KHARTOUM: Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok announced Monday a new cabinet bringing in seven ex-rebel chiefs as ministers, following a peace deal in October aimed to end decades of war.
Veteran rebel leader and economist Gibril Ibrahim, of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) — which played a major role in the Darfur conflict — was appointed as Sudan’s new finance minister.
“We have reached consensus on over 25 ministries,” Hamdok said, during a press conference in Khartoum.
“This lineup aims to preserve this country from collapse... we know there will be challenges but we are certain that we will move forward.”
Hamdok dissolved the previous cabinet on Sunday to make way for a more inclusive lineup in government.
Two ministers were selected from the military, with the remaining coming from the Forces for Freedom and Change group, which plays a key role in Sudanese politics.
The group was the driving force behind the anti-government protests that led to the April 2019 ouster of strongman Omar Al-Bashir.
Hamdok named as foreign minister Mariam Al-Sadiq Al-Mahdi, daughter of Sudan’s last democratically elected prime minister, Sadiq Al-Mahdi, who died aged 84 in November from a coronavirus infection.
He was toppled by Bashir in a 1989 Islamist-backed military coup.
Last week, Sudan appointed three ex-rebels to the ruling sovereign council, the civilian-majority ruling body led by General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, which was installed months after Bashir’s ouster.
It follows the peace deal last year between the transitional government and the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF), a coalition of five rebel groups and four political movements, including the troubled western region of Darfur.
Hamdok said he is still pushing for talks with two remaining holdout groups who did not sign the deal.
Fighting in Darfur since 2003 left at least 300,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced, according to the UN.
Hamdok said his government will continue with completing other pillars of the peace agreement, including establishing a transitional parliament by February 25.
Despite the October peace deal, violence continues in Darfur, a vast and impoverished region awash with weapons where bitter rivalries over land and water remain.
Hamdok said the new government will focus on fixing the ailing economy.
Sudan’s economy was decimated under Bashir by decades of US sanctions, mismanagement and civil war, as well as the independence of oil-rich South Sudan in 2011.
Galloping inflation, chronic hard currency shortages, and a flourishing black market remain pressing challenges, with protests in recent weeks at the worsening economy.
Ibrahim, the new finance minister, taught as an economist at universities in Khartoum and Saudi Arabia, before he took over leadership of the JEM rebels when his brother Khalil was killed in an 2011 airstrike.
The government will also have to tackle stormy relations with neighboring Addis Ababa, amid both border tensions and long-running negotiations — along with Egypt — over the controversial Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile.
![]()
Sudan’s PM Hamdok announces new cabinet
Short Url
https://arab.news/j5u39
Sudan’s PM Hamdok announces new cabinet
- Gibril Ibrahim, of the Justice and Equality Movement, was appointed as Sudan’s new finance minister
- Hamdok named as foreign minister Mariam Al-Sadiq Al-Mahdi
Israeli-backed group kills a senior Hamas police officer in Gaza, threatens more attacks
- Hussam Al-Astal, leader of an anti-Hamas group based in an area under Israeli control east of Khan Younis, claimed responsibility for the killing
CAIRO: An Israeli-backed Palestinian militia said on Monday it had killed a senior Hamas police officer in the southern Gaza Strip, an incident which Hamas blamed on “Israeli collaborators.”
A statement from the Hamas-run interior ministry said gunmen opened fire from a passing car, killing Mahmoud Al-Astal, head of the criminal police unit in Khan Younis, in the south of the enclave. It described the attackers as “collaborators with the occupation.”
Hussam Al-Astal, leader of an anti-Hamas group based in an area under Israeli control east of Khan Younis, claimed responsibility for the killing in a video he posted on his Facebook page. The surname he shares with the dead man, Al-Astal, is common in that part of Gaza.
“To those who work with Hamas, your destiny is to be killed. Death is coming to you,” he said, dressed in a black military-style uniform and clutching an assault rifle.
Reuters could not independently verify the circumstances of the attack. An Israeli military official said the army was not aware of any operations in the area.
