Palestinian terror organization Hamas released a statement on Friday afternoon condemning Sudan's normalization plans with Israel.
Hamas’ statement calls for the Sudanese government to “backtrack on this decision that contradicts the interests of the brotherly people of Sudan and would only serve the Israeli occupation’s agenda.”
The statement also accuses Israel of being a “fascist” state and committing “crimes against the Palestinian people." Hamas claimed in the statement that Israel has "killed 35 Palestinians since the start of 2023, including women and children, let alone colonial settlement expansion and desecration of Christian and Islamic holy places.”
Many of the Palestinians that have been killed in 2023 so far were gunmen and had initiated or planned attacks against Israelis.
The reference to the claimed Israeli "desecration" of Christian and Islamic holy places refers to National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's publicized pilgrimage to the Temple Mount.
Sudanese Israeli relations
As previously reported by The Post, Foreign Minister Eli Cohen secured an agreement for Sudan to sign a normalization deal with Israel.
On Thursday 2nd February, Cohen made a one-day trip to meet with President, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
Cohen later released a statement on the trip, stating “Today’s visit to Sudan laid the foundations for a historic peace agreement with a strategic Arab and Muslim country,”
The agreement will be formally signed once a civilian government is granted power. Sudan’s military has been in power since October 2021.
Other countries to have signed the agreement include the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco.
In 2021, Sudan confiscated some of Hamas’ assets including several businesses connected to the group.
The historical relationship between Sudan and Israel
Sudan had previously opposed Israel’s creation and supported the Arab wars against it.
Cohen underscored that point upon his return to Israel, noting that “previous governments in Sudan worked for Hamas and transferred equipment and weapons to Hamas, which hurt Sudan.
The inclusion of Sudan in the accords has been highly symbolic because Khartoum has been viewed as the heart of the Arab boycott against Israel. The Arab League met there after the 1967 Six Day War and established what became known as the three “no’s” of Khartoum. This was “no” to negotiations with Israel, “no” to recognition of Israel and “no” to peace with Israel.
In 2012 Sudan blamed Israel for striking a military factory in Khartoum, leading to speculation that Iranian weapons were stored or manufactured there.
Tovah Lazaroff contributed to this report.