Peace remains a distant hope as Sudan’s battle lines shift

Special Peace remains a distant hope as Sudan’s battle lines shift
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The Sudanese regime led by General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan has operated from Port Sudan since fighting broke out in April 2023. (AFP)
Special Peace remains a distant hope as Sudan’s battle lines shift
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eople cheer members of Sudan's armed forces taking part in a military parade held on Army Day in Gedaref on August 14, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 10 February 2025
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Peace remains a distant hope as Sudan’s battle lines shift

Peace remains a distant hope as Sudan’s battle lines shift
  • As Sudanese military advances in Khartoum, civilians fear more bloodshed and reprisals in light of recent experience
  • With the RSF retreating to Darfur and Kordofan, the country may face prolonged fragmentation and suffering

LONDON: When two shells exploded 100 meters from Al-Nau Hospital in the Sudanese city of Omdurman last week, medical staff felt the explosion and feared the worst.

A few days earlier, a blast at a busy market nearby killed 54 people and injured 158. Medics had battled to treat the dozens of bloodied casualties brought through the doors.

This time the explosions killed six people, including a hospital volunteer.

Even within the devastation of Sudan’s war, two such deadly attacks taking place within days of each other shocked those working at the hospital.

The shelling came amid an escalation in fighting across the heavily populated Khartoum state as the Sudanese army (SAF) and its allies attempt to retake full control of the capital from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia.

If successful, it would be a victory that reshapes the conflict but, analysts say, is unlikely to bring it to an end.

Jean-Nicolas Armstrong Dangelser, Sudan emergency coordinator for the charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF), was in Al-Nau Hospital’s emergency room at the time of the two attacks.

 

 

“The map of the conflict is changing literally by the hour,” he told Arab News. “It’s obviously coming with a big increase of violence, because there is fighting now spreading on multiple front lines.

“The hospital staff are seeing the direct impact of the conflict with the war wounded coming in and a lot of civilians being affected.”

The market attack and shelling near Al-Nau Hospital was blamed on the RSF as it rapidly withdraws from greater Khartoum, which includes Omdurman.

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When the war broke out in April 2023 as part of a power struggle between Gen. Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, SAF’s leader and Sudan’s de-facto ruler, and RSF commander Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, the militia seized control of much of Khartoum, along with large swaths of the vast country.

The military-led government relocated to Port Sudan as fighting raged, killing tens of thousands of people, displacing almost 12 million and leading to famine in several parts of the country.

Late last year, SAF mounted a comeback after sourcing more weapons, including drones, and carrying out a recruitment drive. After months of fighting, there was a major breakthrough in January when they seized Wad Madani, the capital of Al-Jazirah state.




Sudanese people celebrate with passengers of passing vehicles in Meroe in the country's Northern State on January 11, 2025, after the army announced entering key Al-Jazira state capital Wad Madani, held by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. (AFP)

Since then, the army has launched offensives from multiple directions into the outskirts of Khartoum, getting the upper hand in the adjacent cities of Omdurman and Khartoum North, also known as Bahri, which make up greater Khartoum.

On Friday, the army said it had retaken Kafouri district in Khartoum North, an important base for the RSF in what would be one of its most significant defeats so far.

The expulsion of RSF fighters from Wad Madani was followed by allegations of summary executions and reprisals against those accused by SAF soldiers of being RSF informants or collaborators. These reports are a cause for concern for Khartoum residents who have lived through months of RSF control over their neighborhoods.




Caption

Retaking the whole of Khartoum seems inevitable and would undoubtedly be a major symbolic and strategic victory for the army.

But hope that it may usher in an end to the conflict, either militarily through a defeat of the RSF or through a negotiated settlement, remains highly unlikely.

The RSF still holds sway in much of western Sudan, which includes the Darfur region, where Dagalo and many of his fighters come from.




In this November 5, 2017 photo, General Mohammed Dagalo's Rapid Support Forces display sacks of hashish that they captured in the state of South Darfur a week earlier by ambushing a gang of smugglers that was transporting the drugs to Khartoum. (AFP)

Ahmed Soliman, a senior research fellow at international affairs think tank Chatham House, says the RSF’s full retreat from Khartoum would not mean that the militia had been defeated.

