President of Sudan Sovereign Council Orders Army Restructure

Members of Sudan's Sovereign Council are sworn in at the presidential palace in Khartoum, August 21, 2019. (Reuters)
Members of Sudan's Sovereign Council are sworn in at the presidential palace in Khartoum, August 21, 2019. (Reuters)
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President of Sudan Sovereign Council Orders Army Restructure

Members of Sudan's Sovereign Council are sworn in at the presidential palace in Khartoum, August 21, 2019. (Reuters)
Members of Sudan's Sovereign Council are sworn in at the presidential palace in Khartoum, August 21, 2019. (Reuters)

President of the Sudanese Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan ordered a major army restructure, appointing General Mohamed Osman al-Hussein as Chief of Staff. He also promoted a number of officers to the rank of colonel and referred others to retirement.

His orders were consistent with the provisions of the constitutional document governing the transitional phase, which granted military and security services the authority to restructure the army and other security forces.

Burhan also appointed Majdi Ibrahim as deputy chief of staff, Lieutenant General Munawar Othman as deputy chief of staff in management, Lieutenant General Abdullah al-Bashir as deputy chief of staff of training, Lieutenant General Khaled al-Shami as deputy chief of staff of operations, and Lieutenant General Jamal Abdul Majid to the General Intelligence Agency.

Spokesperson of the armed forces, Brigadier General Amer Mohammed al-Hassan, issued a press statement announcing Burhan’s decisions to promote a number of officers, whereby Lieutenant General Essam Karar was appointed as commander of ground forces and General Essam Koko as commander of the air force.

In addition, Major General Bahri Mahgoub Bushra Ahmed Rahma was assigned as navy commander and Lieutenant General Abdullah al-Matari as inspector general.

Air Marshal Mohammad Ali Mahmoud, Lieutenant General Abdul Rahman Yousif Ali al-Faki and Vice Admiral Majdi Omar Sayed Marzouq were retired from their duties.

Based on the provisions of the constitutional document, the Sovereignty Council formed this month a Security and Defense Council under the chairmanship of Burhan.

Separately, Minister of Justice Nasruddin Abdul Bari also appointed a number of officials and legal advisers to new positions.

The new assignments are in line with the constitutional document, which calls for purging the influence of the dissolved Islamic regime and all of its symbols.



Over 100 Patients to Be Evacuated from Gaza, WHO Says

 A youth salvages items from the rubble of a building destroyed in Israeli strikes in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on November 5, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)
A youth salvages items from the rubble of a building destroyed in Israeli strikes in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on November 5, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)
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Over 100 Patients to Be Evacuated from Gaza, WHO Says

 A youth salvages items from the rubble of a building destroyed in Israeli strikes in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on November 5, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)
A youth salvages items from the rubble of a building destroyed in Israeli strikes in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on November 5, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)

More than 100 patients including children will be transferred out of the Gaza Strip on Wednesday in a rare medical evacuation from the Palestinian enclave during the Israel-Hamas war, a World Health Organization official said on Tuesday.

The WHO says fewer than 300 patients have been evacuated from Gaza since early May, when Israel expanded its military offensive southwards and took over the southern Rafah Crossing with Egypt, which had been used for medical transfers.

Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said the patients, including children with trauma injuries and chronic diseases, would depart in a large convoy via the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel.

Under arrangements made by the WHO, the patients will then fly to the United Arab Emirates from Ramon Airport in southern Israel, and some will travel on to Romania, he said.

"These are ad hoc measures. What we have requested repeatedly is a sustained medevac (medical evacuation) outside of Gaza," Peeperkorn told a press conference.

Asked whether Israel had approved the transfer, he said he was hopeful it would be facilitated by Israeli authorities.

He said more than 12,000 people were awaiting transfer, adding: "We cannot continue the way we do now."

COGAT, the Israeli military agency responsible for Palestinian affairs, says it actively facilitates the departure of seriously ill or injured patients, adding that the scope of such evacuations was determined by the capacity of organizations and countries to receive them.

As of last week, it said 10 groups of patients had been evacuated through Israel and it was willing to coordinate more.

Peeperkorn was part of a WHO convoy that on Nov. 3 provided some relief for the busy al-Awda and Kamal Adwan hospitals in northern Gaza which he said were barely operational because of medical and staff shortages.

"For al-Awda we are very concerned because the hospital needs urgent fuel and medical supplies, otherwise it might become non-functional over the coming week," he said of the hospital in Jabalia, just north of Gaza City.

Israel accuses Hamas fighters of hiding among civilians, including in hospitals, in the war that began after the deadly Hamas attack on southern Israeli communities on Oct. 7, 2023.

In a night-time raid on the Kamal Adwan Hospital last month, an Israeli military official said around 100 Hamas fighters were captured, some posing as medical staff, along with weapons. Hamas rejected the accusations.