Sudanese Activists Seek Revenge for Revolution Martyrs

Sudanese demonstrators chant slogans in front of security forces during a protest in Khartoum, Sudan April 15, 2019. (file photo: Reuters)
Sudanese demonstrators chant slogans in front of security forces during a protest in Khartoum, Sudan April 15, 2019. (file photo: Reuters)
TT

Sudanese Activists Seek Revenge for Revolution Martyrs

Sudanese demonstrators chant slogans in front of security forces during a protest in Khartoum, Sudan April 15, 2019. (file photo: Reuters)
Sudanese demonstrators chant slogans in front of security forces during a protest in Khartoum, Sudan April 15, 2019. (file photo: Reuters)

The Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok vowed to fulfill the goals of the December 2019 revolution that toppled the Islamist regime in Sudan, including the retribution for the martyrs killed on June 3rd last year, when security forces broke a sit-in next to the army leadership base.

Hamadok said in a tweet that the people revolted for their dignity, noting that they will always remember the martyrs of the Sudanese revolution.

In June 2019, which also falls on the 29th of Ramadan, 246 persons were killed and 1,356 others injured during a sit-in outside the army’s General Command when the forces attacked the peaceful activists and forcibly ended the protest, according to the doctors’ central committee.

The protesters considered breaking the sit-in a crime against unarmed persons who were seeking refuge in front of the General Command.

In 1990, the Islamist regime also committed a crime on the 29th of Ramadan, executing 28 army officers without trials. The officers’ families were not informed of their children’s burial places.

The Information Minister and government spokesman, Faisal Mohamed Saleh, said the retribution for the martyrs and their families will not be relinquished. He announced that the government and the families agreed to hold the memorial on June 3rd.

Meanwhile, hundreds of protesters and resistance committees broke the lockdown imposed during the coronavirus pandemic, and organized marches in Khartoum neighborhoods demanding justice and retribution for the martyrs.

The Sudanese Professionals Association announced in a statement that they will commemorate the occasion in a manner that suits the circumstances, vowing to continue the revolution.

Head of investigation committee on June 3 massacre, lawyer Nabil Adeeb, stressed that justice will be achieved and criminals will be punished. He said that the committee will hold those accountable for the crime from any political considerations.

The constitutional document governing the transitional period dictated the formation of a committee to investigate the sit-in massacre. It is chaired by Adeeb and includes several jurists and representatives of state institutions.

The committee was scheduled to submit its report within three months of its formation, but it extended its mission for three more months and is expected to finish within the coming weeks.

Some members of the dissolved Transitional Military Council, along with officials of the Sudanese army, are accused of being behind the attack on the protesters. However, they all denied these allegations and claimed “infiltrated forces” were behind the incident.

Witnesses confirm that the operation was carried out under the supervision of the army and its leadership.



Israel Military Says Soldier Killed in Gaza 

A drone view shows the destruction in a residential neighborhood, after the withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the area, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, in Gaza City, October 21, 2025. (Reuters)
A drone view shows the destruction in a residential neighborhood, after the withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the area, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, in Gaza City, October 21, 2025. (Reuters)
TT

Israel Military Says Soldier Killed in Gaza 

A drone view shows the destruction in a residential neighborhood, after the withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the area, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, in Gaza City, October 21, 2025. (Reuters)
A drone view shows the destruction in a residential neighborhood, after the withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the area, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, in Gaza City, October 21, 2025. (Reuters)

The Israeli military announced that one of its soldiers had been killed in combat in southern Gaza on Wednesday, but a security source said the death appeared to have been caused by "friendly fire".

"Staff Sergeant Ofri Yafe, aged 21, from HaYogev, a soldier in the Paratroopers Reconnaissance Unit, fell during combat in the southern Gaza Strip," the military said in a statement.

A security source, however, told AFP that the soldier appeared to have been "killed by friendly fire", without providing further details.

"The incident is still under investigation," the source added.

The death brings to five the number of Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza since a ceasefire took effect on October 10.