“It would be a significant setback for the RSF, but we have to keep that in context also to what the RSF has been able to do during this war, which is to capture very substantial amounts of territory,” he told Arab News.

The RSF controls four of the five states in Darfur and has ramped up its siege of El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur. It also controls gold mines in other parts of Darfur and holds large parts of the Kordofan region.

“The RSF is very focused also on maintaining supply lines to the border areas with South Sudan, particularly the southwest,” Soliman added.




A picture taken on May 1, 2023 shows an abandoned hospital in El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur, as deadly fighting continued in Sudan between rival generals' forces. (AFP/File)

If the army can consolidate power in Khartoum, it is unsure whether there would be enough incentive for the RSF to enter ceasefire talks given the “substantial amounts of territory and resources” it controls.

Even without a truce, taking the capital would certainly change the dynamics of the conflict along with the calculations of the two sides, Soliman said.

For the military and its supporters, which include the political elites from the regime of deposed President Omar Bashir, reinstating the government in Khartoum may feel like “mission accomplished” in the conflict.

That would still leave the RSF in control of huge areas and effectively lead to a fragmented Sudan with different regions of de-facto governance, Soliman added.

“The preservation of Sudanese unity may be at stake,” he said.




Despite being ousted from the capital, Khartoum, General Mohammed Dagalo's Rapid Support Forces still hold sway in much of western Sudan, which includes the Darfur region, where Dagalo and many of his fighters come from. (AFP)

A clue as to how the military’s retaking of Khartoum might affect Sudan’s future came on Saturday when Burhan announced plans to form a transitional government.

He said the administration’s main objective would be to “accomplish the remaining military tasks … and cleanse all of Sudan” of the RSF, AFP news agency reported. It would also prepare for a broader political transition and eventually elections.

While the uncertainty over the direction of the conflict will do little to reassure Sudanese over their futures, the recapturing of areas near Khartoum has allowed some to return to their homes or gain access to medical help.

 

 

Over the weekend, MSF assisted the health ministry to set up mobile clinics in North Khartoum in areas recently retaken by the army.

Populations there have spent nearly two years struggling to find food, clean water and medicine, Armstrong Dangelser said.

Their condition, however, is evidence of the suffering the conflict has inflicted.

The MSF-supported hospitals are dealing with injuries related to shelling and airstrikes, but there are also the health effects of people living without clean water to wash and drink, no electricity and a lack of food.

INNUMBERS

10,000+ People suffering from famine in Khartoum alone.

12m+ People displaced by Sudan’s conflict since April 2023.

28,700+ Conflict’s death toll as per ACLED records.

They have dealt with cholera outbreaks and other diseases associated with not having access to basic services, and malnutrition is rife.

Disturbingly, Armstrong Dangelser said they had recently seen a surge in stabbing wounds and close-range gunshots, something he associated with outbreaks of looting as the RSF flees the areas they controlled.

There have also been widespread reports of reprisal killings in areas taken over by the army. The violence is in keeping with the level of brutality meted out by the two sides throughout the war.

The US accused the RSF last month of committing genocide and placed sanctions on its leader, Dagalo, who is known as “Hemedti.” Washington also sanctioned Al-Burhan for killing civilians and targeting schools and hospitals.




An image grab taken from a handout video posted on the Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) page on X on July 28, 2023 shows its commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo addressing RSF fighters at an undisclosed location. (AFP/File)

Al-Burhan and Dagalo led a coup together in October 2021 that overthrew a transitional government before the two men fell out spectacularly and led the country into war.

This latest phase has led to a sharp rise in civilian deaths, the UN said on Friday, with 275 civilians killed between Jan. 31 and Feb. 5 by shelling and airstrikes.

For aid workers dealing with the world’s worst humanitarian disaster, a new front has also emerged in recent weeks — President Donald Trump’s decision to suspend foreign aid.

As of September, the US had provided nearly $2 billion to the emergency response in Sudan since the conflict started, making it by far the biggest provider of aid to the country.

"What we are seeing now with the US funding cuts is truly devastating for a lot of people," Armstrong Dangelser said.

Whatever direction the conflict takes next, the suffering of the Sudanese is set to continue.
 

