Sudan Conflict: RSF Agrees to Humanitarian Truce as Mediators Push for Ceasefire
Scenes from Darfur- Photo credit Unsplash
Darfur- Sudan — There may finally be a glimmer of hope for Sudan’s war-weary population.
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the powerful paramilitary faction that has battled the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) since 2023, says it has agreed to a humanitarian truce proposed by international mediators.
The development comes just days after the RSF captured Al-Fasher, the army’s last major stronghold in the western Darfur region, a move that has intensified humanitarian fears amid reports of massacres and mass displacement.
In an interview monitored by DM Media Online, Sudanese political analyst Dalia Abdelmoneim, speaking from Cairo, described the RSF’s announcement as a “positive step,” but urged skepticism given repeated failures to uphold ceasefires in the past. “We’ve been down this road before,” she said. “They declare truces, but implementation is what matters. Civilians are dying, people are being raped, and entire communities are wiped out. We need this ceasefire to hold even if it’s just for a few months.”
Satellite imagery has revealed mass graves near Al-Fasher, and rights groups continue to document killings, looting, and sexual violence attributed to the RSF.
The Quad, made up of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, and the United States has been mediating renewed talks between the warring factions.
Abdelmoneim says success will depend on whether the foreign backers of both sides exert enough pressure to enforce compliance. “The backers of both armies must lean in heavily,” she explained. “Humanitarian convoys need safe passage, and civilians must be protected. The international community has to hold these actors accountable.”
Even if a ceasefire holds, the road to peace is fraught with obstacles. Abdelmoneim notes that reintegrating the RSF accused of widespread atrocities into Sudan’s political and social framework will be one of the toughest challenges ahead.
“The army is no angel,” she said. “But what the RSF has done is beyond anything Sudan has ever seen. How do you bring them back into society?”
Under the proposed roadmap, the truce would pave the way for a transitional government and eventual return to civilian rule, reminiscent of Sudan’s 2019 power-sharing deal that was toppled by a coup two years later.
“We’ve had a civilian government before, but it wasn’t protected,” Abdelmoneim added. “If lessons from the past five years are not learned, we’ll repeat this cycle again.”
The conflict, which erupted in April 2023, has displaced more than 10 million people, creating one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Analysts warn that without sustained international pressure, Sudan risks complete state collapse.
For now, Sudanese citizens cling to cautious hope that this truce, unlike many before it, might hold long enough to stop the bloodshed.
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