Sudan’s Burhan Calls for Dissolving Hamdok Gov’t

Chairman of the Sovereignty Council of Sudan Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (right) and Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok (left), AFP
Chairman of the Sovereignty Council of Sudan Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (right) and Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok (left), AFP
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Sudan’s Burhan Calls for Dissolving Hamdok Gov’t

Chairman of the Sovereignty Council of Sudan Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (right) and Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok (left), AFP
Chairman of the Sovereignty Council of Sudan Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (right) and Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok (left), AFP

Chairman of the Sovereignty Council of Sudan Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has waged a new escalatory campaign against civilians in the political partnership ruling the North African state through its transition period.

Burhan rejected the idea of continuing cooperation with civilians under what he labeled as the “old” partnership framework. Openly calling for dissolving the government headed by Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, Burhan underlined the need for assembling a new cabinet that enjoys broad participation and ensures resolving the current political deadlock and overcoming the legislative crisis in the country.

After a few days of relative calm between civil and military ruling authorities in Sudan, aggressive tones returned to the scene as the military disregarded Hamdok’s efforts to get the country out of the impasse it had been experiencing since the failed coup attempt last month.

The foiled insurgency had resulted in an “undeclared freeze” of mechanisms in the partnership between the two ruling authorities.

According to Asharq news channel, Burhan told soldiers at Khartoum’s Bahri Military District that any political solution for Sudan needs to first start with “dissolving the current government and expanding the overall political base of the parties participating in the transition government.”

Burhan also called for the formation of a legislative council that represents all the people, “except for the National Congress,” which was the ruling party under the former regime of Omar al-Bashir.

Speaking on Monday, in front of officers and soldiers and in the presence of a number of army commanders, Burhan said that the armed forces would protect the transitional period until free and fair elections are reached in which the Sudanese people choose who governs them.

Sudan has been experiencing a political crisis between the civilian and military partners of the transitional phase. This crisis was triggered by a failed coup attempt organized by officers in the armed forces on September 21.



Israeli Troops, Palestinian Fighters Clash in West Bank after Incidents Near Settlements

Israeli troops move inside the Jenin refugee camp on the fourth day of an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 31 August 2024. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH
Israeli troops move inside the Jenin refugee camp on the fourth day of an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 31 August 2024. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH
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Israeli Troops, Palestinian Fighters Clash in West Bank after Incidents Near Settlements

Israeli troops move inside the Jenin refugee camp on the fourth day of an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 31 August 2024. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH
Israeli troops move inside the Jenin refugee camp on the fourth day of an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 31 August 2024. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH

Clashes broke out between Israeli troops and Palestinian fighters in the occupied West Bank on Saturday as Israel pushed ahead with a military operation in the flashpoint city of Jenin.
Israeli troops searched areas around Jewish settlements after two separate security incidents on Friday evening. In Jenin itself, drones and helicopters circled overhead while the sound of sporadic firing could be heard in the city, said Reuters.
Hundreds of Israeli troops have been carrying out raids since Wednesday in one of their largest actions in the West Bank in months.
The operation, which Israel says was mounted to block Iranian-backed militant groups from attacking its citizens, has drawn international calls for a halt.
At least 19 Palestinians, including armed fighters and civilians, have now been killed since it began. The Israeli military said on Saturday a soldier had been killed during the fighting in the West Bank.
The Israeli forces were battling Palestinian fighters from armed factions that have long had a strong presence in Jenin and the adjoining refugee camp, a densely populated township housing families driven from their homes in the 1948 Middle East war around the creation of Israel.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said on Saturday a child had been taken to hospital in Jenin with a bullet wound to the head.
The escalation in hostilities in the West Bank takes place as fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas group still rages in the coastal Gaza Strip nearly 11 months since it began, and hostilities with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement in the Israel-Lebanon border area have intensified.
Late on Friday, Israeli forces said two men were killed in separate incidents near Gush Etzion, a large West Bank settlement cluster located south of Jerusalem, that the military assessed were both attempted attacks on Israelis.
In the first, a car exploded at a petrol station in what the army said was an attempted car bombing attack. The military said a man was shot dead after he got out of the car and tried to attack soldiers.
In the second incident, a man was killed after the military said a car attempted to ram a security guard and infiltrate the Karmei Tzur settlement. The car was chased by security forces and crashed and an explosive device in it was detonated, the military said in a statement.
The two deaths were confirmed by Palestinian health authorities but they gave no details on how they died.
Troops combed the area following the two incidents. Security forces also carried out raids in the city of Hebron, where the two men came from.
Hamas praised what it called a "double heroic operation" in the West Bank. It said in a statement it was "a clear message that resistance will remain striking, prolonged and sustained as long as the brutal occupation's aggression and targeting of our people and land continue".
The group, however, did not claim direct responsibility for the attacks.
Israeli army chief General Herzi Halevi said on Saturday Israel would step up defensive measures as well as offensive actions like the Jenin operation.
Amid the gunfire, armored bulldozers searching for roadside bombs have ploughed up large stretches of paved roads and water pipes have been damaged, leading to flooding in some areas.
Since the Hamas attack on Israel last October that triggered the Gaza war, at least 660 Palestinian combatants and civilians have been killed in the West Bank, according to Palestinian tallies, some by Israeli troops and some by Jewish settlers who have carried out frequent attacks on Palestinian communities.
Israel says Iran provides weapons and support to militant factions in the West Bank - under Israeli occupation since the 1967 Middle East war - and the military has as a result cranked up its operations there.