This week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the US Congress, with hopes for peace remaining distant. The leader of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) announced that he had accepted a US invitation to peace talks in Switzerland next month.
Peace remains distant in Israel and Gaza after Netanyahu Addresses US Congress
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the US Congress, passionately defending Israel’s actions in Gaza. Netanyahu stressed that Israel’s fight was a proxy war with Iran. Over 5,000 pro-Palestine protesters demonstrated near the Capitol.
It has been reported that 111 Israeli hostages remain in Gaza, and nearly 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed since October 7. Families of Israeli hostages had wanted a cease-fire deal to come out of Netanyahu’s speech, saying that not bringing home the hostages is a failure.
The event highlighted the divide between Democrats and Republicans on the conflict, with many Republicans applauding Netanyahu, and many Democrats remaining silent. Representative Nancy Pelosi was a no-show, and said in a social media post that Netanyahu should be spending his time working for a cease-fire deal that would bring home the remaining hostages held by Hamas.
Jeremy Ben-Ami, the president of J Street, a liberal pro-Israel advocacy group, criticized the speech for lacking “an actual plan for ending the war and bringing real security and peace to the region.”
Sudanese general leader accepts US invitation to peace talks in Switzerland
General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, the leader of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), announced on X that he had accepted an invitation from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to attend peace talks in Switzerland next month. The US and Saudi Arabia will host the talks in a bid to bring an end to 15 months of intense fighting.
Blinken said the talks would begin on August 14, with representatives from the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, the African Union and the United Nations attending as observers.
Sudan’s civil war began on April 15, 2023 when fighting erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF. The group’s leaders, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, had originally collaborated to overthrow longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir in a 2019 coup. However, they became engaged in a power struggle against one another.
Since the start of the civil war, around 15,000 people have been killed. As of June 2024, around 12 million people were displaced. In April, it was reported that 18 million people were facing severe hunger, with 5 million of them at emergency levels. Meanwhile, 3.5 million children- every seventh child in Sudan- had acute malnutrition.
In January, Peace News Network wrote about how civilians had been deliberately targeted, with both sides committing war crimes, including sexual violence. We noted that the nature of the conflict made a simple media framing difficult, as both sides were guilty of war crimes, and worked together to overthrow a civilian government. Neither side was working to protect civilians or working towards civilian rule.
Peace is desperately needed to preserve civilian lives in Sudan, and the upcoming peace talks are a crucial measure.
Tara Abhasakun
Tara Abhasakun is Peace News Network (PNN)'s managing editor. She is journalist based in Christchurch, New Zealand, and formerly in Bangkok, Thailand. 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.
