Sudan's New Peace Plan Wins Arab League Backing, But RSF Dismisses It as 'Fantasy' Amid Fierce Fighting

As a new peace plan for Sudan gains international backing, the guns on the ground are only getting louder. The Arab League has endorsed an initiative presented by Sudan's prime minister, but the country's powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) immediately rejected it, signaling that an end to the brutal civil war remains a distant prospect.

A 'Homemade' Plan Meets a Cold Reception

Ahmed Aboul Gheit, secretary-general of the Arab League, announced on December 24, 2025, that the 22-member body supports the peace plan presented by Sudanese Prime Minister Kamil Idris to the United Nations Security Council earlier this week. The league praised the plan's “highly important political, humanitarian, and security messages.”

Idris had stressed to the UNSC that his government's proposal was “homemade” rather than “imposed on us.” This was an indirect reference to previous truce plans supported by the 'Quad'—the United States, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates. The plan's central demand is that a truce would have “no chance of success” unless the RSF, which has been at war with the army since April 2023, is confined to camps and disarmed.

The RSF's reaction was swift and dismissive. Al-Basha Tibiq, an adviser to the RSF commander, said the idea of the group withdrawing was “closer to fantasy than to politics,” calling the plan a mere “recycling of outdated exclusionary rhetoric” from the army.

Deepening Distrust, Escalating War

The standoff exposes the deep-seated distrust that has scuttled past peace efforts. While the RSF had agreed to the Quad’s proposal for a humanitarian truce, army chief General Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan rejected it, claiming the UAE’s involvement made it biased. The Sudanese army has long accused the UAE of arming the RSF—a charge the UAE has repeatedly denied.

According to Al Jazeera, the war, which erupted from a power struggle between al-Burhan and RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo, has killed tens of thousands and displaced some 14 million people. The RSF has recently escalated its offensive, capturing the city of el-Fasher in Darfur and gaining ground in the Kordofan region. The fighting has pushed 1,700 people to flee to the city of Kosti, which is already hosting two million refugees and is now under “huge stress.”