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Blinken Puts More Focus on Palestinians in Call to Israeli Counterpart

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken holds a virtual meeting with UN General Assembly President Volkan Bozkir via videoconference from the State Department in Washington, US, March 29, 2021. REUTERS/Leah Millis/Pool
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken holds a virtual meeting with UN General Assembly President Volkan Bozkir via videoconference from the State Department in Washington, US, March 29, 2021. REUTERS/Leah Millis/Pool
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Blinken Puts More Focus on Palestinians in Call to Israeli Counterpart

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken holds a virtual meeting with UN General Assembly President Volkan Bozkir via videoconference from the State Department in Washington, US, March 29, 2021. REUTERS/Leah Millis/Pool
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken holds a virtual meeting with UN General Assembly President Volkan Bozkir via videoconference from the State Department in Washington, US, March 29, 2021. REUTERS/Leah Millis/Pool

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told his Israeli counterpart on Friday that Israelis and Palestinians should enjoy “equal measures” of freedom, security, prosperity and democracy.

Blinken’s comments reflected more of a focus on the Palestinians than the pro-Israel policy conducted by US President Joe Biden’s Republican predecessor, Donald Trump.

Blinken made the point in a phone conversation with Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi.

A statement from State Department spokesman Ned Price said the two leaders discussed regional security challenges, humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people, and the normalization of relations with Arab and Muslim majority countries, Reuters reported.

Trump last year helped seal normalization deals between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco. Biden has yet to focus heavily on adding more countries to the list. Some Arab countries want to see the long-standing dispute between Israel and the Palestinians resolved before agreeing to a deal.

“The secretary emphasized the administration’s belief that Israelis and Palestinians should enjoy equal measures of freedom, security, prosperity, and democracy,” Price said.

He said Blinken reiterated the United States’ “strong commitment to Israel and its security and looks forward to strengthening all aspects of the US-Israel partnership.”

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Sudan’s Burhan Shakes up Army, Tightens Control

General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (C) and his new senior officers. (Facebook)
General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (C) and his new senior officers. (Facebook)
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Sudan’s Burhan Shakes up Army, Tightens Control

General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (C) and his new senior officers. (Facebook)
General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (C) and his new senior officers. (Facebook)

Sudan's army chief appointed a raft of new senior officers on Monday in a reshuffle that strengthened his hold on the military as he consolidates control of central and eastern regions and fights fierce battles in the west.

Sudan's army, which controls the government, is fighting a more than two-year civil war with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, its former partners in power, that has created the world's largest humanitarian crisis.

General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan made new appointments to the Joint Chiefs of Staff a day after announcing the retirement of several long-serving officers, some of whom have gained a measure of fame over the past two years.

Burhan, who serves as Sudan's internationally recognized head of state, kept the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mohamed Othman al-Hussein, but appointed a new inspector general and a new head of the air force.

Another decree from Burhan on Sunday brought all the other armed groups fighting alongside the army - including former Darfur rebels, Islamist brigades, civilians who joined the war effort and tribal militias - under his control.

Sudanese politicians praised the decision, saying it would prevent the development of other centres of power in the military, and potentially the future formation of other parallel forces like the RSF.

The RSF has its roots in militias armed by the military in the early 2000s to fight in Darfur. It was allowed to develop parallel structures and supply lines.

The reshuffle comes a week after Burhan met US senior Africa adviser Massad Boulos in Switzerland, where issues including a transition to civilian rule were discussed, government sources said.

The war erupted in April 2023 when the army and the RSF clashed over plans to integrate their forces.

The RSF made quick gains in central Sudan, including the capital Khartoum, but the army pushed them westward this year, leading to an intensification in fighting in al-Fashir in Darfur.