EU Ambassadors Discuss Return to Constitutional Order with Sudanese FM

EU Ambassadors based in Sudan met today with Foreign Minister Mariam al-Mahdi (EU Mission)
EU Ambassadors based in Sudan met today with Foreign Minister Mariam al-Mahdi (EU Mission)
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EU Ambassadors Discuss Return to Constitutional Order with Sudanese FM

EU Ambassadors based in Sudan met today with Foreign Minister Mariam al-Mahdi (EU Mission)
EU Ambassadors based in Sudan met today with Foreign Minister Mariam al-Mahdi (EU Mission)

European Union Ambassadors based in Sudan met with Foreign Minister Mariam al-Mahdi and discussed the current crisis facing the Arab-African country.

In a statement on its official Facebook page, the EU Mission said the ambassadors reiterated support for the return to constitutional order, the need for the immediate release of detainees, and protection of the right to peaceful demonstrations.

Al-Mahdi said that the meeting tackled the current political issue following the October 25 coup, and the European community's role in resolving the crisis.

In a statement, Al-Mahdi called on the international community to pressure the coup leaders to release all political detainees, restore internet services, and provide urgent support to confront the coronavirus pandemic.

In a statement issued earlier after the army leaders seized power, the mission called "for the immediate return to the roadmap for a democratic transition of Sudan, as laid out in the Constitutional Document and the Juba Peace Agreement."

A UN circular advised agencies that the government of Sudan's ousted Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok continued to be recognized and that "persons claiming to be replacing" his officials should only be met for limited reasons.

The Troika countries warned the junta against taking unilateral measures. The UK, US, and Norway called for returning to the civilian-led transition.

Also, the ministers of the legitimate transitional government renewed their categorical rejection of the military coup, calling for lifting of the state of emergency and the release of the prime minister, ministers, and all political detainees.

The ministers condemned the security forces' violence, repression, and systematic attacks against peaceful demonstrators and arrest campaigns. They demanded an investigation to prosecute the perpetrators involved in killing demonstrators, as well as the barbaric assault on them.

They stressed that the military coup undermines the achievements of the transitional government, which include removing Sudan's name from the state sponsors of terrorism list, debt relief, grants, and the recovery of the national economy.

The Forces of Freedom and Change announced it would support the mass movements and revolutionary forces in their strikes and civil disobedience. They will also prepare for the protest with the participation of millions to overthrow the military coup.

The Forces denounced the pressures and threats against the detainees that put them in a life-threatening situation. They rejected the intimidation of the coup against the detainees and deprived them of their constitutional and legal rights.



Israeli Strikes Kill 44 Palestinians in Gaza, UN Warns of Man-Made Drought

Smoke billows after an Israeli strike in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on June 19, 2025. (AFP)
Smoke billows after an Israeli strike in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on June 19, 2025. (AFP)
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Israeli Strikes Kill 44 Palestinians in Gaza, UN Warns of Man-Made Drought

Smoke billows after an Israeli strike in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on June 19, 2025. (AFP)
Smoke billows after an Israeli strike in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on June 19, 2025. (AFP)

Israeli fire killed at least 44 Palestinians in Gaza on Friday, many of whom had been trying to get food, local officials said, while the United Nations' children's agency warned of a looming man-made drought in the enclave as its water systems collapse. 

At least 25 people awaiting aid trucks were killed by Israeli fire south of Netzarim in central Gaza Strip, the Hamas-run local health authority said. 

Asked by Reuters about the incident, the Israel Defense Force said its troops had fired warning shots at suspected gunmen who advanced in a crowd towards them. 

An Israeli aircraft then "struck and eliminated the suspects", it said in a statement, adding that it was aware of others being hurt in the incident and was conducting a review. 

Separately, Gazan medics said at least 19 others were killed in other Israeli military strikes across the enclave, including 12 people in a house in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza Strip, taking Friday's total death toll to at least 44. 

In a statement on Friday, the Hamas group, which says Israel is using hunger as a weapon against the population of Gaza, accused Israel of systematically targeting Palestinians seeking food aid across the enclave. Israel denies this and accuses Hamas of stealing food aid, which the group denies. 

Meanwhile UNICEF, the UN's children's agency, warned in Geneva of drought conditions developing in Gaza. 

"Children will begin to die of thirst ... Just 40% of drinking water production facilities remain functional," UNICEF spokesperson James Elder told reporters. "We are way below emergency standards in terms of drinking water." 

UNICEF also reported a 50% increase in children aged six months to 5 years admitted for treatment of malnutrition from April to May in Gaza, and half a million people going hungry. 

FOOD AID 

Elder, who was recently in Gaza, said he had many testimonials of women and children injured while trying to receive food aid, including a young boy who was wounded by a tank shell and later died of his injuries. 

A lack of public clarity on when the sites - some of which are in combat zones - are open is causing mass casualty events, he added. 

The route near Netzarim has become dangerous since the start of a new US-backed aid distribution system run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), witnesses told Reuters, with desperate Gazans heading to a designated area late at night to try and get something from aid supplies due to be handed out after dawn. 

The route has also been used by aid trucks sent by the United Nations and aid groups, and people have also been heading there in the hope of grabbing bags off trucks. 

UNICEF said GHF was "making a desperate situation worse". 

On Thursday, at least 70 people were killed by Israeli gunfire and military strikes, including 12 people who tried to approach a site operated by the GHF in the central Gaza Strip. 

In an email to Reuters, GHF accused Gazan health officials of regularly releasing inaccurate information. It said Palestinians do not access the nearby GHF site via the Netzarim corridor. The statement did not address a question about whether GHF was aware of Thursday's incident. 

The GHF said in a statement on Thursday it had so far distributed nearly three million meals across three of its aid sites without incident. 

The Red Cross told Reuters that the "vast majority" of patients that arrived at its Field Hospital during mass casualty incidents had reported that they were wounded while trying to access aid, at or around aid distribution points. 

Between May 27 and Thursday, the aid group received 1,874 patients wounded by weapons, according to Red Cross figures. 

The Gaza war was triggered when Palestinian Hamas fighters attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. 

Israel's subsequent military assault on Gaza has killed nearly 55,700 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, while displacing almost the entire population of more than 2 million and causing a hunger crisis.