Abbas blasts Sudan-Israel agreement

Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Friday condemned the agreement to normalize ties between Sudan and Israel.

“No one has the right to speak on behalf of the Palestinian people and the Palestinian cause,” his office said in a statement, adding that the agreement is contrary to the Arab Peace Initiative.

The Hamas terrorist organization also blasted the normalization agreement, calling it a “political sin” that harms both Palestinians and Sudanese.

The accord “harms our Palestinian people and their just cause, and even harms the Sudanese national interests,” Hamas said in a statement quoted by AFP. “It benefits only (Prime Minister Binyamin) Netanyahu”.

US President Donald Trump announced earlier on Friday that Sudan will normalize ties with Israel, becoming the third Arab country to do so in recent months, after the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

During a call with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Sovereign Council president General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and civilian leader and Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, Trump brought reporters into the Oval Office and announced, “The state of Israel and the Republic of Sudan have agreed to make peace.”

“It’s peace in the Middle East without bloodshed,” Trump added.

Trump’s announcement came shortly after he officially removed Sudan from the list of nations that sponsor and finance terrorism.

In a statement, the White House Press Secretary noted that Trump “has informed Congress of his intent to formally rescind Sudan’s designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism.”

(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)