Sudan Says Progress Made in Peace Talks with Hilu

SPLM-N chairman Abdelaziz al-Hilu addresses delegates after signing a declaration of principles between Sudanese Transitional government and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement - North in Juba, South Sudan March 28, 2021. (Reuters)
SPLM-N chairman Abdelaziz al-Hilu addresses delegates after signing a declaration of principles between Sudanese Transitional government and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement - North in Juba, South Sudan March 28, 2021. (Reuters)
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Sudan Says Progress Made in Peace Talks with Hilu

SPLM-N chairman Abdelaziz al-Hilu addresses delegates after signing a declaration of principles between Sudanese Transitional government and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement - North in Juba, South Sudan March 28, 2021. (Reuters)
SPLM-N chairman Abdelaziz al-Hilu addresses delegates after signing a declaration of principles between Sudanese Transitional government and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement - North in Juba, South Sudan March 28, 2021. (Reuters)

Sudanese authorities adjourned talks on Tuesday with the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) from the country's south, saying they had agreed on more than three-quarters of a framework peace deal.

A deal with Abdelaziz al-Hilu's SPLM-N would be a big step in efforts to resolve decades of internal conflict in Sudan following the overthrow of former leader Omar al-Bashir in 2019.

Some armed factions from the south and from the troubled western region of Darfur signed what was meant to be a comprehensive peace agreement last year.

But al-Hilu held out, as did the leader of the most active Darfur group, Abdel Wahed el-Nur.

Earlier this year, the SPLM-N and Sudan signed a declaration of principles to guarantee freedom of worship and separate religion from the state -- a key demand for al-Hilu.

That paved the way for peace talks that have been held over recent weeks in the capital of neighboring South Sudan, Juba.

Sudan's ruling council, formed under a military-civilian power-sharing deal after Bashir's ouster, cited the lead negotiator at the talks as saying all but four out of 19 points had been resolved. A senior SPLM-N official said more than three-quarters of a framework deal had been agreed.

SPLM-N spokesperson Mohammad Kuku declined to give details on the points of disagreement, saying consultations would continue ahead of the next round of talks.

Bashir had ruled Sudan for 30 years until he was removed by the military following mass demonstrations against his government.



Gaza Civil Defense Says Israeli Strikes Kill at Least 29

A Palestinian girl, wounded in an Israeli strike that killed people, who gathered to collect water from a distribution point, according to medics, receives treatment at Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip July 13, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer
A Palestinian girl, wounded in an Israeli strike that killed people, who gathered to collect water from a distribution point, according to medics, receives treatment at Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip July 13, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer
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Gaza Civil Defense Says Israeli Strikes Kill at Least 29

A Palestinian girl, wounded in an Israeli strike that killed people, who gathered to collect water from a distribution point, according to medics, receives treatment at Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip July 13, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer
A Palestinian girl, wounded in an Israeli strike that killed people, who gathered to collect water from a distribution point, according to medics, receives treatment at Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip July 13, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer

Gaza's civil defense agency said Israeli airstrikes on Sunday killed at least 29 Palestinians, including six children near a water distribution point.

The attacks came with apparent deadlock in a week of indirect talks in Qatar between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas for a ceasefire in the territory.

Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that Gaza City was hit by several strikes overnight and in the early morning, killing eight, "including women and children" and wounding others.

An Israeli airstrike hit a family home near the Nuseirat refugee camp, south of Gaza City, resulting in "10 martyrs and several injured", Bassal said.

In central Gaza, six children were among eight people killed when a drone "hit a potable water distribution point in an area for displaced people" in the Nuseirat camp, he added.

Several other people were wounded, he said.

In the territory's south, three people were killed when Israeli jets hit a tent sheltering displaced Palestinians in the coastal Al-Mawasi area, according to the civil defense spokesman.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which has recently intensified its operations across Gaza, more than 21 months into the war triggered by Hamas's October 2023 attack.

On Saturday, the military said fighter jets had hit more than 35 "Hamas terror targets" around Beit Hanun in northern Gaza.

The vast majority of Gaza's population of more than two million people have been displaced at least once during the war, which has created dire humanitarian conditions in the territory.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify tolls and details provided by the civil defense agency and other parties.