Sudan: For the few who couldn’t flee this neighbourhood in Khartoum North life will never be the same
It has only been a week since the army reclaimed pockets of Khartoum North – the once bustling north-eastern wing of Sudan’s tri-city capital, locally known as Khartoum Bahri.
The hum of warplanes and crack of gunfire still punctuate life here. But the gunfire is now outgoing, and the warplanes are searching for enemy targets that have been pushed further back.
A year-and-a-half long siege by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) is now over for some. But the scars still mark the streets, the homes and the few families still in them.
Hundreds of thousands of civilians have fled Khartoum Bahri to safer states within Sudan, neighbouring countries and beyond.
There was a haunting emptiness when we arrived in Halfaya – an old tight-knit neighbourhood where families live for generations, expanding to only move across the narrow dirt roads.
Sudan’s army reclaimed pockets of Khartoum North last week
Today, overgrown vines reach into the shattered windows of cars abandoned in the yards of their owners.
Inside, the homes are overturned, looted and destroyed by bullets and missiles.
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All that was left behind – photo albums, pencil cases, clothes and books – mean everything to a select few. Many left hoping it would only be a short while before they could return.
Faiza says she had to hide her daughter to protect her from rape by RSF soldiers
But not everyone could leave.
“We don’t have a single penny to leave with. We didn’t have anything and never expected this,” Faiza Ishaq tells us in front of her home.
“I don’t have any family here – all my people left. I’m just with my two children and husband.”
Other than a handful of remaining neighbours, we are the first civilians Faiza has seen in close to 18 months of war.
Read more:
What has been happening in Sudan?
‘They started killing people in the streets’
She collapsed into sobs on my shoulder soon after we happily hugged each other hello. In a moment, her new sense of relief was overshadowed by months of deep horror and grief.
“Since they came a year and a half ago, I developed a tremor in my whole body. My hands shake so much I can’t eat without spilling food,” says Faiza, visibly trembling.
“We have been living in such terror – they can jump the wall at 2am. They hurl insults at us and threaten to take my 12-year-old daughter.”
She says their neighbours were killed by the RSF while fighting to protect their two sisters from rape. Her utmost fear was that her young daughter would be next in line.
“They would say to me ‘give me your daughter to marry or we’ll take her’. When they would come to the house, I locked her in the bathroom.”
The little food and support they could find under siege came from around the corner. Her neighbour Sumaya has turned her house into a community kitchen.
With the markets emptied, the chicken coup in the corner of her yard and grains bought with donations raised from Sudanese people abroad were used to feed as many remaining families as possible in the harshest of conditions.
“The fear and trauma have made us sick. We were never like this – we are finished,” says Sumaya.
“We have all lost weight and feel weak because they could knock the door at any moment. If someone knocked on the door without saying my name I felt gripped by fear.”
Firas has malaria for the fourth time since the war started
As we stood there and spoke in the heat of the day, one of the community volunteers, Firas, had to go and lie down.
He has malaria for the fourth time since the war started. Even in the wake of this military gain, movement and medical treatment in the capital is severely limited.
“I faint two to three times in a month from a lack of nutrition,” says Firas.
He has survived army airstrikes, RSF harassment and the dangerous work on electrical cables he has had to risk to keep the power on in the neighbourhood.
“It really was kill or be killed. We told our families that if we die, just forgive us.”
Israel has received the bodies of two more hostages from the Red Cross, the Israeli prime minister’s office has confirmed.
Shortly after 10pm UK time on Saturday, Israel’s military said Hamas handed over “two coffins of deceased hostages”.
There has been no identification of the bodies yet.
The news came as tensions were beginning to rise over the closure of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt.
Benjamin Netanyahu‘s office had said earlier on Saturday evening that it would stay closed “until further notice” – as the deadline for Hamas to return the bodies of the hostages had passed with no confirmation.
Mr Netanyahu had warned that its reopening would depend on how Hamas fulfilled its role in returning the remains of all 28 dead hostages.
The handover brings the count of returned bodies to 12 hostages, up from 10, according to Israel’s tally. Another 16 deceased hostages would then still have to be returned.
All 28 were supposed to have been handed over by last Monday.
The handover of remains is among key points – along with aid deliveries into Gaza and the devastated territory’s future – in the ceasefire process meant to end two years of war.
