Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh arrived in the Sudanese capital on Tuesday night as part of his first international tour since the siege on the coastal strip.

Haniyeh told reporters in Khartoum that his visit aimed to highlight the risks to the Palestinian character of Jerusalem at the International Jerusalem Forum in the African capital.

The city, annexed by Israel after a 1967 war, faces a "fierce attack by Israel’s occupation and its systematic plans to Judaize the city, which has always and will remain an Arab and Islamic city," Haniyeh said at the press conference.

He was greeted by Sudan’s Minister of Information Kamal Ubeid, and presidential adviser Ibrahim Ahmad Omar on Tuesday evening.

Haniyeh left Gaza on Sunday for the first time since Hamas seized power of the coastal enclave in 2007 and Israel tightened a land and sea blockade on the 1.7 million-strong population.

The premier met Egyptian officials before departing for Sudan, and is set to make a number of other regional stops.

Hamas government spokesman Taher al-Nunu said that the tour aims to garner support for implementing political reconciliation, as well as raising awareness about Israeli violations in Jerusalem.

(Ma’an News)