 


Israel strikes Lebanon in response to cross-border launch

Israel strikes Lebanon in response to cross-border launch
Updated 11 min 9 sec ago
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Israel strikes Lebanon in response to cross-border launch

Israel strikes Lebanon in response to cross-border launch
  • The Israeli military said three rockets had entered Israeli territory but were intercepted

Jerusalem: Israeli artillery fire and airstrikes hit southern Lebanon on Saturday after Israel said it had intercepted rockets fired from across the border, threatening a shaky truce that ended a year-long war between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
That conflict marked the deadliest spillover of the Gaza war, rumbling across the border for months before escalating into a blistering Israeli offensive that wiped out Hezbollah’s top commanders, many of its fighters and much of its arsenal.
The Israeli military said earlier it intercepted three rockets launched from a Lebanese district approximately 6 km (4 miles) north of the border, the first cross-border launch since a US-brokered ceasefire in November ended the fighting.
Israel’s Army Radio said the military was returning artillery fire. Lebanon’s state news agency said Israeli artillery hit two towns in southern Lebanon and airstrikes hit three other towns closer to the border.
Israel did not say who was responsible for the cross-border launches. Hezbollah did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Under the ceasefire deal, Hezbollah was to have no weapons in southern Lebanon, Israeli troops were to withdraw from the region, and Lebanese troops were to deploy to the area.
The agreement specifies that Lebanon’s government is responsible for dismantling all military infrastructure in southern Lebanon and confiscating all unauthorized arms.
Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Saturday that the Lebanese government bears responsibility for the rockets fired onto the border town of Metula.
“We will not allow rocket fire from Lebanon on the Galilee communities. We promised security to the communities of the Galilee — and that is exactly how it will be. The rule for Metula is the rule for Beirut,” Katz said in a statement.
The ceasefire brought an end to Israel’s intense bombardment and ground operations in Lebanon and Hezbollah’s daily rocket barrages into Israel. Each side, however, has accused the other of failing to implement the deal in full.
Israel says Hezbollah still has military infrastructure in the south, while Lebanon and Hezbollah say Israel is occupying Lebanese land by continuing to carry out some airstrikes and keeping its troops at five hilltop positions near the border.


Kurds in Iraq and Syria celebrate the Nowruz festival of spring at a time of new political horizons

Kurds in Iraq and Syria celebrate the Nowruz festival of spring at a time of new political horizons
Updated 22 March 2025
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Kurds in Iraq and Syria celebrate the Nowruz festival of spring at a time of new political horizons

Kurds in Iraq and Syria celebrate the Nowruz festival of spring at a time of new political horizons
  • Nowruz, the Farsi-language word for “new year,” is an ancient Persian festival that is celebrated in countries including Iraq, Syria, Turkiye and Iran
  • or many, Nowruz festivities symbolized not only the arrival of spring but also the spirit and aspirations of the Kurdish people

AKRE. Iraq: Kurds in Iraq and Syria this week marked the Nowruz festival, a traditional celebration of spring and renewal, at a time when many are hoping that a new political beginning is on the horizon.

Nowruz, the Farsi-language word for “new year,” is an ancient Persian festival that is celebrated in countries including Iraq, Syria, Turkiye and Iran. It is characterized by colorful street festivals and torch-bearing processions winding their way into the mountains.

For many, Thursday and Friday’s Nowruz festivities symbolized not only the arrival of spring but also the spirit and aspirations of the Kurdish people, who are now facing a moment of transformation in the region.

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The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which holds sway in much of northeastern Syria, recently signed a landmark deal with the new government in Damascus that includes a ceasefire and eventual merging of the SDF into the Syrian army.

Meanwhile, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which has waged a decades-long insurgency in Turkiye that has spilled over into conflict in Syria and northern Iraq, recently announced a ceasefire after the group’s imprisoned leader, Abdullah Ocalan, called for its members to put down their weapons.

In Iraq, calls for unity

As the sun set behind the mountains of Akre in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq Thursday, more than 1,500 volunteers climbed the steep hills, carrying burning torches as their faces shimmered in the light of the flame.

From a distance, their movements looked like a river of fire flowing up and down the mountain. At the top, small bonfires burned, while the sky was filled with the flashing colors of fireworks.

