UAE, Israel Accused of Running Disinformation Campaign About Sudan Conflict, Report Says

In a striking revelation, a new investigation has uncovered a coordinated disinformation campaign by far-right Emirati and Israeli social media influencers falsely portraying Sudan’s conflict as religious violence against Christians.

The report by Sudanese investigative platform Beam Reports details how, following the Rapid Support Forces’ (RSF) capture of el-Fasher in Darfur approximately a month ago, a wave of misleading content began circulating online in what appeared to be a synchronized effort.

According to the investigation, several accounts repurposed images of RSF abuses against civilians in el-Fasher, deliberately misrepresenting them as “Islamist violence against Christians” in an apparent attempt to reframe the narrative around Sudan’s ongoing civil war.

Beam Reports identified Emirati analyst Amjad Taha as the apparent orchestrator of the campaign. For months, Taha has used his social media presence to attempt linking Sudan’s armed forces with the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas.

In one post highlighted by investigators, Taha claimed Sudan’s army had “killed 2 million Christians, displaced 8 million, and raped 15,000 women,” while praising the UAE as “a nation where church bells ring freely.” The report emphasizes that these figures lack verification from any credible source.

Taha also made the unsubstantiated claim that a Sudanese army officer had “eaten a man’s heart after killing him and his children.” Despite the absence of evidence, these allegations were amplified across a network of Emirati, Israeli, and other far-right social media accounts.

The investigators identified several strategic objectives behind this coordinated campaign, including deflecting blame for atrocities away from the RSF, recasting Sudan’s conflict along religious lines to generate international sympathy, and saturating social media with fabricated content to confuse media coverage.

The disinformation effort extended to American influencer Nima Yamini, who shared images from el-Fasher with the false claim they showed “Christians slaughtered in Sudan – and no one talks about it.” Yamini added the hyperbolic assertion that massacres against Christians were so severe that “blood” could be seen “from space.” In reality, satellite imagery showing blood splatters came from areas where the RSF reportedly shot residents.

Polish far-right politician Dominik Tarczynski similarly shared an image purportedly showing a mother and child in el-Fasher with the misleading caption: “Sudan: genocide of Christians by the Islamists.”

The actual conflict in Sudan, which erupted in 2023 between the Sudanese armed forces and the RSF, bears no relation to the religious framing presented in these posts. The fighting has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and displaced over 12 million people, with the International Rescue Committee describing it as “the largest humanitarian crisis ever documented.”

Sudanese authorities have consistently alleged that the RSF receives substantial support from the United Arab Emirates. In April, Khartoum took legal action against the UAE at the International Court of Justice.

These allegations gained further credibility when British newspaper The Guardian published an investigation last month revealing that British-manufactured weapons and military equipment were being supplied to RSF militants by the UAE.

Khartoum-based strategic affairs analyst Makkawi Elmalik offered a more direct assessment in October, describing the situation not as a conventional military conflict but as “systematic extermination committed by the RSF, supported by the UAE and Israel.” Elmalik further alleged that both countries have participated in planning militia attacks on civilians and provided weapons and intelligence support.

The Beam Reports investigation highlights growing concerns about how social media can be weaponized to distort international conflicts and potentially influence public opinion and policy responses.