2018 - the year Iraq’s political battle lines were redrawn

A summer of protests in Basra shook Iraq's leaders after the election. (AFP)
Updated 29 December 2018
Follow

2018 - the year Iraq’s political battle lines were redrawn

  • The progress of a relatively peaceful election was blighted by Iranian interference and anger over jobs and basic services

BAGHDAD: Thousands of followers of Muqtada Al-Sadr gathered on a recent Friday evening in Tahrir Square, central Baghdad, to show their support. 

They were there to praise the Shiite cleric, who has become a key power broker since May elections, for the way he has gone about selecting his preferred candidates for the ministries responsible for the country’s security.

Men and women waved Iraqi flags and banners reading “our neighbors are our friends, not our masters,” a reference to Iran’s political and military interference in Iraq.

Most recently this has been through Tehran’s efforts to impose its own candidates to run the ministries of interior and defense.

At the same time, hundreds of miles to the south, another demonstration took place in Basra. Crowds gathered to protest against attempts by Shiite political parties to elect a new governor to replace the current one.

As’ad Al-Eidani won a seat in parliament during the election and aligned himself with pro-Iran factions. But he wants to keep hold of the powerful provincial position, especially if he is unable to gain a cabinet post.

The protesters had responded to Al-Eidani’s call for support and tried to raid the provincial council building as local leaders met inside to decide on his replacement. Stones and Molotov cocktails were thrown and riot police responded with tear gas and live bullets, allowing the council members to leave with no vote having taken place.

It was the latest protest to hit Basra in 2018, where local and national level political tensions have spilled over into violence in the province. Basra remains desperately impoverished despite being the country’s main oil-producing hub.

The two scenes in Baghdad and Basra encapsulated the tensions that engulfed Iraq in 2018 - a year in which there was a sea change in Iraq’s political dynamic that overspilled into violence on the streets of Basra. The main battle lines shifted from between the government and extremist militants feeding on disenfranchised Sunnis, to between two Shiite political factions, one pro Iran and the other anti.




Protesters in Iraq this month showing their support for Muqtada Al-Sadr. The cleric solidified his position at the top of Iraqi politics in 2018. (AFP)

A fresh start

Little more than a year ago, former Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar Al-Abadi declared victory over Daesh after three years of battles against Iraqi security forces backed by the Shiite-dominated paramilitary troops and the US-led international military coalition.

Territories held by the militants in the north and west were liberated and the number of bombings in Baghdad and other provinces significantly declined. But what came next was a succession of political crises that exposed the vulnerabilities of Iraq’s political system.

“We can certainly define 2018 as the year of political crisis,” Abdulwahid Tuama, an Iraqi political analyst told Arab News.

“As soon as the war against Daesh came to an end by the end of 2017, the political crises began to follow one after the other.”

Shiites, who bore the brunt of the war after tens of thousands volunteered to fight, have been acting as if they were “the actual winners.”

They filled a political vacuum left when Sunni forces melted and let down their constituents during the 2014 Daesh invasion and Kurds in the north were left weakened by a failed independence bid, Tuama said. 

New young forces emerged after 2014 under the command of Shiites to help win back Daesh-held areas - but this only served to set up the next power struggle.

“The first sign of the post-Daesh period is the transformation of the nature of the political conflict in Iraq from a Shiite-Sunni conflict into a Shiite-Shiite conflict,” Abbass Al-Yassiri, the head of the Baghdad-based Ishan Center for Political Studies told Arab News.

“Defeating Daesh has redrawn the map of the national powers as Shiites have emerged as the biggest winners while Sunnis and Kurds withdrew into the shadows.

“The fragmentation of the Sunni and Kurdish political forces have forced them to join the powerful Shiite forces to grant them room in the Iraqi political scene.”

The absence of political competition encouraged Shiite leaders to run separate lists for the parliamentary elections for the first time since 2005.

Three main alliances were formed.

Sairoon, was sponsored by Sadr, whose followers once fought American forces in the country before he switched to opposing Iran.

