Egypt Supports Unity of Sudanese State, Institutions

An army soldier walks in front of the damaged Republican Palace in Khartoum, Sudan, after it was taken over by Sudan's army Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo)
An army soldier walks in front of the damaged Republican Palace in Khartoum, Sudan, after it was taken over by Sudan's army Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo)
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Egypt Supports Unity of Sudanese State, Institutions

An army soldier walks in front of the damaged Republican Palace in Khartoum, Sudan, after it was taken over by Sudan's army Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo)
An army soldier walks in front of the damaged Republican Palace in Khartoum, Sudan, after it was taken over by Sudan's army Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo)

Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty on Sunday said Cairo supports the Sudanese state and its national institutions, and is keen on preserving Sudan’s unity and territorial integrity.

“Any solution must ensure that Sudan remains united and stable,” he said.

Separately, the United Nations Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, Clementine Nkweta-Salami, warned that Sudan is among the top four countries globally with the highest prevalence of acute malnutrition.

“The humanitarian community is delivering food and nutrition aid, but resources are running out. Millions in Sudan face hunger. Urgent funding is needed to support them,” Nkweta-Salami said.

The Rapid Support Forces said on Sunday they seized control of a Sudanese Army military base in the city of al-Maliha, a strategic desert city in North Darfur near the borders of Chad and Libya.

Late on Thursday, the RSF media claimed it seized control of al-Maliha and the Jabal Issa military base.

The RSF media then released a video showing troops at the base, while one of the forces threatened to target areas in the north of the country.

The RSF advances came while the Sudanese Army said on Friday it had taken control of the Republican Palace and key government buildings in central Khartoum.

On Sunday, three civilians including two children were killed in an artillery attack by the RSF on Omdurman, part of the Sudanese capital, a medical source told AFP.

“Two children and a woman were killed and eight others injured in the shelling,” said the medical source at Al-Nao hospital, one of the city’s last functioning health facilities, requesting anonymity for their safety.

Eyewitnesses in the area reported seven rounds of shelling rocking residential neighborhoods controlled by the army, which in recent days regained most of central Khartoum’s government district from the RSF.

On Saturday, the Sudanese army claimed several strategic state institutions that had been overrun by paramilitaries, including the central bank, state intelligence headquarters and the national museum.

“Our forces in central Khartoum are continuing to pressure the Daglo thugs ... [who] are trying to escape from our forces,” army spokesman Nabil Abdallah said.

He said the army had “eliminated hundreds of militia members who tried to escape through pockets in central Khartoum.”

Since April 2023, the RSF has battled Sudan’s regular army in a war that has killed tens of thousands, uprooted over 12 million and created the world’s largest hunger and displacement crises.

The army has secured several victories over the RSF since September.



Rescue Teams Search for Survivors in Building Collapse that Killed at Least 2 in Northern Lebanon

A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
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Rescue Teams Search for Survivors in Building Collapse that Killed at Least 2 in Northern Lebanon

A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay

At least two people were killed and four rescued from the rubble of a multistory apartment building that collapsed Sunday in the city of Tripoli in northern Lebanon, state media reported.

Rescue teams were continuing to dig through the rubble. It was not immediately clear how many people were in the building when it fell.

The bodies pulled out were of a child and a woman, the state-run National News Agency reported.

Dozens of people crowded around the site of the crater left by the collapsed building, with some shooting in the air.

The building was in the neighborhood of Bab Tabbaneh, one of the poorest areas in Lebanon’s second largest city, where residents have long complained of government neglect and shoddy infrastructure. Building collapses are not uncommon in Tripoli due to poor building standards, according to The AP news.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry announced that those injured in the collapse would receive treatment at the state’s expense.

The national syndicate for property owners in a statement called the collapse the result of “blatant negligence and shortcomings of the Lebanese state toward the safety of citizens and their housing security,” and said it is “not an isolated incident.”

The syndicate called for the government to launch a comprehensive national survey of buildings at risk of collapse.


Israel to Take More West Bank Powers and Relax Settler Land Buys

A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)
A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)
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Israel to Take More West Bank Powers and Relax Settler Land Buys

A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)
A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)

Israel's security cabinet approved a series of steps on Sunday that would make it easier for settlers in the occupied West Bank to buy land while granting Israeli authorities more enforcement powers over Palestinians, Israeli media reported.

The West Bank is among the territories that the Palestinians seek for a future independent state. Much of it is under Israeli military control, with limited Palestinian self-rule in some areas run by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA).

Citing statements by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defense Minister Israel Katz, Israeli news sites Ynet and Haaretz said the measures included scrapping decades-old regulations that prevent Jewish private citizens buying land in the West Bank, The AP news reported.

They were also reported to include allowing Israeli authorities to administer some religious sites, and expand supervision and enforcement in areas under PA administration in matters of environmental hazards, water offences and damage to archaeological sites.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the new measures were dangerous, illegal and tantamount to de-facto annexation.

The Israeli ministers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The new measures come three days before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to meet in Washington with US President Donald Trump.

Trump has ruled out Israeli annexation of the West Bank but his administration has not sought to curb Israel's accelerated settlement building, which the Palestinians say denies them a potential state by eating away at its territory.

Netanyahu, who is facing an election later this year, deems the establishment of any Palestinian state a security threat.

His ruling coalition includes many pro-settler members who want Israel to annex the West Bank, land captured in the 1967 Middle East war to which Israel cites biblical and historical ties.

The United Nations' highest court said in a non-binding advisory opinion in 2024 that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories and settlements there is illegal and should be ended as soon as possible. Israel disputes this view.


Arab League Condemns Attack on Aid Convoys in Sudan

A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
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Arab League Condemns Attack on Aid Convoys in Sudan

A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit strongly condemned the attack by the Rapid Support Forces on humanitarian aid convoys and relief workers in North Kordofan State, Sudan.

In a statement reported by SPA, secretary-general's spokesperson Jamal Rushdi quoted Aboul Gheit as saying the attack constitutes a war crime under international humanitarian law, which prohibits the deliberate targeting of civilians and depriving them of their means of survival.

Aboul Gheit stressed the need to hold those responsible accountable, end impunity, and ensure the full protection of civilians, humanitarian workers, and relief facilities in Sudan.