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Rafah crossing to remain closed
Israel’s foreign ministry had originally said the Rafah crossing would likely reopen on Sunday – another step in the fragile ceasefire. This has now been revised to being closed “until further notice”.
A satellite image shows the back-up of aid trucks at the border from the air. Pic: ©2025 Vantor/Reuters
A fully reopened crossing would make it easier for Gazans to seek medical treatment, travel internationally or visit family in Egypt, which is home to tens of thousands of Palestinians.
It is unclear who will operate the crossing’s heavily damaged Gaza side once the war ends.
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Meanwhile, Gaza’s ruins were being scoured for the dead, over a week into a ceasefire. Newly recovered bodies brought the Palestinian toll above 68,000, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Read more:
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Gaza health authorities struggling to identify bodies
Violence that plagues Gaza
The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government, does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count. But the ministry maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by UN agencies and independent experts.
Famine declared
Israel has disputed them without providing its own toll.
Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 people in the attack on southern Israel that sparked the war on October 7 2023.
Gaza’s more than two million people are hoping the ceasefire will bring relief from the humanitarian disaster caused by Israel’s offensive. Throughout the war, Israel restricted aid entry to Gaza – sometimes halting it altogether.
Famine was declared in Gaza City, and the UN says it has verified more than 400 people who died of malnutrition-related causes, including more than 100 children.
Officials in Israel say they have let in enough food, accusing Hamas of stealing much of it. The UN and other aid agencies deny this claim.
World
Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes ‘Putin is afraid’ that Donald Trump could still supply Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has not ruled out the possibility that he can secure long-range Tomahawk missiles from the US, adding that he believes “Putin is afraid” of the consequences.
In an exclusive interview with NBC News’s Meet the Press, Ukraine’s president discussed some of the details of his two-hour meeting with Donald Trump on Friday, including his desire for the weapons after three years of war with Russia.
“It’s good that President Trump didn’t say ‘no’, but for today, didn’t say ‘yes’,” he said about the supply of the missiles, as part of a discussion which will air on Sunday.
Ukraine war latest: Zelenskyy proposes ‘drone for Tomahawk’
He admitted the US president was concerned about a potential escalation with Russia, but Mr Zelenskyy told NBC, Sky News’s US partner, that the weapons are a genuine concern for Vladimir Putin.
“I think that Putin [is] afraid that United States will deliver us Tomahawks. And I think that he [is] really afraid that we will use them,” he said.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy still hopes the US will supply Tomahawks. Pic: Meet the Press/NBC News
The weapons have a significantly longer range than any other missiles in Ukraine’s armoury and have the potential to be a game-changer in the war against Russia.
While Mr Trump did not rule out providing the Tomahawk missiles, he appeared cool to the prospect as he looked ahead to a meeting with the Russian president in Hungary in the coming weeks.
‘US doesn’t want escalation’
Following the meeting with Mr Trump, who held a phone call with Mr Putin on Thursday, Mr Zelenskyy told reporters: “We spoke about long-range (missiles) of course. And I do not want to make statements about it.”
But he added: “We don’t speak about it because… United States doesn’t want this escalation”.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s plans to secure new missiles had worried Russia. Pic: Reuters
Later in a post on X, Mr Zelenskyy said he was counting on President Trump to “bring this war closer to an end”.
“We discussed all key issues – our positions on the battlefield, long-range capabilities and air defence, and, of course, diplomatic prospects,” he said.
“Russia must end the aggression it started and continues to deliberately prolong. We count on the United States’ pressure.”
In a roundtable with journalists following the meeting, Mr Trump confirmed that hitting targets deep inside Russian territory would be an “escalation”.
Donald Trump said hitting targets deep inside Russian territory would be an ‘escalation’. Pic: Reuters
He also said he was hesitant to tap into the US’ supply of Tomahawks, saying: “I have an obligation also to make sure that we’re completely stocked up as a country, because you never know what’s going to happen in war and peace.
“We’d much rather have them not need Tomahawks. We’d much rather have the war be over to be honest.”
At Mr Trump and Mr Putin’s last meeting in Alaska in August, there were hopes that the conflict may finally be coming to an end.
But the US president was unable to pressure the Russian leader into accepting a ceasefire or a one-on-one meeting with Mr Zelenskyy.
Read more from Sky News:
Putin’s challenge ahead of summit
Was Putin forced back to talks?
Listen: Trump-Putin – Friends reunited?