Al-Fattah was led by Hadi Al-Amiri, commander of Badr Organization, the most powerful Shiite armed faction, which is supported by Tehran. 

Confident of a second term, Al-Abadi, put together the Al-Nassir coalition.

The three coalitions reflected the military alliances created on the ground during the battle against Daesh. Emboldened by their role and military successes, the Iranian-backed forces came together under Amiri’s Fattah list.

“They (Shiite parties) wanted to know the area of influence each of them held, so they were not keen to run for elections in one big electoral coalition,” a prominent Shiite leader told Arab News.

“They have been saying, that they want to ally with each other, but actually they do not.

“They seek to weaken each other to make it easy to subject the loser to the laws of the winner.”

Democratic progress or political apathy

The 2018 electoral campaigns were the most expensive and bitter since the fall of dictator Saddam Hussein. Allegations of sex scandals and threats were used as tools to exclude some candidates and discredit their electoral lists. 

Abadi and his candidates along with women were the most targeted.

The fourth parliamentary elections since the 2003 US-led invasion were held on May 12, with more than 7,000 candidates taking part. There were no security violations across the country on polling day, but the even bigger surprise was the lack of participation, especially in Shiite-areas. The turnout was 44 percent, the lowest since 2005.




Iraqis voted in May in an election that was relatively peaceful but had a low turnout. (AFP)

The results put Sairoon in first place, Fattah second and Nassir in third.

Abadi, and his Islamic Dawaa Party, were the biggest losers and it was a bitter defeat for him to swallow. Abadi had restored a relative balance between the two main external powers vying for influence in Iraq - the US and Iran. He successfully invested funds provided by Washington and its allies into the Army and Counter Terrorism Service while also making use of Iranian support and funding for the armed Shiite factions, which represented the back bone of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) fighting Daesh.

His success in leading the country through one of its many dark periods and backing from the US still left him in the strongest position for prime minister.

Amiri, on the other hand, emerged as a representative of the Iranian-backed forces.

“The actual conflict was between the US and Iran not Abadi and Amiri,” Tuama, said.

“Iranians saw Abadi as the man of the US who they can’t trust, so they had to clip his wings.”

The surprise was the big win for Sadr.

Abadi launched an investigation into allegations of fraud, which found “large manipulations” took place in favor of some lists and candidates. The special committee he set up recommended suspending members of the Independent High Electoral Commission and a manual re-count of votes.

At the same time tensions started to increase between Sadr and the Iran-backed faction Assaib Ahl Al-Haq. As the winners and losers exchanged accusations of fraud and intimidation, a huge explosion hit an impoverished Shiite district of the capital on June 6, killing 32, and injuring scores more. All the victims were Sadrists. The investigation found the bomb had targeted a weapons store belonging to Sadr’s Brigades of Peace.




A fire at a warehouse containing ballot boxes added to complications over a recount linked to electoral fraud. (AFP)

In the private offices of many Shiite leaders, the fingers of blame pointed at Assaib Ahl Al-Haq.

Five days later, a large fire broke out at a warehouse in east Baghdad, where the electoral commission had stored ballot boxes and electoral equipment. The blaze destroyed many votes, hindering the re-count in part of Baghdad, where most of the fraud allegations were made.

Accusations of who started the blaze were again directed to Assaib Ahl Al-Haq. 

“All the Shiite leaders and their international backers (Iran and US) were worried and they had to decide either to cancel the election results or continue monitoring the skirmishes between Sadrists and Assaib and risk the outbreak of fighting at any moment,” a prominent Shiite leader told Arab News.

“Chaos was the alternative in both cases, so going with the partial manual re-counting of votes, seemed a great deal.”

In the end, the manual re-count did not change the results. 

Summer of protest

As soon as initial results were announced in June, the winners started frantic negotiations to form new alliances to reach a majority in the 329-seat parliament. The biggest  alliance can nominate the prime minister and form a government.

The Shiite forces and their Sunni and Kurdish allies split into two camps, one led by Sadr and the other by Amiri. Although both managed to attract most of the parliamentary blocs, neither succeeded in collecting the necessary 166 seats.

