ISRAEL’S shadowy involvement in Sudan is raising alarms across Africa and the Middle East. From covert intelligence channels to direct contacts with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Tel Aviv appears to be quietly shaping the course of Sudan’s deadly conflict. In an interview with Quds News Network (QNN), Kribsoo Diallo, a Cairo-based Pan-Africanist researcher specialising in African political affairs, warned that Israel’s ties to Sudanese actors do more than influence the balance of power on the ground; they fuel violence, shield perpetrators from accountability, and turn Sudan into a battleground for regional and global powers.
Intelligence Ties and Conflict Escalation
Diallo explained that growing reports of intelligence links between Israel and the RSF have had a tangible effect on the trajectory of the conflict, particularly in Darfur and the besieged city of El-Fasher. Although verifying the full extent of these connections remains difficult, evidence from African and Western intelligence and media outlets points to indirect communication channels that provide logistical and security support. According to Diallo, if these reports are accurate, such cooperation has enhanced the RSF’s operational capacity, enabling coordinated military campaigns, sustained sieges, and a higher degree of battlefield control. This, he said, helps explain the RSF’s ability to dominate parts of Darfur and carry out grave human rights abuses, including mass killings, forced displacement, and systematic attacks on civilians. Beyond the military implications, Diallo argued that these relationships have fostered a sense of impunity within RSF leadership. “Ties with powerful foreign actors; whether intelligence agencies or private networks, provide political cover and reduce pressure for accountability,” he said. This external backing, he added, prolongs the war, weakens mediation efforts, and turns Sudan’s internal struggle into “a theater for regional competition and proxy rivalries.”
Strategic Geopolitical Interests
Diallo noted that Israel’s involvement in Sudan goes well beyond tactical or bilateral considerations. Sudan’s strategic position along the Red Sea, a vital global trade and energy route, makes it a central node in Israel’s effort to cement its presence in the Horn of Africa and the Sahel region. By deepening ties with Sudanese actors, Israel seeks to secure maritime routes, monitor regional rivals such as Iran and China, and expand its intelligence footprint across Africa. “This engagement fits into Israel’s broader African strategy,” Diallo said, “which aims to reconfigure regional alliances that were historically supportive of the Palestinian cause.” He added that Tel Aviv combines hard power, through military and intelligence partnerships, with soft power tools like development aid and diplomatic outreach to reshape African geopolitics in its favor.
Political Shielding and Accountability Challenges
Diallo warned that Israel’s simultaneous engagement with both Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemeti), the two rival leaders driving Sudan’s war, has undermined international accountability. “These contacts provide political and diplomatic cover that weakens the enforcement of sanctions and delays investigations into war crimes,” he said. By framing Sudan’s crisis as a matter of regional stability and counterterrorism, Israel and its allies divert attention from humanitarian and legal imperatives, effectively normalizing the ongoing atrocities. According to Diallo, such dynamics “redefine the international response” to the Sudanese crisis, prioritizing strategic balance over justice for victims, and giving both Burhan and Hemeti greater room to maneuver under the guise of legitimacy.
Western Complicity and Strategic Calculations
Diallo also pointed to the economic and intelligence interests of Western states that have indirectly empowered the RSF. Many of these governments, he said, view Sudan primarily as a geostrategic prize; rich in gold and rare minerals and positioned on a key maritime route, rather than as a humanitarian crisis. He noted that some Western networks have tolerated or even benefited from the illicit trade of Sudanese gold, which is trafficked through channels monitored by Western intelligence. “This silent complicity,” Diallo said, “reveals how profit and power often outweigh moral considerations.” In his view, Western powers are keeping communication lines open with all sides in Sudan’s war (RSF included) to maintain leverage in the face of Russian and Chinese influence. This approach, he argued, prioritizes “a narrow concept of stability” over justice and human rights. Diallo concluded that Israel’s engagement in Sudan forms part of a multi-layered strategy that blends intelligence operations, geopolitical positioning, and regional influence. Far from being a secondary factor, these links intensify violence, obstruct diplomacy, and undermine accountability. “Any genuine path to peace in Sudan,” he told QNN, “must recognize these external networks as part of the conflict’s very structure, not as peripheral actors.” — QNN
