken blamed Hamas for continuing to hide its fighters among civilians and said the bombing “underscores the urgency" of reaching a cease-fire in the embattled territory.