As tensions between political rivals in Baghdad escalated, people in Basra suffered through temperatures of 50C with no mains electricity. The already widespread outages became worse when Iran stopped exporting power to Iraq because of new US financial sanctions.

Mass demonstrations took place in Basra in July against the outages and a break down in other basic services including clean water. The protests expanded to target the lack of jobs and high level of poverty. 

Iraq’s economy relies entirely on the revenues from Basra’s oil. The province, which is home to dozens of local and international oil-related companies, puts out 3.5 million barrels per day.

Protesters targeted local governmental buildings in the city center, and the oil fields nearby. 

Some Iranian-backed factions such as Assaib Ahl Al-Haq and Kataib Hezbollah-Iraqannounced their support for the demonstrations, which spread to other parts of the province. 

Many tribes joined, and cut off roads leading to the oil sites and prevented the arrival of staff.

By the end of the second week of July, at least eight demonstrators had been killed and scores wounded, including security personnel.

Government and political party buildings were set on fire, as the demonstrations spread to other Shiite provinces.

“There were multiple players trying to achieve different goals … the demonstrations were ridden by several Shiite political forces,” Tuama, said.

“The strongest message that was sent was … the Iraqi oil sector is within the range of the Iran-backed Shiite factions.” 

Abadi sought to calm the demonstrators by offering to provide tens of thousands of jobs and release hundreds of millions of dollars to fund infrastructure projects in the southern provinces that had stalled since 2014 because of the sharp drop in oil prices and the costly war on Daesh. 

The demonstrations were suspended “to give the government an opportunity to improve the basic services.”

Race to control parliament 

The Federal Court ratified the results of the elections on Aug. 19. 

Negotiations between the two sides, now known as Reform (led by Sadr) and Al-Binna (led by Amiri), made remarkable progress, to form the largest bloc and agree on government’s program.

They also agreed to nominate the Shiite veteran politician and former vice president Adel Abdul Mahdi  as an independent candidate to be the prime minister, ending Abadi's hopes of a second term.

Without warning, the negotiations collapsed and the two sides announced they would work separately to form a government. Sadr’s arch foe, the former Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, who many blame for staking sectarian tensions when he was in power, was accused of sabotaging the deal.

“They were behaving like kids,” an Al-Binna’a negotiator told Arab News.

“Whenever we agree to announce our alliance, Maliki appears in one of the television channels to say something that provokes Sadr, and the latter turns against us.” 

Four months after the election, parliament had still not convened and Iraqis became increasingly frustrated that the politicians were again failing to tackle the long list of problems affecting their daily lives.

There had been no real reconstruction in areas liberated from Daesh in the north and west and more than 1.5 million displaced people were still living in tents.

The money released by Abadi had still not reached local governments, especially in Basra, where the terrible state of water had led to 140,000 cases of poisoning.

Deadly protests erupted again in Basra, with government buildings and Shiite armed faction offices set ablaze. At least 10 protesters were killed.




The Iranian consulate in Basra was set ablaze during protests in September, adding pressure to political parties to resolve post-election deadlock. (AFP)

On Sept. 7 the Iranian consulate building in southern Basra was set on fire by protesters chanting against Iran and its interference in Iraqi affairs.

The chaotic protests had dangerously escalated under unclear leadership and attempts to hijack them. With a lost purpose and lack of direction, local leaders and the tribes decided to withdraw.

“It was clear that things were heading towards chaos, and that big players were directing the events (in Basra),” a federal Iraqi intelligence officer told Arab News. “The demonstrations were completely derailed.”

“The investigations we conducted later revealed that several regional and international players were behind what happened in Basra in those days. Even the demonstrators, some of whom were killed, were shot purposely by snipers.”

A new government

To stop the escalation and under pressure from Shiite leaders and the US, Sadr and Amiri agreed to resume negotiations.

The two sides decided the only way forward was to join together under a single joint coalition.

By the end of September, they had agreed on a parliamentary speaker, a president and the prime minister.

