The two parties to the conflict in Sudan agreed on Friday to a new, short truce, according to what was announced by the Saudi-American mediation, while the Secretary-General of the United Nations affirmed his adherence to his envoy to Sudan, despite the government's declaration that he had become persona non grata.

Since the start of the conflict on April 15 between the army led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the two sides concluded cease-fire agreements, which were quickly broken.

Riyadh and Washington announced the agreement of the army and support forces to a “ceasefire agreement in all parts of Sudan for a period of 24 hours, starting from six in the morning on June 10, 2023” (4 am GMT), according to the Saudi Foreign Ministry.

Riyadh and Washington, who are leading a mediation that included talks in the city of Jeddah, reflected their disappointment at the failure of all attempts at calm.

They affirmed that they "share with the Sudanese people the state of frustration over non-compliance with the previous truces," and that the new agreement aims to "reach humanitarian aid, break the state of violence, and contribute to strengthening confidence-building measures between the two parties, which allows for the resumption of the Jeddah talks."

Last week, the two mediators announced the suspension of the talks after the army withdrew from them, but they urged the two sides to a new truce, and confirmed that the representatives of the two parties would remain in Jeddah despite the suspension of direct negotiations.

Friday's statement warned that "if the two sides do not abide by this truce, the two leaders will be forced to postpone the Jeddah talks."

Both sides confirmed their intention to respect the armistice.

The army said it approved it "taking into account the humanitarian aspects that our people suffer from as a result of the ongoing operations," stressing that it reserves "the right to deal with any violations that the rebels may commit" during it.

The support forces also pledged to "fully" abide by the agreement by fire "to serve the purposes of the truce," hoping that the army would fulfill its pledges "and not to impede humanitarian aid efforts to alleviate the suffering of citizens."

The announcement of the truce comes after the visit of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to Riyadh, where his Saudi counterpart, Faisal bin Farhan, acknowledged that efforts to stop the conflict had not achieved "complete success," stressing its continuation.

The conflict has claimed more than 1,800 lives, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED). However, the actual number of victims may be much higher, according to aid agencies and organizations.

According to the International Organization for Migration, the conflict has caused the displacement of about two million people, including more than 476,000 to neighboring countries.

On Friday, the spokesman for the Secretary-General of the United Nations refused to consider the Sudanese envoy to the organization, German Volker Peretz, persona non grata.

Stéphane Dujarric, a spokesman for Antonio Guterres, said the measure announced by Khartoum "contradicts" UN principles and "cannot be applied".

He stressed that "the character of Mr. Peretz has not changed at present, and the position of the Secretary-General remains as he expressed it before the Security Council last week," referring to the "absolute confidence" that Guterres has repeatedly shown regarding his envoy to Sudan.

The Sudanese Foreign Ministry announced on Thursday night that the government had notified the Secretary-General of declaring Peretz "persona non grata."

This came after Al-Burhan asked Guterres in late May to replace Peretz, on the grounds that he was accused of fueling the conflict.

A Sudanese government source told AFP that Peretz "sided with specific political parties," and given Guterres' failure to respond to Al-Burhan's request, "the Sudanese government found no choice but to take this decision."

Ali Faraji, a researcher at the Swedish University of Gothenburg, considered that Al-Burhan follows in the footsteps of Omar Al-Bashir by expelling UN envoy Jan Pronk in 2006.

"Focusing on Peretz is ultimately a distraction from the broader picture," he told AFP, which is what the United Nations can do in the face of "what might be an existential crisis for Sudan?"

And he considered that "trying to preserve Peretz's position will not help much in resolving the larger issues that Sudan is facing now."

In early June, the UN Security Council extended for six months the mission of the United Nations Integrated Transitional Support Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), led by Peretz.

The mission was established in June 2020 to support the democratic transition in Sudan after the overthrow of the Al-Bashir regime. It extended its mandate annually for one year.

On the ground, battles continued on Friday in several areas, especially in Khartoum.

According to AFP witnesses, "the sounds of clashes were heard near the Yarmouk factory" for defense industries, which the Rapid Support Forces announced on Wednesday that they had taken control of it.

The complex, located in the south of the capital, is the most prominent military manufacturing facility in the country. In October 2012, he was subjected to an air strike, which Khartoum accused Israel of being behind.

Clashes have been taking place in the vicinity of the complex since Wednesday, which was accompanied by the outbreak of a fire as a result of the explosion of one of the oil storage tanks in the neighboring Al-Shajara oil and gas facility.

Witnesses confirmed Friday that the smoke cloud resulting from the fire is still visible.

In eastern Khartoum, residents reported air strikes from the army, and the sound of heavy anti-aircraft guns.

In the suburb of Omdurman, north of the capital, residents reported artillery shelling and clashes.

Humanitarian organizations repeatedly warn of the seriousness of the humanitarian situation in Sudan, especially in Khartoum and the Darfur region (west), where the battles are most intense.

The outgoing head of the Red Cross mission, Alfonso Ferdo Perez, warned that the health situation "is liable to collapse at any time," despite the efforts made.

"In Khartoum, we estimate that 20 percent of health facilities are still functioning. They are facing severe shortages of water, electricity, food, and basic medical supplies are running out," he told reporters in Geneva.

He pointed out that the health situation "is also critical in many areas of Darfur," a region that has witnessed a bloody conflict for two decades.

According to medical sources, three quarters of the hospitals in combat zones are out of service. It is feared that the crisis will worsen with the approach of the rainy season, which threatens the spread of malaria again, food insecurity and child malnutrition.

The United Nations estimates that 25 million out of 45 million people in the country need aid.