US President Donald Trump has said that Sudan has agreed to normalize relations with Israel. Trump, who is running for the presidency again on November 3, reached an agreement with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Sudanese Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok, and Transitional Council President Abdul Fattah al-Barhan, according to top U.S. officials. The agreement was described as a new stab at the back of Palestinians who condemned Trump’s announcement at the White House.
The three countries agreed to normalize relations between Sudan and Israel and end hostilities between the two countries, according to a joint statement issued by the three countries. Trump added that he expects Palestinians and other countries, including Saudi Arabia, to agree on closer ties with Israel in the coming months. Sudan is the third Arab country to normalize relations with Israel in the past two months, after the UAE and Bahrain. The joint statement said Israel and Sudan would meet in the coming weeks to discuss cooperation agreements with the agricultural sector on technology, aviation, immigration issues, and other areas.
The announcement came shortly after Trump announced that he would remove Sudan from the list of countries that sponsor terrorism. Trump has made it clear in talks with Kuwaiti envoy Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmadi that there is a possibility of a truce with Kuwait and Israel after Sudan. At the same time, Palestinian organizations have come out in strong protest against the Sudan-Israel relationship. Abu Yusuf said that Sudan’s joining other countries that have normal relations with occupied Israel was a new stab behind the Palestinian people and that it was a betrayal of the Palestinian cause. Hamas, Sudan’s traditional ally, also reacted sharply. Hamas spokesman Fouzi Barhoum said the decision was “in the wrong direction”.
