EU Ready to Consider Additional Sanctions against SAF, RSF Leaders in Sudan

European Union flags fly outside the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, April 10, 2019. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File
European Union flags fly outside the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, April 10, 2019. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File
TT

EU Ready to Consider Additional Sanctions against SAF, RSF Leaders in Sudan

European Union flags fly outside the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, April 10, 2019. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File
European Union flags fly outside the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, April 10, 2019. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File

The European Union on Sunday condemned in the strongest possible terms the dramatic escalation of fighting in El Fasher in southwestern Sudan, instigated by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) against the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF).
The EU then expressed its readiness to consider additional sanctions, including against those in positions of leadership.
Peter Stano, Lead Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, urged in a statement both, RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo and SAF leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan to meet at the negotiating table to find a peaceful solution to this conflict.
“The EU recalls the obligations contained in the United Nations Security Council resolution 2736 demanding that the RSF halt the siege and de-escalate fighting in El Fasher immediately,” Stano said in the statement.
“We also call again on those who are fueling the war, particularly regional and international sponsors, to cease their support in this context,” he added.
The EU also affirmed that it will not bear witness to another genocide and will continue to work with international accountability mechanisms to hold perpetrators to account for the gross human rights violations they have committed and continue to commit.
It noted that thousands of innocent civilians are caught in the crossfire of both belligerent parties, particularly those trapped in Zamzam camp, the largest camp for internally displaced people in Sudan.
“Belligerent parties, their affiliated militias and their regional supporters must adhere to international humanitarian law, by protecting civilians from conflict, provide unhindered humanitarian access and allow civilians to move in and out of Zamzam camp,” Stano said.
Minni Arko Minawi, the Governor of Darfur and leader of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), wrote on X that it was the first time the European Union issued a statement of condemnation using such “strong language.”
“Nevertheless,” he added, “We demand the Union to take further steps to criminalize the RSF as a terrorist organization and hold it accountable for its crimes.”
For the second week, a sharp escalation in fighting is witnessed in Sudan's El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur.
In June, the EU imposed sanctions on six people in Sudan responsible for “supporting activities undermining the stability and political transition of Sudan.”
The list included former Sudanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Ahmed Karti Mohamed.

 



Fears for Gaza Hospitals as Fuel and Aid Run Low

The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said Friday that hospitals have only two days' fuel left before they must restrict services, after the UN warned aid delivery to the war-devastated territory is being crippled. - AFP
The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said Friday that hospitals have only two days' fuel left before they must restrict services, after the UN warned aid delivery to the war-devastated territory is being crippled. - AFP
TT

Fears for Gaza Hospitals as Fuel and Aid Run Low

The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said Friday that hospitals have only two days' fuel left before they must restrict services, after the UN warned aid delivery to the war-devastated territory is being crippled. - AFP
The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said Friday that hospitals have only two days' fuel left before they must restrict services, after the UN warned aid delivery to the war-devastated territory is being crippled. - AFP

The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said Friday that hospitals have only two days' fuel left before they must restrict services, after the UN warned aid delivery to the war-devastated territory is being crippled.

The warning came a day after the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant more than a year into the Gaza war.

The United Nations and others have repeatedly decried humanitarian conditions, particularly in northern Gaza, where Israel said Friday it had killed two commanders involved in Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack that triggered the war.

Gaza medics said an overnight Israeli raid on the cities of Beit Lahia and nearby Jabalia resulted in dozens killed or missing.

Marwan al-Hams, director of Gaza's field hospitals, told reporters all hospitals in the Palestinian territory "will stop working or reduce their services within 48 hours due to the occupation's (Israel's) obstruction of fuel entry".

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was "deeply concerned about the safety and well-being of 80 patients, including 8 in the intensive care unit" at Kamal Adwan hospital, one of just two partly operating in northern Gaza.

Kamal Adwan director Hossam Abu Safia told AFP it was "deliberately hit by Israeli shelling for the second day" Friday and that "one doctor and some patients were injured".

Late Thursday, the UN's humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories, Muhannad Hadi, said: "The delivery of critical aid across Gaza, including food, water, fuel and medical supplies, is grinding to a halt."

He said that for more than six weeks, Israeli authorities "have been banning commercial imports" while "a surge in armed looting" has hit aid convoys.

Issuing the warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, the Hague-based ICC said there were "reasonable grounds" to believe they bore "criminal responsibility" for the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare, and crimes against humanity including over "the lack of food, water, electricity and fuel, and specific medical supplies".

At least 44,056 people have been killed in Gaza during more than 13 months of war, most of them civilians, according to figures from Gaza's health ministry which the United Nations considers reliable.