Israeli delegation arrives in Sudan for ‘brief talks’ with military leaders

An Israeli plane carrying an official delegation landed on Wednesday in the Sudanese capital Khartoum, Israeli and Saudi media have said.

The Israeli delegation will meet with high-ranking Sudanese military officials, including the country's ruling general, Abdel Fattah Burhan, according to Saudi news outlet Al-Arabiya.

The private Israeli plane departed from Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport, according to Israel's public broadcaster Kan.

It made a brief stop in Egypt’s Sharm El Sheikh before making its final destination to Khartoum, Al-Arabiya said.

The delegation is set to return to Israel on Wednesday evening.

Israel has kept a low profile regarding its relationship with Khartoum's military rulers.

Sudan signed the US-brokered Abraham Accords in January 2021, after officially agreeing to normalise ties with Israel in October 2020, 

Sudan was the third Arab nation to sign the accords, after the UAE and Bahrain. Morocco has also normalised ties with Israel.

In exchange for agreeing to the rapprochement, Khartoum was taken off the US' state terror supporters blacklist.

However, so far Israel and Sudan have not established diplomatic relations, because of widespread opposition to normalisation of relations with Israel in Sudan and because of previous disagreements between military and civilian Sudanese leaders which came to a head when Burhan overthrew Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok in a coup last October.

Hamdok was reinstated in November but resigned in January and civilian protests against the Sudanese military authorities are ongoing.