Following Friday’s meeting at the White House, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer confirmed he had called Mr Zelenskyy to reiterate his support.
Ukraine has UK’s ‘resolute support’
A Downing Street spokesperson said: “The prime minister spoke to the president of Ukraine, European leaders and the NATO secretary general this evening following President Zelenskyy’s visit to the White House today.
“The leaders reiterated their unwavering commitment to Ukraine in the face of ongoing Russian aggression. A just and lasting peace for Ukraine was the only way to stop the killing for good, they agreed.
“Further discussions about how they could support Ukraine in the lead up to, and following, a ceasefire would continue this week, including in a Coalition of the Willing call on Friday, the leaders agreed.
“Following the call with world leaders this evening, the prime minister then spoke to President Zelenskyy bilaterally to underscore the United Kingdom’s resolute support for Ukraine.”
Before Donald Trump met with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, he hosted one of his favourite singers, Andrea Bocelli, in the Oval Office.
The Italian tenor serenaded him with the signature track Time To Say Goodbye, a song about hope and new beginnings.
But the next event on his agenda suggested antipathy between Trump and the Ukrainian president are firmly lodged in the past.
On the key issue of whether Vladimir Putin actually wants peace, the pair continue to fundamentally disagree.
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What happened at the Trump-Zelenskyy meeting?
Trump repeated several times his belief that Putin is committed to ending the war, which may come as a surprise to the people of eastern Ukraine, being pummeled by an expanded Russian offensive in the past few months.
Trump also spoke about “bad blood on both sides”, again inferring equal blame on Zelenskyy, whose sovereign nation was invaded, and Putin, who is doing the invading.
It’s in Putin’s gift to stop the fighting immediately, but that was glossed over.
Zelenskyy, clearly contorted by a need to put the record straight but not anger the famously mercurial man on the other side of the table, fired back that it is the Ukrainians who are committed to a ceasefire, a trilateral meeting and ultimately, an end to this war.
Ukraine war: Zelenskyy proposes ‘drone for Tomahawk’ deal
Relations between Zelenskyy and Trump have, obviously, improved from February when the Ukrainian president was berated and left the White House early.
On that occasion, he was mocked for wearing a T-shirt and so, the next two visits, he has sported an all black suit. He has also learned that Trump responds to flattery and, accordingly, he peppered the president with compliments.
Zelenskyy, pictured following his meeting with Trump, has learned that the president responds to flattery. Pic: AP
He credited him with “managing the ceasefire in the Middle East”, and said he believes he has a “chance” to do the same in Ukraine.
Trump came into the meeting buoyed by the diplomatic success of the past fortnight in the Middle East, intoxicated by the praise he has received from all sides for brokering the hostage deal. But the war, he said he could solve in 24 hours, is proving a tougher nut to crack, and he’s growing frustrated with everyone involved.
That much could be gleaned from his Truth Social post after the meeting, which implored Putin and Zelenskyy to end the war along its current lines. “Let both claim Victory, let History decide!” he wrote.
Read more from Sky News:
Zelenskyy on US ‘long-range’ weapons
Putin faces difficult trip to summit
Trump’s ‘game of diplomatic chess’
It was a marked shift from less than a month ago, when Trump, at that point more angered by Putin, suggested Ukraine could potentially win back all its territory.
As recently as Sunday, he was threatening to send long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine but he made clear after their meeting that he wouldn’t be doing that right now. It’s likely he will wait until at least after his trailed meeting with Putin in Budapest.
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I was in Alaska in August when Trump hosted Putin and laid out the literal and metaphorical red carpet for him.
The US president went in with two aims: to broker a ceasefire and a one-on-one meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy. He left with neither and there is no public sign that Putin has shifted from his maximalist aims in Ukraine.
Trump greets Putin on the red carpet in Alaska in August. Pic: AP
Even by Trump’s own measurement, the summit was a failure.
Yet he seems determined to take the Russian president at his word, granting him first a phone call ahead of the Zelenskyy visit to Washington DC and now another meeting.
Putin was first successful in getting Trump to hold off on more severe sanctions on Russia, which were crippling economically. Now he has, seemingly, played a role in persuading Trump to hold off on sending Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine.
The US president was asked by a journalist whether it was possible he was being played by Putin. He admitted it was possible but said he usually comes out of these things pretty well. Time will tell.
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