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From the Liveblog of Thursday, February 2, 2023

Israeli delegation reportedly meets with Sudanese leader in Khartoum

2 February 2023, 2:58 pm Edit

This combination of pictures created on October 23, 2020, shows an Israeli flag during a rally in the coastal city of Tel Aviv on September 19, 2020; and a Sudanese flag during a gathering east of the capital Khartoum on June 3, 2020. (JACK GUEZ and ASHRAF SHAZLY / AFP)

An Israeli delegation headed by Foreign Minister Eli Cohen is reportedly meeting with Sudanese leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan in Khartoum.

According to the Saudi-based Al-Hadath news site, Cohen and Burhan are discussing finalizing a normalization deal, which is said to be “very close.”

Reuters cites two Sudanese government officials confirming the visit of an Israeli delegation to discuss signing a normalization deal.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry says Cohen will hold a press conference at 7:30 p.m. at Ben Gurion Airport following his “return from a historic diplomatic trip,” without elaborating.

Israel and Sudan agreed in 2020 to take steps to normalize ties following such agreements with the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco under the Abraham Accords, but Jerusalem and Khartoum have since struggled to finalize any deal.