From Khartoum to Tel Aviv: Israel’s Fingerprints in Sudan’s Genocide

As Sudan collapses into one of the deadliest humanitarian crises of the century, international attention is once again returning to Darfur, where entire communities are being wiped out in what the United States has now formally recognized as genocide. Yet behind the brutality on the ground lies a quieter, more complex story, one that links Khartoum to Tel Aviv, Darfur to the Red Sea, and exposes how Israel’s strategic ambitions in East Africa may have intertwined with the bloodshed.

“The RSF, backed by the UAE and Israel, is committing genocide in El Fasher.” said Sudanese Khartoum-based writer and strategic affairs analyst Makkawi Elmalik

In 2020, Sudan normalised diplomatic relations with Israel, influenced by the first Trump administration’s pressure. This agreement, known as the Kampala deal, was facilitated by UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed and led to Sudan freezing the assets of Hamas. Additionally, there were discussions about moving Hamas leaders to Sudan as part of a peace agreement, but Hamas outright rejected this proposal. It is well known that General Mohamed Hamdan Dagolo, the commander of Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), commonly referred to as “Hemedti,” maintained a close relationship with Israel.

In August 2020, The New Arab reported that Dagolo, serving at the time as the Deputy Head of the Sudan Sovereignty Council, had travelled to the UAE for a clandestine meeting with Israeli Mossad Chief Yossi Cohen. Furthermore, reports indicate that a Sudanese delegation, including Hemeti and his paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF), visited Israel for talks on bilateral cooperation. Interestingly, in 2020, The Wall Street Journal disclosed leaked documents that confirmed the UAE’s hiring of Sudanese mercenaries from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia to engage in conflicts in Yemen and Libya.

Ultimately, Hemeti linked Sudan’s aspiration to be taken off the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism with fostering ties to Israel. Much of what is reported involves security, intelligence or paramilitary dimensions rather than only formal diplomatic channels. This raises questions about the nature and transparency of the ties. Today, numerous experts contend that the intensity of the war in Sudan could not have occurred without the direct participation of the UAE and Israel.

A Nation Consumed by Atrocity

The war that erupted in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has left over 12 million displaced and tens of thousands dead The RSF, commanded by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti), now stands accused of orchestrating systematic ethnic cleansing in Darfur — burning villages, executing men and boys, and using sexual violence as a weapon of war.

The UN Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan described the conflict as “a war of atrocities,” while ICC investigators have opened probes into mass killings around El Fasher. Humanitarian agencies warn that famine could soon claim more lives than the fighting itself.

Israel’s Long Game in Sudan

Israel’s interest in Sudan is not new. Since the 1970s, the country has figured prominently in Israeli defense strategy, as a gateway to East Africa, a buffer to Iranian influence, and a potential security corridor along the Red Sea.

During Jaafar Nimeiri’s rule (1969-1985), Sudan secretly cooperated with Israel to airlift Ethiopian Jews through Sudanese territory in Operation Moses and Operation Joshua. That relationship collapsed when Omar al-Bashir’s Islamist regime came to power in 1989, siding with Iran and Hamas.

In the decades that followed, Israel launched multiple covert airstrikes inside Sudan:

• 2009: A convoy allegedly carrying Iranian weapons to Gaza destroyed near the Egypt-Sudan border.
• 2011 & 2012: Drone strikes in Port Sudan targeted arms smugglers.
• 2012: The Yarmouk Arms Factory in Khartoum bombed, reportedly storing Iranian munitions.

When Bashir fell in 2019, Israel quickly re-engaged. In February 2020, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan met Benjamin Netanyahu in Entebbe, the first step toward normalisation. A year later, then-Intelligence Minister Eli Cohen made a “historic visit” to Khartoum, marking Israel’s official return.

But Israel’s outreach extended deeper than diplomacy. Reports from ‘Haaretz’ and ‘Countercurrents’ suggest that Israeli intelligence operatives and private defense firms opened channels of communication with the RSF, allegedly supplying spyware and communications-interception technology through intermediaries such as Tal Dillian’s Intellexa Group.

