RSF Delegation Discusses Peace Strategies with Mediators

Saudi Ambassador to Sudan, Ali bin Jaafar Hassan, with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) delegation in Geneva (RSF)
Saudi Ambassador to Sudan, Ali bin Jaafar Hassan, with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) delegation in Geneva (RSF)
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RSF Delegation Discusses Peace Strategies with Mediators

Saudi Ambassador to Sudan, Ali bin Jaafar Hassan, with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) delegation in Geneva (RSF)
Saudi Ambassador to Sudan, Ali bin Jaafar Hassan, with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) delegation in Geneva (RSF)

The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) reported that their delegation held “crucial” talks late Saturday and into Sunday in Geneva about the “escalating situation in Sudan and the strategies for peace and stability.”
The RSF delegation met separately with the African Union, led by Mohamed Ibn Chambas, and with Saudi Arabian representatives.
They expressed “deep appreciation” for international efforts to promote peace in Sudan, emphasizing that their presence in Geneva shows the RSF’s “sincere commitment to ending the conflict and easing the humanitarian crisis in Sudan.”
The RSF also accused the Sudanese Armed Forces of refusing ceasefire talks and prolonging the conflict, citing internal divisions and influence from remnants of the former regime.
As for peacemaking efforts, the RSF delegation thanked Saudi Arabia for its “persistent efforts to promote peace and stability in Sudan” and for playing a key role in the Jeddah talks that led to the Geneva negotiations.
The delegation also highlighted Saudi Arabia’s substantial humanitarian aid to those affected by the conflict, delivered through the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center.
The RSF reaffirmed their commitment to ensuring the “unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid across Sudan.”
US Special Envoy to Sudan, Tom Perriello, stated that discussions with the RSF are ongoing.
Meanwhile, Washington continues to engage in phone talks with Sudan’s Sovereign Council Chairman and Army Chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, in an effort to encourage his participation in the negotiations.
Talks are scheduled to resume on Monday after a two-day pause, though mediators have yet to receive confirmation of the Sudanese Armed Forces’ participation.



Women and Children Scavenge for Food in Gaza, UN Official Says

 Palestinians walk on a destroyed street 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)
Palestinians walk on a destroyed street 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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Women and Children Scavenge for Food in Gaza, UN Official Says

 Palestinians walk on a destroyed street 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)
Palestinians walk on a destroyed street 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)

Large groups of women and children are scavenging for food among mounds of trash in parts of the Gaza Strip, a UN official said on Friday following a visit to the Palestinian enclave.

Ajith Sunghay, head of the UN Human Rights office for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, expressed concern about the levels of hunger, even in areas of central Gaza where aid agencies have teams on the ground.

"I was particularly alarmed by the prevalence of hunger," Sunghay told a Geneva press briefing via video link from Jordan. "Acquiring basic necessities has become a daily, dreadful struggle for survival."

Sunghay said the UN had been unable to take any aid to northern Gaza, where he said an estimated 70,000 people remain following "repeated impediments or rejections of humanitarian convoys by the Israeli authorities".

Sunghay visited camps for people recently displaced from parts of northern Gaza. They were living in horrendous conditions with severe food shortages and poor sanitation, he said.

"It is so obvious that massive humanitarian aid needs to come in – and it is not. It is so important the Israeli authorities make this happen," he said. He did not specify the last time UN agencies had sent aid to northern Gaza.

US WARNING

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin set out steps last month for Israel to carry out in 30 days to address the situation in Gaza, warning that failure to do so may have consequences on US military aid to Israel.

The State Department said on Nov. 12 that President Joe Biden's administration had concluded that Israel was not currently impeding assistance to Gaza and therefore was not violating US law.

The Israeli army, which began its offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip after the group's attack on southern Israeli communities in October 2023, said its operating in northern Gaza since Oct. 5 were trying to prevent militants regrouping and waging attacks from those areas.

Israel's government body that oversees aid, Cogat, says it facilitates the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, and accuses UN agencies of not distributing it efficiently.

Looting has also depleted aid supplies within the Gaza Strip, with nearly 100 food aid trucks raided on Nov. 16.

"The women I met had all either lost family members, were separated from their families, had relatives buried under rubble, or were themselves injured or sick," Sunghay said of his stay in the Gaza Strip.

"Breaking down in front of me, they desperately pleaded for a ceasefire."