Military · Geopolitical
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Sudan chemical weapons allegations highlight Israel’s involvement in war
S9Sudan chemical weapons allegations highlight Israel’s involvement in war Submitted by Oscar Rickett on Thu, 09/10/2026 - 14:28 Secret dossier detailing use of chlorine compiled by Israeli intelligence, sources tell MEE Armed defectors from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) arrive in a vehicle as they are believed to be surrendering to the Sudanese military, in the west of Omdurman on 19 August 2026 (AFP) Off Over the weekend, the New York Times and Washington Post both reported on a “dossier of evidence” that detailed the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). The dossier, “shared by a Middle Eastern intelligence agency”, included images, documents and intercepted messages between Sudanese military officers that described how the army “developed and produced chemical weapons over six months in 2024”. Multiple Sudanese and US sources have told Middle East Eye that the “Middle Eastern intelligence agency” is Israeli, and that the dossier it shared with the media was very similar to one Israel handed to the US government before it sanctioned Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, leader of the SAF, in January 2025. The dossier’s evidence seems to show that a secretive unit of the SAF, which has been at war with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since April 2023, produced chlorine bombs to use against its enemy. According to the NYT, much of the dossier - nearly 150 documents, bomb blueprints, images, videos, and voice notes, as well as several thousand text messages - appears to come from the phones of senior Sudanese officers. A former US official described the interception of vast numbers of messages as “an advertisement for Pegasus”, the spyware developed by Israeli cyber-intelligence firm NSO Group to infiltrate mobile phones. “The thing that is shocking is how much Mossad has been tracking this,” one Sudanese security analyst, who could not be named, told MEE. “I knew Mossad had interests in Sudan … but the level and depth and length of surveillance suggests that Israel is more involved in Sudan than we think. ” Middle East Eye has contacted the Israeli government and foreign office regarding the source of the dossier. Sudan’s army-backed government vehemently denies the chemical weapons allegations. Sudan's 'chlorine bomb project' The war in Sudan was prompted by a split between Sudan’s national army, the SAF, and the RSF, which was part of the military and had worked alongside the army. In October 2021, Burhan and RSF chief Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, commonly known as Hemedti, enacted a coup that removed the civilian element of Sudan’s post-revolution transitional government. 'I knew Mossad had interests in Sudan... but the level and depth and length of surveillance suggests that Israel is more involved in Sudan than we think' - Sudanese analyst But by 2023, the two men and the entities they led had fallen out. Both had different sources of power and wealth, with the RSF and Hemedti favoured and supported by the United Arab Emirates, Israel’s key regional ally. Plans to incorporate the RSF into the army acted as a trigger for war. By the middle of 2024, the paramilitary group controlled much of the capital Khartoum and the army was struggling. It is at this point, according to the dossier, that a SAF officer, described as “the head of the chlorine bomb project”, proposed the toxic chemical as a potential solution to the army’s problem. In an intercepted message, General Tariq Hussain explained that the “deadly gas could be weaponised to gain an edge in the battle for Khartoum”, according to the NYT report. From July 2024, a factory reportedly assembled prototypes of a chlorine bomb, with tests carried out in the Sudanese desert. Unlike sarin - used by Saddam Hussein’s Iraq and Bashar al-Assad ’s Syria on civilians – or white phosphorous, used by Israel, chlorine is not a controlled substance, and in the dossier General Hussain reports on the import of 20 chlorine cylinders from Egypt, which has supported the SAF during the war. An 'incompetent operation' According to the Washington Post, the SAF relied on a crude assembly process that involved the use of household barbecue-style canisters and liquefied gas tanks. It was, one western intelligence source told MEE, “a modest, incompetent operation”. It was also, Sudanese army sources said, one that was kept secret from all but a few people involved because it was not a plan that had been agreed on. “The SAF lied to the world,” the former US official, who is familiar with conversations that took place between army officers, said. “But there was also a debate about whether the weapons should be produced and, despite the fact that it was agreed that they would not be, the plan was allowed to go ahead in secret. ” 'The SAF lied to the world. But there was also a debate about whether the weapons should be produced' - former US official On 13 September 2024, the RSF released a statement accusing the army of firing “toxic” missiles on al-Jaili, a crucial oil refinery north of Khartoum that was controlled at the time by the paramilitary. In the dossier, General Hussain is quoted as saying “they drank the gas” in a message describing RSF fighters ingesting chlorine gas after an attack. There were no confirmed deaths in the attack. There are no other confirmed occasions in which the SAF used chlorine bombs. The dossier does not contain medical evidence or testimony from any victims. In a statement shared with MEE, the Sudanese government clarified that Sudan was a state party to the Chemical Weapons Convention and “has remained committed to its provisions and procedures, including the non-production, non-stockpiling and non-use of chemical weapons”. It said that “all chlorine stocks in the country are designated exclusively for water purification, civilian industrial uses and energy, and it stands ready to demonstrate this before any competent international body”. The Sudanese government said it had taken “a number of measures in cooperation with the United States” after the allegations originally emerged, and that “the American side has not presented any evidence for these allegations. ” The Rapid Support Forces has been accused by the UN and US of committing genocide in Darfur, including in the cities of el-Geneina and el-Fasher, where eyewitnesses described to MEE the rape, execution, and extortion of civilians by RSF fighters. Israeli involvement in Sudan The source of the evidence for the use of chlorine in Sudan raises questions about Israel’s involvement in the war and appears to confirm what multiple sources have told MEE, which is that the Israelis now side with the RSF – whose main patron is the UAE – over the SAF. Israeli sources involved in their country’s decision-making in the Horn of Africa have previously told MEE that Israel sought to develop and maintain relationships with a variety of different players, rather than backing one side or another. 'The Israeli love story with Hemedti intensified in 2021' - North African analyst Talk of Sudan normalising its relations with Israel began in 2016 under the rule of Omar al-Bashir, the autocrat who came to power with the support of Sudan’s Islamist movement in 1989. Bashir’s rule was ended by the Sudanese uprising of 2018-19, but in 2020 Burhan met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Uganda at a meeting brokered by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and his wife Janet. Shortly afterwards, Sudan signed the Abraham Accords to agree normalising relations with Israel, but the deal has never been finalised. “The Israeli love story with Hemedti intensified in 2021,” one North African analyst told MEE. The RSF chief was believed at the time and afterwards to have developed ties with Mossad. Exclusive: The Ethiopian army base covertly supporting Sudan’s RSF Read More » In the leadup to Sudan’s war, then-Israeli foreign minister Eli Cohen met Burhan as part of what the Israelis called a “historic diplomatic visit” intended to pave the way for the finalisation of the peace agreement. The war scuppered this. But Hemedti maintained his ties with Israel, whose key ally the UAE continued to support the Sudanese paramilitary – charges Abu Dhabi still denies, despite mounting evidence, including from the United Nations. “This feels like they are picking sides,” a former US official said of Israel, the dossier and the RSF. “The intelligence they shared with Washington succeeded in getting Burhan and the SAF sanctioned. ” “The Israel-UAE relationship has only grown deeper,” the source said. Last month, Africa Intelligence reported that two of Hemedti’s brothers, Abdul Rahim and Algoney, had travelled secretly to Tel Aviv in May 2025 and again in February this year to meet with Israeli intelligence and foreign ministry officials. After the recent signing of the Mecca Agreement defence pact between Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan - all of which support the Sudanese army - one analyst said Israel’s intervention in the information war over Sudan “seems like the Abraham Accords fighting back after the Mecca accord made it clear it was supporting the SAF. ” It was, they said, “the Abraham Accords showing its influence”. Sudan war News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0