Accusations of Complicity

As the RSF tightened its grip on Darfur in 2025, analysts began drawing uncomfortable connections between Israeli-supplied surveillance tools and the RSF’s ability to identify, track, and detain civilians, some describing the RSF goals as completely aligning with Israel’s strategic interests and national goals.

“The RSF’s campaign in Darfur bears the hallmarks of modern electronic warfare, precision tracking, intercepted communications, and the weaponization of data,” says political scientist Dr. Yousra Hassan at the University of Khartoum.

While there is no conclusive proof that Israeli officials directly aided the RSF, the pattern of covert partnerships, arms technology transfers, and intelligence cooperation mirrors Israel’s previous involvement in African conflicts, notably in Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Uganda.

The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, a human rights observer, warned in April 2025 that if even parts of these allegations are true, Israel could face moral and legal scrutiny under international law for enabling a force now accused of genocide.

Strategic Interest vs. Moral Cost

Sudan’s Red Sea coastline offers Israel more than symbolism, it provides control over maritime chokepoints, from the Gulf of Aqaba to the Bab al-Mandeb Strait. Ensuring friendly, or at least fragmented, governance along this route has long been a cornerstone of Israeli defense thinking. But the ethical price is steep. If Israeli-origin technologies or alliances strengthened the RSF’s campaign, then realpolitik may have crossed into moral complicity.

“Geostrategy cannot excuse genocide,” warns a recent editorial in French outlet Le Monde. “When states arm or empower militias that target civilians, their silence becomes participation.”

What Remains Unclear

• Evidence: Concrete documentation of Israeli arms shipments to the RSF remains elusive.
• Intent: Whether Israeli assistance was deliberate support or opportunistic engagement is still debated.
• Accountability: Neither the Israeli government nor private firms implicated have issued detailed responses.

Still, the patterns of cooperation and shared intelligence interests point to a broader reality: Israel’s fingerprints in Sudan’s turmoil are visible and certainly not accidental. They are the continuation of a decades-long strategy to project power across the Horn of Africa. The phenomenon is well described in a report dated October 31, 2025, by The Canray, and titled “Gaza to Sudan: Israel’s role in a second genocidal war is being overlooked”

Sudan’s genocide is a tragedy of staggering proportions, a human calamity born of ambition, rivalry, and neglect. For Israel, the question now extends beyond strategic gain. It is a test of conscience: whether a nation that emerged from genocide itself will be remembered as a guardian of security or an enabler of atrocity.

As Darfur burns once more, the world must look not only at those pulling the triggers but also at those supplying the tools, and ask whether their pursuit of influence is worth the stain it leaves on humanity. Counter Currents has the story…

Quds News Network reports for Counter Currents…

How Is Israel Involved in Sudan’s Genocide? Tracing the Secret Links to the RSF

Dozens of people have been killed in new massacres by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) during their takeover of the city of El-Fasher in Sudan’s western Darfur region, according to medical and humanitarian reports.

The Sudan Doctors Network described the situation as “a true genocide”, saying the RSF, which has been battling Sudan’s army for control of the country, killed more than 1,500 people in just three days as civilians tried to flee the besieged city.

“The massacres the world is witnessing today are an extension of what occurred in El-Fasher more than a year and a half ago, when over 14,000 civilians were killed through bombing, starvation, and executions,” the group said, calling the attacks “a deliberate and systematic campaign of extermination.”

Satellite imagery from Yale’s Humanitarian Research Lab showed clusters of objects consistent with human bodies and large areas of red discoloration on the ground after the RSF advanced into the city.

At least 2,000 people have reportedly been killed since the crime began, including volunteers and Red Crescent workers targeted in mosques. The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that 460 people were massacred at the Saudi Maternity Hospital, with Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus saying the organization was “appalled and deeply shocked.”