Adel Abdul Mahdi presented his cabinet in early October to parliament for a vote, but a dispute erupted over the nominations over eight of the 22 candidates, including the proposed ministers of defense and interior.




Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, seen here at a ceremony commemorating those killed fighting Daesh, has still not named his full cabinet. (AFP)

Falih Al-Fayadh, the national security adviser, head of the national security apparatus, and the head of Popular Mobilization Units, is at the heart of the dispute. He is also, and one of Amiri’s key allies

Sadr considers Fayadh a man of Iran, so he vetoed his candidature to be the interior minister.

Binna’a’s leaders accuse Sadr of rejecting Fayadh because he turned against Abadi after the election. But even within Binaa there are many against his nomination.

“Sadr rejects Fayadh because he is Iran’s candidate,” a Binna’a negotiator told Arab News. “Iran wants to reward Fayadh for aborting Abadi’s attempts to retain his position by giving him the interior ministry.

“Iran also wants to ensure one of its allies controls the ministry of interior as it is one of the most important keys to control the security in Iraq.”

Iraq goes into 2019 once again in a political deadlock. More than six months after the election, five ministries, including interior and defense are still unfilled and the new prime minister is under increasing pressure.

Political uncertainty driven by external players like Iran and the US will continue to be a key feature, but hopefully for Iraqis, the country will edge away from violence and instability. Unfortunately, poverty, lack of electricity and clean water, and the unending corruption that drains the state coffers of one of the world’s biggest oil producers, will continue to hold back an improvement in Iraq’s daily lives.

 


Thousands protest in Tel Aviv for release of Gaza hostages

Updated 07 June 2025
Follow

Thousands protest in Tel Aviv for release of Gaza hostages

  • The crowd gathered at the so-called Hostages Square chanting “The people choose the hostages!“
  • Earlier on Saturday, Hamas released a photograph of one of the remaining hostages, Matan Zangauker, appearing to be in poor health

TEL AVIV: Thousands of people demonstrated Saturday night in Tel Aviv to demand the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip and a ceasefire after 20 months of war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.

The crowd gathered at the so-called Hostages Square chanting “The people choose the hostages!” and demanding “a comprehensive deal” for their return, according to a statement from the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

Earlier on Saturday, Hamas released a photograph of one of the remaining hostages, Matan Zangauker, appearing to be in poor health, with a warning that he would not survive.

His mother, Einav Zangauker, speaking at the protest in Tel Aviv, said “I can no longer bear this nightmare. The angel of death, Netanyahu, continues to sacrifice the hostages,” AFPTV footage showed, referring to the Israeli prime minister.

Noam Katz, the daughter of hostage Lior Rudaeff, who has been declared dead but whose body is still in the Gaza Strip, called for an immediate halt to the fighting.

“Do not send more soldiers to risk their lives to bring back our fathers. Bring them back through an agreement. Stop the war!” she declared to the crowd at the square, the Families Forum said.

On Friday, the Israeli army announced the death of four soldiers in the Gaza Strip and said it lacked 10,000 troops to meet its needs in the Palestinian territory.

Negotiations aimed at ending the fighting, mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the United States have remained unsuccessful so far.

Tal Kupershtein, father of Bar Kupershtein, who was abducted at the age of 21, demanded that his son “come home now!“

“I call on the prime minister to accept an agreement for the return of all the hostages.”

Of the 251 people abducted on October 7, 2023, 55 are still held in the Gaza Strip, at least 31 of whom are dead, according to Israeli authorities.


What will it take for Syria to win permanent US sanctions relief?

Updated 54 min 37 sec ago
Follow

What will it take for Syria to win permanent US sanctions relief?

  • Temporary relief already available, but a lasting end to sanctions depends on several steps, experts say
  • They say that without deep reforms and sustained diplomacy, reprieve could be short lived

LONDON: After 13 years of war and international isolation, a glimmer of hope emerged for Syria on May 23 when the US government announced a temporary easing of sanctions, ushering in an opportunity for recovery and reconstruction.

But Syrian officials warn the relief may be short-lived. Without the full and permanent lifting of restrictions, they say, the door to recovery could close just as quickly as it opened, especially with fresh conditions now attached.