Syria: SDF’s Mazloum Abdi Says Implementation of Integration Deal May Take Time

People sit outdoors surrounded by nature, with the Tigris river flowing in the background, following a long atmospheric depression, near the Syrian-Turkish border in Derik, Syria, February 16, 2026 REUTERS/Orhan Qereman
People sit outdoors surrounded by nature, with the Tigris river flowing in the background, following a long atmospheric depression, near the Syrian-Turkish border in Derik, Syria, February 16, 2026 REUTERS/Orhan Qereman
TT

Syria: SDF’s Mazloum Abdi Says Implementation of Integration Deal May Take Time

People sit outdoors surrounded by nature, with the Tigris river flowing in the background, following a long atmospheric depression, near the Syrian-Turkish border in Derik, Syria, February 16, 2026 REUTERS/Orhan Qereman
People sit outdoors surrounded by nature, with the Tigris river flowing in the background, following a long atmospheric depression, near the Syrian-Turkish border in Derik, Syria, February 16, 2026 REUTERS/Orhan Qereman

Mazloum Abdi, commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces, said the process of merging the SDF with Syrian government forces “may take some time,” despite expressing confidence in the eventual success of the agreement.

His remarks came after earlier comments in which he acknowledged differences with Damascus over the concept of “decentralization.”

Speaking at a tribal conference in the northeastern city of Hasakah on Tuesday, Abdi said the issue of integration would not be resolved quickly, but stressed that the agreement remains on track.

He said the deal reached last month stipulates that three Syrian army brigades will be created out of the SDF.

Abdi added that all SDF military units have withdrawn to their barracks in an effort to preserve stability and continue implementing the announced integration agreement with the Syrian state.

He also emphasized the need for armed forces to withdraw from the vicinity of the city of Ayn al-Arab (Kobani), to be replaced by security forces tasked with maintaining order.


Israeli Far-Right Minister to Push for ‘Migration’ of West Bank, Gaza Palestinians 

A Palestinian man checks leather belts as people prepare for Ramadan, in the old city of Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, February 17,2026. (Reuters)
A Palestinian man checks leather belts as people prepare for Ramadan, in the old city of Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, February 17,2026. (Reuters)
TT

Israeli Far-Right Minister to Push for ‘Migration’ of West Bank, Gaza Palestinians 

A Palestinian man checks leather belts as people prepare for Ramadan, in the old city of Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, February 17,2026. (Reuters)
A Palestinian man checks leather belts as people prepare for Ramadan, in the old city of Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, February 17,2026. (Reuters)

Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said he would pursue a policy of "encouraging the migration" of Palestinians from the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, Israeli media reported Wednesday.

"We will eliminate the idea of an Arab terror state," said Smotrich, speaking at an event organized by his Religious Zionism Party late on Tuesday.

"We will finally, formally, and in practical terms nullify the cursed Oslo Accords and embark on a path toward sovereignty, while encouraging emigration from both Gaza and Judea and Samaria.

"There is no other long-term solution," added Smotrich, who himself lives in a settlement in the West Bank.

Since last week, Israel has approved a series of measures backed by far-right ministers to tighten control over the West Bank, including in areas administered by the Palestinian Authority under the Oslo Accords, in place since the 1990s.

The measures include a process to register land in the West Bank as "state property" and facilitate direct purchases of land by Jewish Israelis.

The measures have triggered widespread international outrage.

On Tuesday, the UN missions of 85 countries condemned the measures, which critics say amount to de facto annexation of the Palestinian territory.

"We strongly condemn unilateral Israeli decisions and measures aimed at expanding Israel's unlawful presence in the West Bank," they said in a statement.

"Such decisions are contrary to Israel's obligations under international law and must be immediately reversed.

"We underline in this regard our strong opposition to any form of annexation."

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called on Israel to reverse its land registration policy, calling it "destabilizing" and "unlawful".

The West Bank would form the largest part of any future Palestinian state. Many on Israel's religious right view it as Israeli land.

Israeli NGOs have also raised the alarm over a settlement plan signed by the government which they say would mark the first expansion of Jerusalem's borders into the occupied West Bank since 1967.

The planned development, announced by Israel's Ministry of Construction and Housing, is formally a westward expansion of the Geva Binyamin, or Adam, settlement situated northeast of Jerusalem in the West Bank.

The current Israeli government has fast-tracked settlement expansion, approving a record 52 settlements in 2025.

Excluding Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, more than 500,000 Israelis live in West Bank settlements and outposts, which are illegal under international law.