This week, UK and EU pledge millions to help Sudan, but still no contact group for ceasefire talks. Following peace deal, officials report all bunkers removed in Pakistani district. Still no ceasefire in sight for Israel and Gaza.
UK and EU Pledge Millions to help Sudan, But Still No Contact Group for Ceasefire Talks
The UK and EU are stepping up to help ease Sudan’s suffering. At a London Conference on April 15, the two-year anniversary of Sudan’s civil war, the UK and EU pledged hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to Sudan. The EU promised 522 million Euros in aid, while the UK announced 120 million pounds in the coming year to deliver food for 650,000 people in Sudan amidst the country’s famine.
UK’s foreign minister David Lammy said, “We have got to persuade the warring parties to protect civilians, to let aid in and across the country, and to put peace first.”
However, a British-led attempt to set up a contact group to facilitate ceasefire talks failed after Arab states refused to sign a joint communique after the conference. The Guardian reported an argument between Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) over the communique.
These developments come after last week, Saudi Arabia and the US called on Sudan’s warring parties, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF), to resume peace talks. On April 9, Saudi Arabia’s top diplomat, Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington.
Since then, the RSF has launched new attacks on the beseiged city of El-Fasher and two nearby famine-hit camps. Over 100 people, including 20 children, are feared dead.
Sudan’s civil war born out of a power struggle between SAF leader Abel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti. The conflict has left the country in what US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has described as the “world’s largest humanitarian crisis, leaving over 25 million Sudanese facing acute food insecurity and over 600,000 experiencing famine.”
Following Peace Deal, Officials Report All Bunkers Removed in Pakistani District
After tribal leaders in Pakistan’s Kurram district finally came to a peace deal on March 29 after months of violent conflict between Sunni and Shia groups, officials reported on April 14 that all bunkers in the district had been removed.
Kurram’s administration confirmed that all parties involved had agreed to surrender their arms, and that the collection of weapons from local groups had commenced. The administration credited the operation’s success to cooperation between police and other security agencies, Dawn reported.
The most recent wave of violence in Kurram began on November 21, when gunmen attacked a vehicle convoy and killed 52 people, mostly shias. Despite a peace deal reached on January 1 between Sunni and Shia tribes in Kurram, militants attacked an aid convoy in the district on January 16. Deputy Commissioner Shaukat Ali said that one soldier had been killed, and four others wounded in the attack, with three convoy vehicles damaged.
Still No Ceasefire in Sight for Israel and Gaza
There remains no ceasefire deal in sight for Israel and Gaza, as Israel and Hamas still disagree about the terms for a potential ceasefire. NPR reported this week that Israel had proposed a 45-day ceasefire in which Hamas would release 10 living hostages (presumed to be around half of the hostages still alive, Egyptian officials say), in exchange for 1,400 Palestinian prisoners service life sentences. If both sides agreed to a permanent end to the war during those six weeks, including an agreement by Hamas to permanently disarm, the remaining hostages would be released from Gaza, according to the Israeli offer.
Hamas rejected the proposal, with a Hamas official telling BBC, “The Israeli proposal relayed to the movement through Egypt explicitly called for the disarmament of Hamas without any Israeli commitment to end the war or withdraw from Gaza. Hamas therefore rejected the offer in its entirety.”
Egyptian officials say that Hamas is agreeing to release more hostages, however, the group maintains that any agreement must guarantee a permanent end to the war, full Israeli withdrawal from the strip, and the strip’s reconstruction. The UN estimates that 90% of Gaza homes have been damaged or destroyed.
This development comes after last week, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said at a news conference that nearly 400,000 Palestinians had been displaced following the breakdown of the ceasefire in Gaza.
This Week in Peace will take a short break next week, but we will resume shortly.
Keywords: Sudan, Kurram district, Pakistan, Israel, Palestine, Gaza, ceasefire, civil war, conflict, conflict resolution, peace
Tara Abhasakun
Tara Abhasakun is a journalist in Bangkok. She has reported on a range of human rights issues involving youth protests in Thailand, as well as arts and culture. Tara's work has appeared in several outlets, including Al Jazeera and South China Morning Post.
