UNITAMS Continues Consultations with Sudanese Stakeholders to End Crisis

 Head of the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), Volker Perthes during a videoconference with several Sudanese party leaders on Friday, January 21, 2022. (SUNA)
Head of the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), Volker Perthes during a videoconference with several Sudanese party leaders on Friday, January 21, 2022. (SUNA)
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UNITAMS Continues Consultations with Sudanese Stakeholders to End Crisis

 Head of the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), Volker Perthes during a videoconference with several Sudanese party leaders on Friday, January 21, 2022. (SUNA)
Head of the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), Volker Perthes during a videoconference with several Sudanese party leaders on Friday, January 21, 2022. (SUNA)

United Nations-facilitated consultations on a political process for Sudan continued to engage Sudanese stakeholders for the second week in a row.

On January 8, the Head of the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), Volker Perthes, launched a political dialogue to reach a complete consensus between Sudanese parties to achieve full democratic transition under civilian leadership.

Consultations were held with representatives from the Women’s Agenda, the National Umma Party, the Sudan Liberation Army-Transitional Council (SLA-TC), the Democratic Unionist Party and the FFC Central Committee.

During the discussions, participants offered concrete suggestions on the way forward for transition and presented views regarding the scope and parameters of the consultations process, including means of enhancing international support.

They also tackled immediate priority issues, including ending the violence, and addressed the root causes of the current crisis.

UNITAMS affirmed that it will continue to hold talks with political parties, Darfur resistance committees and civil society groups, including women's groups, families of martyrs of recent protests, representatives of the Professional Associations and signatory groups to the Juba Peace Agreement. The military and security forces will also be included as part of the consultations.

“Further consultation will continue with representatives of the full range of Sudanese political and civil society spectrum in the upcoming weeks, it noted.



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.