Sharm El-Sheikh to Host Meeting to Ease Palestinian-Israeli Tensions ahead of Ramadan

12 March 2023, Palestinian Territories, Nablus: Palestinians walk past closed shops during a general strike in protest over the killing of three Palestinians by the Israeli army earlier that day. (dpa)
12 March 2023, Palestinian Territories, Nablus: Palestinians walk past closed shops during a general strike in protest over the killing of three Palestinians by the Israeli army earlier that day. (dpa)
TT
20

Sharm El-Sheikh to Host Meeting to Ease Palestinian-Israeli Tensions ahead of Ramadan

12 March 2023, Palestinian Territories, Nablus: Palestinians walk past closed shops during a general strike in protest over the killing of three Palestinians by the Israeli army earlier that day. (dpa)
12 March 2023, Palestinian Territories, Nablus: Palestinians walk past closed shops during a general strike in protest over the killing of three Palestinians by the Israeli army earlier that day. (dpa)

Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh will host on Sunday a security meeting to ease Palestinian-Israeli tensions ahead of the holy fasting month of Ramadan that begins next week.

The meeting will be attended by Palestinian and Israeli security delegations, as well as representatives from the United States, Jordan and Egypt, “to reach settlements that would achieve calm in Palestine during Ramadan.”

The US is exerting pressure on the Palestinians and Israelis to respond to these efforts and commit to attending the meeting, sources told Asharq Al-Awsat on condition of anonymity.

The meeting will follow up on the agreements reached in Aqaba, Jordan, in February.

Aqaba hosted the first meeting of its kind in years between Palestinians and Israelis and regional and international officials.

Its closing statement said an agreement was reached to cease unilateral measures. The gatherers also approved a series of security measures that would de-escalate tensions in the occupied Palestinian Territories, including halting Israeli raids in Palestinian cities and freezing Israeli settlement plans for the coming months.

The sources said CIA chief William Burns was spearheading the American efforts with the Palestinians and Israelis so that they can positively respond to the Egyptian and Jordanian calls for calm.

Direct and close coordination is underway with the relevant Egyptian and Jordanian agencies, they revealed.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was delivered a message urging him to rein in some of his government officials, who have been stoking tensions with the Palestinians.

Israeli officials have tried to renege on the Aqaba pledges. Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich declared soon after the meeting that the freezing of settlements in the occupied West Bank will not happen.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said: “What happened in Jordan will stay in Jordan.” He also called for a return of assassinations against Palestinian resistance faction leaders.

The sources said the Egyptian efforts to ease tensions are “clearly and strongly” supported by American officials.

The Sharm el-Sheikh meetings will kick off a series of security and political meetings that will be hosted by the countries involved.

Israeli officials, however, are keen for the meetings to be limited to security affairs, while the Palestinians believe it is necessary to tackle relevant political issues as well.

Contacts are underway with the Palestinian Authority and several Palestinian factions to avoid any escalation ahead of Ramadan.

The armed group Hamas had warned Israel on Tuesday against any attempt to stoke tensions at the al-Aqsa Mosque during the holy month.



RSF Shelling On Camp Kills 8 in Sudan's Darfur, Say Rescuers

A view of a street in the city of Omdurman damaged in the year-long civil war in Sudan, April 7, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig
A view of a street in the city of Omdurman damaged in the year-long civil war in Sudan, April 7, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig
TT
20

RSF Shelling On Camp Kills 8 in Sudan's Darfur, Say Rescuers

A view of a street in the city of Omdurman damaged in the year-long civil war in Sudan, April 7, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig
A view of a street in the city of Omdurman damaged in the year-long civil war in Sudan, April 7, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig

Rapid Support Forces (RSF) shelled a displacement camp in Sudan's Darfur region on Thursday, killing eight civilians and injuring others, a local rescue group said.

The bombardment hit Abu Shouk camp, which hosts tens of thousands of displaced people on the outskirts of El Fasher, the besieged capital of North Darfur.

El-Fasher remains the last major stronghold in Sudan's western Darfur region not under the control of the RSF, who have been at war with the regular army since April 2023, AFP reported.

"The Abu Shouk camp witnessed heavy artillery bombardment by the RSF... killing eight people," the camp's Emergency Response Room said in a statement.

In recent weeks, El-Fasher, which has been under RSF siege since last year, has been locked in intense fighting between warring sides in a region also gripped by famine.

Thursday's offensive comes just days after a series of attacks by the RSF targeted another battleground region of Sudan.

More than 450 people, including 35 children, were killed in several villages of North Kordofan, southwest of the capital Khartoum, according to a statement released this week by the UN's children agency.

"No child should ever experience such horrors," said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. "Violence against children is unconscionable and must end now."

On Sunday, the RSF claimed to have killed more than 470 army personnel near the town of El-Obeid, also in North Kordofan, in a statement posted to its Telegram channel.

Independent verification of casualties in Sudan remains difficult due to restricted access to its conflict zones.

Now in its third year, the conflict has killed tens of thousands and forced millions to flee, creating what the United Nations describes as the world's largest displacement crisis.

In December last year, famine was officially declared in three displacement camps near El-Fasher, namely Zamzam, Abu Shouk and Al-Salam, according to the UN.

Since the Sudanese army regained control of the capital Khartoum in March, the RSF has shifted its operations westward, focusing on Darfur and Kordofan in a bid to consolidate territorial gains.

In April, RSF fighters seized the Zamzam displacement camp, located near Abu Shouk.

The assault forced nearly 400,000 people to flee, according to UN figures, effectively emptying one of the country's largest camps for the displaced.

Sudanese analyst Mohaned el-Nour told AFP the RSF aims to redefine its role in the conflict.

"Their goal is no longer to be seen as a militia, but as an alternative government in western Sudan, undermining the legitimacy of the authorities in Port Sudan."

He added that the recent surge in violence in North Kordofan was likely intended to divert the army's attention from El Fasher, where the military is trying "at all costs" to maintain.