Iraqi Kurdish people celebrate the Nowruz New Year festival in the town of Akre,in Iraq's northern autonomous Kurdish region, on March 20, 2025. (AFP)

Women wearing colorful dresses with gold and silver jewelry and men dressed in traditional outfits with wide belts and turbans danced in the streets of the town and in the hills, Kurdish flags waving above the crowds.

The sound of dahol drums and zurna flutes echoed everywhere, mixed with modern Kurdish folk songs played from loudspeakers.

According to Akre’s directorate of tourism, some 88,000 people attended the event, including Kurds who traveled from around the region and the world. The substantial turnout came despite the fact that this year the festival coincides with Ramadan, during which many Kurds — like other Muslims — fast from sunrise to sunset daily.

Among those dancing on the hill was Hozan Jalil, who traveled from Batman city in Turkiye. Jalil said he is happy about the peace process and hopeful that it will bear results, although he was also somewhat circumspect. “I hope it won’t finish with regrets and our Kurdish people will not be deceived or cheated,” he said.

Jalil said Nowruz to him represents unity between Kurdish people across national boundaries. “This year, Nowruz to me symbolizes the point of achieving freedom for all Kurdish people,” he said.

For the people of Akre, Nowruz has become a tradition that connects them to Kurds and others everywhere. A local from Akre, described her pride in hosting such a celebration in her town.

Iraqi Kurdish people celebrate the Nowruz New Year festival in the town of Akre,in Iraq's northern autonomous Kurdish region, on March 20, 2025. (AFP)

“It’s a great feeling that everyone from all over the world comes to Akre for this celebration because it makes Akre the capital of Nowruz for the whole world,” said Guevara Fawaz. She was walking through the town’s main square with her family dressed in traditional Kurdish clothes.

Like Jalil, she voiced hopes that the PKK-Turkiye talks would progress and “achieve peace in all four parts of Kurdistan.”

A changing reality in Syria

Across the border in Syria, where former President Bashar Assad was unseated in a lightning rebel offensive in December, Nowruz celebrations took place openly in the streets of the capital for the first time in more than a decade since anti-government protests spiraled into a civil war in 2011.

Hundreds of Kurds packed into Shamdeen Square in the Roken Al-Din neighborhood, the main Kurdish area in the Syrian capital, to light the Nowruz fire, waving Kurdish flags alongside the new, three-starred Syrian flag.

In the village of Hemo, just outside the city of Qamishli in northeastern Syria, the Kurdish flag, along with flags of Abdullah Ocalan and the SDF, waved high above the crowds as people danced in the streets.

Iraqi Kurdish people celebrate the Nowruz New Year festival in the town of Akre,in Iraq's northern autonomous Kurdish region, on March 20, 2025. (AFP)

The new rulers in Damascus, Islamist former insurgents, have promised to respect minorities. A temporary constitution announced earlier this month states that “citizens are equal before the law ... without discrimination based on race, religion, gender or lineage.”

But many Kurds were unhappy that the text does not explicitly recognize Kurdish rights.

Mizgeen Tahir, a well-known Kurdish singer who attended the festivities in Hemo, said, “This year, Nowruz is different because it’s the first Nowruz since the fall of the Baath regime and authority,” referring to the now-disbanded Baath party of the Assad dynasty.

But Syria’s Kurdish region “is at a turning point now,” he said.

“This Nowruz, we’re unsure about our situation. How will our rights be constitutionally recognized?” Media Ghanim, from Qamishli, who also joined the celebrations, said she is hopeful that after Assad’s fall, “we will keep moving forward toward freedom and have our rights guaranteed in the Syrian constitution.”

“We hope these negotiations will end with success, because we want our rights as Kurds,” she said.

 

 


Israeli military says it intercepted missile fired from Yemen; Houthis claim responsibility

Israeli military says it intercepted missile fired from Yemen; Houthis claim responsibility
Updated 22 March 2025
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Israeli military says it intercepted missile fired from Yemen; Houthis claim responsibility

Israeli military says it intercepted missile fired from Yemen; Houthis claim responsibility

JERUSALEM: The Israeli military said it intercepted a missile fired from Yemen on Friday, one day after shooting down two projectiles launched by Houthi militants.
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack, saying that it fired a ballistic missile toward Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, the group’s military spokesperson, Yahya Saree, said in a televised statement in the early hours of Saturday.
Saree said the attack against Israel was the group’s third in 48 hours.
He issued a warning to airlines that the Israeli airport was “no longer safe for air travel and would continue to be so until the Israeli aggression against Gaza ends and the blockade is lifted.”
However, the airport’s website seemed to be operating normally and showed a list of scheduled flights.

