Qualla: Iran–Israel proxy conflict in Sudan

Iran–Israel proxy conflict in Sudan: Introduction

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The flight path, pieced together afterward by Israeli journalists, ran south along the Red Sea coast, skirting Saudi and Egyptian radar, probably refueled once in the air, and took about two and a half hours each way. The targets were trucks. In January and February 2009, during the closing days of the Gaza War, Israeli aircraft reportedly struck two convoys in eastern Sudan and one ship at sea, destroying what Israel believed were Iranian Fajr-3 rockets - 70-kilometer-range weapons en route through Port Sudan to smugglers, eventually to Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The operation was code-named Birds of Prey. It was conducted, then denied, then partly acknowledged. A war that had been quiet for years had briefly surfaced.

Iran–Israel proxy conflict in Sudan: The Convoy in the Desert

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The Sudanese government version of what happened on the ground is difficult to square with the military intelligence version. On 26 May 2009, Sudan's defense minister Abdel Rahim Mohammed Hussein claimed the convoy had been 1,000 civilians engaged in "a smuggling process at the b...

Iran–Israel proxy conflict in Sudan: Who Flew, and How

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The Sunday Times reported the strikes were carried out by unmanned Elbit Hermes 450 drones. Time magazine reported F-16s escorted by F-15Is and drones. Yediot Aharonot, citing American sources, said Israeli naval commandos from Shayetet 13 had participated, including an attack on...

Iran–Israel proxy conflict in Sudan: A Proxy War with Many Proxies

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The 2009 strikes were one public episode in a longer clandestine war. On 7 April 2011, a Land Cruiser was destroyed by a missile in Port Sudan. Sudan blamed Israel; the victim was reported to be Abdul Latif Ashkar, Hamas's logistics officer. Late in 2011, Sudanese papers reported...

Iran–Israel proxy conflict in Sudan: Sudan in Between

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

For Sudan under Omar al-Bashir, the strikes were both an embarrassment and a partial vindication. The country was under US sanctions for its earlier support of al-Qaeda and other terror networks, and remained a transit zone for arms intended for Hezbollah and Hamas. Sudan benefit...

Iran–Israel proxy conflict in Sudan: The Red Sea as Proxy Map

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The strike corridor runs over waters that for most of history have belonged to the pilgrims of the Hajj and the merchants of the spice trade. In the 21st century, the Red Sea has become a proxy-war map. Iran sends arms; Israel strikes them; the Houthis launch their own missiles a...