Israeli Fingerprints on the Crime Scene

While the RSF’s atrocities in El-Fasher shocked the world, a growing body of evidence points to covert Israeli links to the paramilitary group.

A recent investigation by Sudan Transparency revealed that Israeli intelligence services opened channels of communication with RSF Commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti) as early as 2021. The report cites a secret flight in May 2021 linked to a former Israeli military official, which reportedly delivered advanced surveillance equipment to Khartoum after a brief 45-minute stopover.

“Israel’s relationships in Sudan extended beyond the SAF (Sudanese Armed Forces) to the RSF Commander Hemedti,” the report stated, adding that the “shipment of advanced spying equipment” was part of these covert exchanges.

Independent researchers have also identified Israeli-made LAR-160 multiple rocket launchers reportedly in RSF possession, systems originally designed by Israel Military Industries.

According to Kribsoo Diallo, a Cairo-based Pan-African researcher interviewed by QNN, these ties likely had “direct consequences on the battlefield.”

“If confirmed, such links may have enhanced the RSF’s operational capacity through intelligence data or advanced communication systems,” Diallo said. “This could explain their ability to sustain a long siege over El-Fasher and carry out highly coordinated attacks on civilian areas.”

He added that the existence of such relationships, even indirectly through private arms networks, gives the RSF “a sense of political protection and impunity,” which undermines international accountability efforts.

RSF Copies Israel’s Gaza Playbook for Atrocities

Observers say the RSF has begun mirroring Israel’s language and tactics used in Gaza, framing mass violence as “military necessity.”

An Al Jazeera investigation found that the RSF used Israeli-style legal justifications to target civilian areas, such as labeling the Zamzam displacement camp a “military zone” before attacking it. Legal experts say this mirrors Israel’s argumentation in Gaza, where hospitals, schools, and shelters are bombed under the claim they are “Hamas bases.”

An RSF adviser even told Israeli media that the Sudanese army’s actions “resemble terrorist Palestinian attacks on Israel”, a rhetorical appeal seemingly designed to attract sympathy from Tel Aviv.

“The RSF is adopting the same language Israel uses to legitimize collective punishment,” said Luigi Daniele, senior lecturer in international humanitarian law at Nottingham Law School. “Declaring entire neighborhoods or camps as ‘military zones’ is a clear attempt to strip civilians of protection, a tactic pioneered in Gaza.”

Sudan’s ambassador to the United Nations, Al-Harith Idriss Al-Harith Mohamed, told the Security Council that the massacres in El-Fasher “amount to genocide by all legal standards.”

“Women and girls are attacked in broad daylight,” he said. “What we are witnessing in El-Fasher is a continuation of a systematic campaign of ethnic cleansing that has been ongoing since 2023.”

Human rights groups say the international silence surrounding both Gaza and Sudan underscores how external alliances and intelligence ties shield perpetrators from accountability.

“What we see in El-Fasher is not just a local tragedy,” said Diallo. “It’s the reproduction of a global pattern, where military technology, political cover, and intelligence cooperation cross borders to sustain impunity.”

Strategic Interests and the Red Sea Factor

Analysts believe Israel’s involvement in Sudan extends beyond its historical ties with the Sudanese military or normalization agreements. Sudan’s strategic location on the Red Sea offers Israel both a security buffer and a geopolitical advantage in monitoring maritime routes and countering Iranian or Chinese influence.

“Sudan provides Israel with an entry point into the Horn of Africa and the Sahel,” Diallo told QNN. “By building ties with both General Burhan and Hemedti, Israel ensures leverage over whichever faction prevails, securing its interests regardless of Sudan’s internal outcome.”

This balancing act, he added, “complicates international accountability and turns Sudan’s conflict into a stage for regional power struggles.”

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Source: https://21stcenturywire.com/2025/11/03/from-khartoum-to-tel-aviv-israels-fingerprints-in-sudans-genocide/