Burhan, Hemedti Call for Dialogue to Overcome Sudan Crisis

Transitional Military Council Chairman General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan (Reuters)
Transitional Military Council Chairman General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan (Reuters)
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Burhan, Hemedti Call for Dialogue to Overcome Sudan Crisis

Transitional Military Council Chairman General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan (Reuters)
Transitional Military Council Chairman General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan (Reuters)

Military leaders in Sudan have called for dialogue and national unity to overcome the crisis facing the country. This came at a time security forces disbanded a gathering of families of political detainees, lawyers, and civil society activists.

While the crowd intended to perform Eid al-Fitr prayer, they had also planned a sit-in in front of Soba prison in southern Khartoum with the aim of pressing authorities to release all political detainees.

Since the army took power on October 25, security services have arrested dozens of political leaders and members of “resistance committees” who are active in organizing demonstrations against the military authority.

In Sudan, popular protests are escalating in demand of ending the army's rule and returning the country to the path of democratic transition led by a civilian government.

Transitional Military Council Chairman Gen. Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and his deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti), addressed the nation on Eid al-Fitr and called on Sudan’s political parties to find national consensus and resolve the crisis through dialogue.

Al-Burhan said that discord and lack of acceptance of the other have negatively affected the overall political, social, and economic conditions in Sudan.

He added that the armed forces and other security services will have an active presence in all solutions offered to complete the democratic transition in the country.

Al-Burhan pointed out that the multiplicity of national initiatives and the efforts of international and regional organizations reflect the importance of national reconciliation and contribute towards a solution.

During his speech, Al-Burhan reiterated the call for all societal components, political parties, resistance committees and the revolution’s youth to rise above differences and place the country above all.

He also stressed the importance of stopping the tribal conflicts in West Darfur.

For his part, Hemedti echoed Al-Burhan’s statements and said that dialogue was the only way to resolve the political crisis experienced by Sudan.



Israel Demolishes Seven Palestinian Homes in East Jerusalem

A picture shows a view of the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex (top L) across from the Arab town of Silwan on the hill with its al-Bustan neighborhood (C) in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem on November 5, 2024. (AFP)
A picture shows a view of the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex (top L) across from the Arab town of Silwan on the hill with its al-Bustan neighborhood (C) in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem on November 5, 2024. (AFP)
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Israel Demolishes Seven Palestinian Homes in East Jerusalem

A picture shows a view of the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex (top L) across from the Arab town of Silwan on the hill with its al-Bustan neighborhood (C) in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem on November 5, 2024. (AFP)
A picture shows a view of the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex (top L) across from the Arab town of Silwan on the hill with its al-Bustan neighborhood (C) in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem on November 5, 2024. (AFP)

Municipal workers began demolishing seven homes in occupied east Jerusalem's Silwan neighborhood on Tuesday, Palestinian residents and the municipality said, after an Israeli court called their construction illegal.

"This morning the Jerusalem Municipality, with a security escort from the Israel police, began its enforcement against illegal buildings in the Al-Bustan neighborhood in Silwan," Jerusalem's Israeli-controlled city hall said in a statement.

Activist Fakhri Abu Diab, one of those affected by the demolition, confirmed that "at least seven homes have been demolished, and the operation is ongoing".

He said that both houses and apartments were affected.

"They demolished my home, which I had renovated after it was previously demolished earlier this year, as well as my son's house, Haitham Ayed's family home, and four homes belonging to the Al-Ruwaidi family," Abu Diab told AFP.

He said around "40 people, including children, were affected by the demolitions in the neighborhood, leaving them homeless".

An AFP photographer saw at least four bulldozers operating on Tuesday at demolition sites in the neighborhood under tight Israeli police supervision.

In a statement, Jerusalem city hall pointed to court orders that call for the demolition of the buildings due to zoning laws that make them illegal.

However, Palestinian residents and activists accuse the municipality of concealing its true intentions.

"The buildings, like most of the buildings in the neighborhood, are located on an area that is a green designation, that is, an open public area and where there is no possibility for zoning," the municipality said, adding that the area would become a green zone instead.

Abu Diab said the true aim of the demolitions was "to reduce the percentage of Arabs and alter the demographic composition of Jerusalem in favor of (Israeli) settlers", connecting them to west Jerusalem.

Israel "is above international law, has escaped accountability, and is exploiting global focus on the wars in Gaza and Lebanon and the US elections", he said.

Israel occupied east Jerusalem in 1967 and later annexed it in a move not recognized by the international community.

Some 230,000 Israeli settlers live in east Jerusalem, according to the United Nations. Another 3,000 live in Palestinian neighborhoods within east Jerusalem's boundaries, according to Israeli rights organization Peace Now.