World Bank Halts Sudan Operations in Blow to Coup Leaders, Strike Calls Gain More Support

A protester waves a flag during what the information ministry calls a military coup in Khartoum, Sudan, October 25, 2021. (Reuters)
A protester waves a flag during what the information ministry calls a military coup in Khartoum, Sudan, October 25, 2021. (Reuters)
TT
20

World Bank Halts Sudan Operations in Blow to Coup Leaders, Strike Calls Gain More Support

A protester waves a flag during what the information ministry calls a military coup in Khartoum, Sudan, October 25, 2021. (Reuters)
A protester waves a flag during what the information ministry calls a military coup in Khartoum, Sudan, October 25, 2021. (Reuters)

The World Bank halted disbursements for operations in Sudan on Wednesday in response to the military’s seizure of power from a transitional government, while state oil company workers, doctors and pilots joined civilian groups opposing the takeover.

Thousands of people have taken to the streets since Monday’s coup led by armed forces chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and several have been killed in clashes with security forces.

Burhan has dismissed the joint civilian-military council that was set up to steer the country to democratic elections following the overthrow of longtime president Omar al-Bashir in a popular uprising in April 2019.

He claimed he acted to stop the country slipping into civil war, but the World Bank decision to pause payments and stop processing new operations is a setback to his plans for one of Africa’s poorest countries.

After isolation from the international financing system across three decades of Bashir’s rule, Sudan achieved full re-engagement with the bank in March and gained access to $2 billion in financing.

“I am greatly concerned by recent events in Sudan, and I fear the dramatic impact this can have on the country´s social and economic recovery and development,” World Bank President David Malpass said in a statement from Washington.

“We hope that peace and the integrity of the transition process will be restored, so that Sudan can restart its path of economic development and can take its rightful place in the international financial community,” he said.

Abdalla Hamdok, prime minister in the deposed transitional government, had touted World Bank re-engagement as a major accomplishment and was depending on the funding for several large development projects.

The government had instituted harsh economic reforms that succeeded in achieving rapid arrears clearance and debt relief and renewed financing from the World Bank and IMF.

March of millions
Scattered protests took place in Khartoum on Wednesday although no new bloodshed was reported.

In one Khartoum neighborhood, a Reuters journalist saw soldiers and armed people in civilian clothes removing barricades erected by protesters. A few hundred meters away, youths build barricades again minutes later.

“We want civilian rule. We won’t get tired,” one said.

In the northeastern city of Atbara, protesters marched and chanted “Down with the military regime”.

Neighborhood committees announced plans for further protests leading to what they said would be a “march of millions” on Saturday.

Workers at state oil company Sudapet said they were joining the civil disobedience campaign to back the stalled democratic transition.

Pilots from national carrier Sudan Airways have gone on strike, their union said, as have pilots from local carriers Badr and Tarco Airlines. Central Bank employees have also stopped work in a further setback for the functioning of the economy.

Doctors belonging to the Unified Doctors’ Office group of unions also said they were striking. The doctors were one of the driving forces behind the 2019 uprising that brought down Bashir.

Power-sharing between the military and civilians had been increasingly strained over issues including whether to send Bashir and others to the International Criminal Court, where they are wanted for alleged atrocities in Darfur. Military commanders now leading Sudan also served in Darfur.

Speaking on Tuesday at his first news conference since announcing the takeover, Burhan said the army had no choice but to sideline politicians who he said were inciting people against the armed forces.

Hamdok was detained on Monday but has since been released.



Hamas Seeks Ceasefire Guarantees as Scores More Are Killed in Gaza

Smoke rises following an Israeli strike in the west of Gaza City, 03 July 2025, amid Israel's ongoing campaign in the Gaza Strip. (EPA)
Smoke rises following an Israeli strike in the west of Gaza City, 03 July 2025, amid Israel's ongoing campaign in the Gaza Strip. (EPA)
TT
20

Hamas Seeks Ceasefire Guarantees as Scores More Are Killed in Gaza

Smoke rises following an Israeli strike in the west of Gaza City, 03 July 2025, amid Israel's ongoing campaign in the Gaza Strip. (EPA)
Smoke rises following an Israeli strike in the west of Gaza City, 03 July 2025, amid Israel's ongoing campaign in the Gaza Strip. (EPA)

Hamas is seeking guarantees that a new US-backed ceasefire proposal for Gaza would lead to the war's end, a source close to the group said on Thursday, as medics said Israeli strikes across the territory had killed scores more people.

Israeli officials said prospects for reaching a ceasefire and hostage deal appeared high, nearly 21 months since the war between Israel and Hamas began.

Efforts for a Gaza truce gathered steam after the US secured a ceasefire to end a 12-day aerial conflict between Israel and Iran, but on the ground in Gaza intensified Israeli strikes continued unabated, killing at least 59 people on Thursday, according to health authorities in the territory.

On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump said that Israel had accepted the conditions needed to finalize a 60-day ceasefire with Hamas, during which the parties will work to end the war.

Hamas is seeking clear guarantees that the ceasefire will eventually lead to the war's end, the source close to the group said. Two Israeli officials said those details were still being worked out.

In a statement early on Friday, Hamas said it was discussing the ceasefire proposal with other Palestinian factions and would submit its response to mediators once those talks conclude.

Egyptian and Qatari mediators have been working to secure US and international guarantees that talks on ending the war would continue as a way of convincing Hamas to accept a two-month truce proposal, Egyptian security sources said.

A senior Israeli official close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said preparations were in place to approve a ceasefire deal. A separate source familiar with the matter said that Israel was expecting Hamas' response by Friday and that if it was positive, an Israeli delegation would join indirect talks to cement the deal.

The proposal includes the staggered release of 10 living Israeli hostages and the return of the bodies of 18 more in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, an official familiar with the negotiations said on Thursday. Of the 50 remaining hostages in Gaza, 20 are believed to still be alive.

Aid would enter Gaza immediately, and the Israeli military would carry out a phased withdrawal from parts of the enclave, according to the proposal. Negotiations would immediately start on a permanent ceasefire.

"We sure hope it's a done deal, but I think it's all going to be what Hamas is willing to accept," US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee told Israel's Channel 12 on Thursday. "One thing is clear: The president wants it to be over. The prime minister wants it to be over. The American people, the Israeli people, want it to be over."

Huckabee added that he would be taking part in talks next week at the White House, when Netanyahu is due to meet with Trump.

'WHAT CAN WE DO?'

In Gaza, there was no sign of immediate relief on Thursday. According to medics at Nasser Hospital, at least 20 people were killed by Israeli fire en route to an aid distribution site.

Further north, at least 17 people were killed in an Israeli strike at a school in Gaza City, according to medics. The Israeli military said it targeted a key Hamas gunman operating there and that it took precautions to reduce risk to civilians.

"Suddenly, we found the tent collapsing over us and a fire burning. We don’t know what happened," one witness, Wafaa Al-Arqan, who was among the people sheltering there, told Reuters. "What can we do? Is it fair that all these children burned?"

The war began when Hamas fighters stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel's subsequent military assault has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry, while displacing most of the population of more than 2 million, triggering widespread hunger and leaving much of the territory in ruins.

Israel says it won't end the war while Hamas is still armed and ruling Gaza. Hamas, severely weakened, says it won't lay down its weapons but is willing to release all the hostages still in Gaza if Israel ends the war.