Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) senior officials met with Israel during the Sudan War against the backdrop of an already established security and intelligence partnership, according to an investigation by Africa Intelligence.
According to the report, the RSF officials went to Tel Aviv once in May 2025 and again in February 2026.
The delegation for the first visit included Abdul Rahim Hamdan Dagalo, deputy commander to RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo, and their brother, Agoney Hamdan Dagalo. In their second visit, the two returned to Israel with RSF legal advisor Ezzadean Elsafi, African Intelligence said.
The delegations met with Israeli intelligence and officials of the Africa Division of Israel’s foreign ministry, with the report stating that their contacts are deeply embedded in a security and intelligence partnership that existed several years before the outbreak of the war in April 2023.
The investigative report also said that their meeting was likely around the transfer of surveillance technologies to the RSF.
Historically, Israel has engaged with both sides of the Sudanese conflict—the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) via its Foreign Ministry and Prime Minister Netanyahu, and the RSF via Mossad.
Relations expanded after Sudan’s Transitional Sovereignty Council signed the Abraham Accords, making Sudan the third Arab-majority nation to normalise ties with Israel.
RSF tried for ethnic cleansing, genocide
The RSF has a record of crimes under its belt, with the anti-terrorism and crimes against the state court in Port Sudan sentencing RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, along with 15 other defendants, to death in absentia.
They were convicted for their involvement in the killing of West Darfur Governor Khamis Abdullah Abakar, crimes against humanity, war crimes, prohibited warfare, and genocide in el-Geneina.
It was the first judicial conviction of the RSF’s leadership since the Sudan war started on 15 April 2023.
In 2024, Human Rights Watch described their actions in el-Geneina as ethnic cleansing and possibly genocide against the Masalit people and other non-Arab communities.
The Sudanese war began after a power struggle within the transitional administration established after the 2021 coup, when the Sudanese military, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, took control of the Government of Sudan. The war has displaced over 14 million people, while 4.5 million have fled the country as refugees, marking one of the largest displacement crises in recent history.