The emergence of armed anti-Hamas groups, though still small and localized, has added pressure on the Islamists and could complicate efforts to stabilize and unify a divided Gaza, shattered by two years of war.
These groups remain unpopular among the local population as they operate in areas under Israeli control, although they publicly deny they take Israeli orders. Hamas has held public executions of people it accuses of collaboration.
Under a ceasefire in place since October, Israel has withdrawn from nearly half of the Gaza Strip, but its troops remain in control of the other half, largely a wasteland where virtually all buildings have been levelled.
Nearly all of the territory’s two million people now live in Hamas-held areas, mostly in makeshift tents or damaged buildings, where the group has been reasserting its grip. Four Hamas sources said it continues to command thousands of fighters despite suffering heavy losses during the war.
Israel has been allowing rivals of Hamas to operate in areas it controls. In later phases, US President Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza calls for Israel to withdraw further and for Hamas to yield power to an internationally backed administration, but there has so far been no progress toward those steps.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged Israeli backing for anti-Hamas groups in June, saying Israel had “activated” clans, but has given few details since then.
The ceasefire has ended major combat in Gaza over the past three months, but both sides have accused the other of regular violations. More than 440 Palestinians and three Israeli soldiers have been killed since the truce took effect.
Gaza health authorities said on Monday Israeli drone fire killed at least three people near the center of Khan Younis.
The Israeli military did not have an immediate comment on the drone incident.
The war erupted on October 7, 2023 when Gazan militants invaded Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking some 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s subsequent military assault on Gaza has killed more than 71,000 Palestinians, according to the enclave’s health ministry, and led to accusations of genocide and war crimes, which Israel denies.
A statement from the Hamas-run interior ministry said gunmen opened fire from a passing car, killing Mahmoud Al-Astal, head of the criminal police unit in Khan Younis, in the south of the enclave. It described the attackers as “collaborators with the occupation.”
Hussam Al-Astal, leader of an anti-Hamas group based in an area under Israeli control east of Khan Younis, claimed responsibility for the killing in a video he posted on his Facebook page. The surname he shares with the dead man, Al-Astal, is common in that part of Gaza.
“To those who work with Hamas, your destiny is to be killed. Death is coming to you,” he said, dressed in a black military-style uniform and clutching an assault rifle.
Reuters could not independently verify the circumstances of the attack. An Israeli military official said the army was not aware of any operations in the area.
The emergence of armed anti-Hamas groups, though still small and localized, has added pressure on the Islamists and could complicate efforts to stabilize and unify a divided Gaza, shattered by two years of war.
These groups remain unpopular among the local population as they operate in areas under Israeli control, although they publicly deny they take Israeli orders. Hamas has held public executions of people it accuses of collaboration.
Under a ceasefire in place since October, Israel has withdrawn from nearly half of the Gaza Strip, but its troops remain in control of the other half, largely a wasteland where virtually all buildings have been levelled.
Nearly all of the territory’s two million people now live in Hamas-held areas, mostly in makeshift tents or damaged buildings, where the group has been reasserting its grip. Four Hamas sources said it continues to command thousands of fighters despite suffering heavy losses during the war.
Israel has been allowing rivals of Hamas to operate in areas it controls. In later phases, US President Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza calls for Israel to withdraw further and for Hamas to yield power to an internationally backed administration, but there has so far been no progress toward those steps.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged Israeli backing for anti-Hamas groups in June, saying Israel had “activated” clans, but has given few details since then.
The ceasefire has ended major combat in Gaza over the past three months, but both sides have accused the other of regular violations. More than 440 Palestinians and three Israeli soldiers have been killed since the truce took effect.
Gaza health authorities said on Monday Israeli drone fire killed at least three people near the center of Khan Younis.
The Israeli military did not have an immediate comment on the drone incident.
The war erupted on October 7, 2023 when Gazan militants invaded Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking some 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s subsequent military assault on Gaza has killed more than 71,000 Palestinians, according to the enclave’s health ministry, and led to accusations of genocide and war crimes, which Israel denies.
Latest updates
© 2026 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.