The group’s military spokesman has also said without providing evidence that the Houthis had launched attacks against the US aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman in the Red Sea.
The group recently vowed to escalate attacks, including those targeting Israel, in response to US strikes
earlier this month, which amount to the biggest US military operation in the Middle East since President Donald Trump took office in January. The US attacks have killed at least 50 people.
The Houthis’ fresh attacks come under a pledge to expand their range of targets in Israel in retaliation for renewed Israeli strikes in Gaza that have killed hundreds after weeks of relative calm.
The Houthis have carried out over 100 attacks on shipping since Israel’s war with Hamas began in late 2023, saying they were acting in solidarity with Gaza’s Palestinians.
The attacks have disrupted global commerce and prompted the US military to launch a costly campaign to intercept missiles.
The Houthis are part of what has been dubbed the “Axis of Resistance” — an anti-Israel and anti-Western alliance of regional militias including Hamas, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and armed groups in Iraq, all backed by Iran. 


Turkiye condemns ‘deliberate Israeli strike’ on Gaza hospital; Israel army insists it ‘struck terrorists’

Turkiye condemns ‘deliberate Israeli strike’ on Gaza hospital; Israel army insists it ‘struck terrorists’
Updated 22 March 2025
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Turkiye condemns ‘deliberate Israeli strike’ on Gaza hospital; Israel army insists it ‘struck terrorists’

Turkiye condemns ‘deliberate Israeli strike’ on Gaza hospital; Israel army insists it ‘struck terrorists’
  • Nearly 600 Palestinians have been killed since Israel on Tuesday shattered the truce that had facilitated the release of more than two dozen hostages and brought relative calm since late January

ISTANBUL/JERUSALEM: Ankara on Friday condemned what it said was a “deliberate” attack by Israel on a Turkish-built hospital in the Gaza Strip.
“We strongly condemn the destruction by Israel of the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital,” said a foreign ministry statement.

Israel’s military acknowledged the attack, but insisted it “struck terrorists” in what it described as an inactive Gaza hospital used by Hamas militants.
“Earlier today (Friday), the IDF (military) struck terrorists in a Hamas terrorist infrastructure site that previously had served as a hospital in the central Gaza Strip,” a military spokesman told AFP in response to a question about the Turkish accusations.

Nearly 600 Palestinians have been killed since Israel on Tuesday shattered the truce that had facilitated the release of more than two dozen hostages and brought relative calm since late January.

Israeli ground forces on Friday advanced deeper into Gaza and vowed to hold more land until Hamas releases its remaining hostages.

In the southern city of Rafah, officials said Israeli bombardments had forced residents into the open, deepening their suffering. Officials said they halted the building of shelter camps to protect employees.

Israel had already cut off the supply of food, fuel and humanitarian aid to Gaza’s roughly 2 million Palestinians. It says military operations will escalate until Hamas releases the 59 hostages it holds — 24 of whom are believed alive — and gives up control of the territory.

Israel had ignored international condemnation of its indescriminate strikes, with Defense Minister Israel Katz warning that Israel would carry out operations in Gaza “with increasing intensity until the hostages are released by Hamas.”


UN condemns violence in Gaza and West Bank, urges Israel to resume aid deliveries

UN condemns violence in Gaza and West Bank, urges Israel to resume aid deliveries
Updated 22 March 2025
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UN condemns violence in Gaza and West Bank, urges Israel to resume aid deliveries

UN condemns violence in Gaza and West Bank, urges Israel to resume aid deliveries
  • Middle East peace envoy Sigrid Kaag denounces settlement expansions; says ‘nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people’
  • She calls on Hamas to release remaining hostages; warns both sides to respect obligations under international humanitarian and human rights laws

