The Sudanese Rapid Support Forces agreed to the United States‘s proposal of a humanitarian ceasefire, though the Sudanese Armed Forces failed to provide a clear answer.
The Sudanese civil war, which began in April 2023, reentered headlines last week after RSF forces took control of the key city of El Fasher, the final SAF bastion in Darfur. A colossal bloodbath ensued, with investigations suggesting that several thousand civilians were killed after the RSF entered the city. A week later, the RSF said it agreed to a U.S.-proposed humanitarian ceasefire.
“The Rapid Support Forces also looks forward to implementing the agreement and immediately commencing discussions on the arrangements for a cessation of hostilities and the fundamental principles guiding the political process in Sudan,” an RSF statement said, according to Reuters.
However, the ceasefire looks unlikely to be implemented, as the SAF-led Security and Defense Council met without giving a clear answer to the proposal. The expression of disapproval from several influential SAF leaders appears to signal that any ceasefire is unlikely.
TOP RSF COMMANDER ESTIMATES AT LEAST 7,000 CIVILIANS KILLED IN EL FASHER MASSACRE IN SUDAN
A State Department spokesperson urged both sides to implement the ceasefire on Thursday, adding that the U.S. engaged with both sides to bring an end to the fighting.
“We urge both sides to move forward in response to the U.S.-led effort to conclude a humanitarian truce, given the immediate urgency of de-escalating the violence and ending the suffering of the Sudanese people,” the spokesperson said, according to Reuters.
The Washington Examiner reached out to the State Department for further comment.
The ceasefire proposal was put forward by the Quad, a four-nation group comprising the U.S., Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Egypt is one of the central backers of the SAF, while the UAE is widely credited with holding up the RSF with the amount of aid provided.
Despite the lack of a clear answer from the SAF, Massad Boulos, U.S. senior adviser for Arab and African affairs, voiced optimism that a ceasefire would be reached on Monday. He said the two sides “agreed in principle” to a truce.
“We have not recorded any initial objection from either side. We are now focusing on the fine details,” he said in a statement carried by the Sudan Tribune.
The ceasefire proposal would entail a three-month humanitarian ceasefire, allowing the immediate delivery of desperately needed food and medical supplies, followed by negotiations for a lasting peace. Though the civil war is unique in being largely nonideological, the SAF and RSF are widely believed to be irreconcilable. Each is in full possession of half the country, and the other lacks the capabilities to take the other half.
Al Jazeera‘s Hiba Morgan said the SAF has consistently refused any peace deal that neglects to force an RSF withdrawal from every city it occupies.
“This humanitarian access the ceasefire would bring about is desperately needed, but the Sudanese army is yet to agree to it. They have conditions,” Morgan said. “It doesn’t look like the RSF will meet them.”
The El Fasher massacre likely only made things worse, with the SAF baying for vengeance.
“Soon, we will avenge those who have been killed and abused … in all the regions attacked by the rebels,” SAF leader Abdel Fattah al Burhan said in a televised address, adding that his forces were “striving for the defeat of the enemy.”