An Israeli delegation flew to Sudan on Monday to finalize the establishment of ties deal signed on October 23 between the two countries, Army Radio reported.

There have been no official Israeli government reports about the delegation but sources involved in the planning told Reuters that the delegation was originally slated to fly to Sudan last week but was postponed due to logistical reasons.

Ynet reported on Monday afternoon that the delegation, comprised of a small group of government officials, will deal with security issues on Monday’s visit and also lay the groundwork for another visit of a larger group of senior Israeli officials in the coming weeks. The larger delegation will address diplomatic and economic issues, including agriculture, trade, and aviation, as well as the issue of repatriating about 6,000 Sudanese refugees currently in Israel back to Sudan.

A senior U.S.-Israeli delegation flew to Sudan a month ago on a private jet to sign a normalization deal between the two countries, the third Arab country to normalize ties with Israel this year.

Three days later, Israel sent $5 million worth of wheat to “its new friends” in Sudan.

Sudan agreed to normalize ties with Israel after Trump promised to remove Sudan from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, which it desperately wanted in order to be eligible for international loans and aid to rehabilitate its battered economy.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)