NEW YORK CITY: A top UN official on Friday condemned ongoing violence in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, urged all parties to respect international humanitarian and human rights laws, and called for an immediate ceasefire and the resumption of aid deliveries to Gaza.
During a meeting of the Security Council, the third this week on events in the region, the UN’s special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Sigrid Kaag, also condemned the expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, and warned that continuing violations of Security Council Resolution 2334 are damaging the prospects for a two-state solution.
Adopted in 2016, Resolution 2334 calls for “immediate steps to prevent all acts of violence against civilians, including acts of terror, as well as all acts of provocation and destruction,” along with the reversal of “negative trends on the ground that are imperiling the two-state solution.”
In a report presented to the council, Kaag said Israeli authorities have approved about 10,600 new housing units in settlements, including 4,920 in East Jerusalem, despite the resolution’s demand for a halt to such activities.
Her report also highlighted a sharp increase in seizures and demolitions of Palestinian-owned properties. It said that during the reporting period, from Dec. 7, 2024, to March 13, 2025, at least 460 structures were destroyed, displacing 576 Palestinians, including nearly 300 children.
Such actions have been strongly criticized by the UN as a violation of international law, and Kaag reiterated that they undermine hopes for a viable Palestinian state.
“Unfortunately, the high number of fatal incidents across the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel precludes me from detailing all,” she continued.
The situation in Gaza continues to be dire, Kaag said, with the UN confirming that at least 3,860 Palestinians were killed during the reporting period, and about 6,000 injured. The humanitarian crisis in the war-battered enclave remains “catastrophic,” as Israeli authorities have halted the entry of essential goods and supplies. Access to clean water is restricted for more than half a million people there, and the already fragile health infrastructure has been severely affected.
Kaag reiterated that the provision of humanitarian aid “is not negotiable” and deliveries must be allowed to reach those in need. She strongly condemned the blocking of aid to Gaza by Israeli authorities, as well as “the widespread killing” and wounding of civilians, and the destruction of civilian infrastructure.
“Nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people,” she said.
Kaag also condemned “indiscriminate attacks and the use of human shields” by Hamas, and stressed that all parties involved must “respect their obligations under international humanitarian law and international human rights law.”
She called for the immediate release of the 59 remaining Israeli hostages taken by Hamas and other Palestinian groups during the attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, 24 of whom are alive and 35 dead.
“Palestinian armed groups continued to hold hostages in horrific conditions, and fired rockets indiscriminately towards Israel,” said Kaag. “Hostages must be released immediately and unconditionally.
“I strongly condemn the reported ill-treatment of hostages. I remain appalled that there are reasonable grounds to believe that hostages may be subjected to sexual violence and abuse. I also reiterate my condemnation of Hamas’s abhorrent public displays accompanying the release of living and deceased hostages.”
Kaag also condemned the reported ill-treatment, including sexual abuse, of Palestinians held in Israeli detention facilities and said that when detainees are released, this must also be carried out in a dignified way.
Violence in the West Bank continues to escalate, with Israeli military operations and settler-related violence contributing to rising casualty figures. At least 123 Palestinians, including women and children, have been killed. Meanwhile, 10 Israelis, including children, have lost their lives in attacks by Palestinians. Rising tensions within Palestinian refugee camps, particularly in Jenin and Tulkarem, have resulted in the widespread displacement of occupants and the demolition of homes.
“The escalation of violence in the occupied West Bank is deeply troubling,” Kaag said. “Alongside the rising death toll, Palestinian refugee camps in the northern West Bank are being emptied and sustaining massive infrastructure damage during Israeli operations.”
Kaag rejected any attempt to forcibly displace Palestinians from the occupied territories, warning that such action amounts to “a grave violation of international human rights and humanitarian law.”
She condemned violence on both sides of the conflict and called for a policy of “maximum restraint” from the security forces. Lethal force must only be used when “strictly unavoidable to protect life,” she added.
Kaag also expressed alarm over ongoing attacks on Palestinians by Israeli settlers, some of which have occurred with the support of Israeli security forces.
In addition, she voiced concern about the ongoing Israeli efforts to undermine the UN Relief and Works Agency, which provides vital aid and services to Palestinian refugees.
In her closing remarks, she emphasized the need for a political process within which to resolve the ongoing conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians.
“We must work collectively to establish a political framework that outlines tangible, irreversible and time-bound steps,” she said.
“A viable two-state solution — Israel and Palestine, of which Gaza is an integral part, living side-by-side in peace and security — is long overdue.”