Sudan's RSF and Israel held discreet meetings over last two years: Report

According to an investigation, RSF delegations travelled to Tel Aviv in 2025 and 2026 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu casts his ballot at his party Likud's main polling station during primary elections ahead of Israel’s general election in October in Jerusalem on 17 August 2026 (Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool/AFP) Published date: 31 August 2026 18:45 BST | Last update: 5 sec ago Israel has held meetings with senior officials of Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and received its delegations in Tel Aviv during the Sudan war, according to an investigation from Africa Intelligence. According to the investigation published on Friday, two RSF delegations travelled to Tel Aviv - one in May 2025, and another in February 2026. Africa Intelligence found that members of the delegations convened with officials within the Africa Division of Israel’s foreign ministry and with Israeli intelligence. The investigation reported that the contacts were embedded in a security and intelligence partnership that began before the outbreak of Sudan’s war in April 2023. The first delegation comprised Abdul Rahim Hamdan Dagalo, deputy commander to RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan "Hemedti" Dagalo, as well as their brother, Algoney Hamdan Dagalo. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters Africa Intelligence said that the two returned to Israel in February, and that the RSF’s legal adviser, Ezzadean Elsafi, travelled with them on their second visit. Sudanese in Kordofan's Bara the latest civilians to be forced into battle Read More » The investigation noted that the contacts between Hemedti’s associates and Israeli officials were not newly forged and included cooperation in security and intelligence for years, possibly surrounding the transfer of surveillance technologies to the RSF. Israel has a history of engaging with both the Sudanese Armed Forces through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the RSF through Mossad. On 6 January 2021, the civilian-military Sudanese Transitional Sovereignty Council, established after the popular uprising ousted President Omar al-Bashir a year earlier, signed the Abraham Accords, making Sudan the third Arab-majority country to normalise relations with Israel. The United Nations’ Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan concluded in February that the RSF’s October siege of el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, bore the “hallmarks of genocide”. RSF tried for war crimes In early July, the anti-terrorism and crimes against the state court in Port Sudan sentenced RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo and 15 other defendants to death in absentia. According to the Sudan Tribune, they were convicted for their roles in the killing of West Darfur Governor Khamis Abdullah Abakar, crimes against humanity, war crimes, prohibited warfare and genocide in el-Geneina. Presided over by special judge Mohamed al-Amin, the ruling constitutes the first judicial conviction of the paramilitary group’s leadership since the outbreak of Sudan’s war on 15 April 2023. The trial centred heavily on the 2023 assassination of Abakar, a day after he denounced an RSF shelling on the el-Jamarik neighbourhood. Human Rights Watch concluded in 2024 that actions in the capital of West Darfur, el-Geneina, constituted ethnic cleansing and possibly genocide against the Masalit people and other non-Arab communities. Although video footage circulated online of Abakar’s body being mutilated by known RSF soldiers, the paramilitary group repeatedly blamed the Sudanese Armed Forces and denied responsibility. Middle East Eye reported in June 2023 that around 1,500 people were killed in el-Geneina in the first two months of the war, forcing tens of thousands of Masalit residents to flee el-Geneina and West Darfur on foot to seek refuge across the border in eastern Chad. Middle East Eye delivers independent and unrivalled coverage and analysis of the Middle East, North Africa and beyond. To learn more about republishing this content and the associated fees, please fill out this form. More about MEE can be found here.