Syria’s interim government, led by President Ahmad Al-Sharaa, must navigate multiple US demands, from expelling foreign militants to integrating Kurdish forces and verifying the destruction of chemical weapons.

Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa has in six months established himself internationally and had crippling sanctions removed, but still needs to rebuild national institutions, revive the economy and unite the fractured country. (AFP/File)

The road to full sanctions relief is further complicated by political realities in Washington, where a divided Congress remains largely opposed to reengaging with Damascus.

“There is considerable disappointment in Damascus that sanctions are only being suspended temporarily and not definitively,” Joshua Landis, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma, told Arab News.

“But many of the sanctions were imposed by Congress and will have to be lifted by Congress.”

Following President Donald Trump’s announcement at the Gulf Cooperation Council summit in Riyadh, where he offered Syria “a fresh start” by removing sanctions, the Treasury Department issued General License 25, temporarily suspending key restrictions.

A handout picture provided by the Saudi Royal Palace shows US President Donald Trump (L), Secretary of State Marco Rubio (2nd L), Syria's interim president Ahmed Al-Sharaa (R), Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (C) and Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan (2nd R) meeting in Riyadh on May 14, 2025. (AFP/File)

The Treasury said relief was conditional on Syria denying safe haven to terrorist groups and protecting religious and ethnic minorities.

Parallel to this, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a 180-day Caesar Act waiver to enable humanitarian aid to enter Syria and help restore essential services like electricity, water, and sanitation.

FAST FACTS

• Western sanctions began in 1979 and expanded sharply after 2011 in response to Bashar Assad’s crackdown on protests.

• Arms embargoes and dual-use controls remain, and new targeted sanctions have been imposed on human rights abusers.

• In May, the US and EU lifted most economic sanctions after Assad’s ouster and the formation of a transitional government.

This relief marked the first phase of a broader US strategy aimed at pushing Syria’s interim government to meet a series of sweeping demands.

A US official told AFP that while some Trump administration officials support immediate sanctions relief, others prefer a phased approach, making broader actions conditional on Syria meeting specific targets.

This shift reflects a broader recalibration of Western expectations. “With the fall of the Assad regime, the US and its European allies have clearly stepped back from the demands they once directed at Damascus,” Syrian-Canadian analyst Camille Otrakji told Arab News.

“US Vice President JD Vance has repeatedly stated that his country will not promote democracy anymore. The new priority is stability, seen as a foundation for regional development and future peace agreements.”

People celebrate in Damascus' Omeyyad Square after US President Donald Trump's decision to lift sanctions in Syria, on May 13, 2025. (AFP/File)

As part of that shift, Washington’s earlier insistence on compliance with UN Security Council Resolution 2254 — adopted in 2015 to guide Syria’s democratic transition — has largely faded. In its place, Otrakji said, are more focused and immediate goals.

These include “removing foreign fighters from the Syrian army, and possibly from Syria as a whole, reaching a settlement with the Kurds, and reducing violence against Alawite communities in the coastal region,” he added.

Yet even these goals appear increasingly flexible. On June 2, the US gave its approval to a Syrian government plan to integrate thousands of foreign fighters into the national army, as long as the process remains transparent, Reuters reported.

Despite the evolving benchmarks, progress is underway. Landis explained that Al-Sharaa is already working to fulfill US demands, including the removal of Palestinian militants.

“Al-Sharaa has arrested or expelled the top Palestinian militia leaders and militants living in Syria,” Landis said.

Leaders of pro-Iran Palestinian factions allied with the Assad regime have left Syria under pressure from the new authorities, handing over their weapons as part of a broader US demand to curb Iran-backed groups, two Palestinian sources told AFP on May 23.

Syria is also under pressure to integrate the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces into the national military and take responsibility for prisons and camps holding thousands of Daesh fighters and their families.

In March, Syria’s President Ahmad Al-Sharaa and SDF chief Mazloum Abdi signed an agreement to integrate the civil and military institutions of the autonomous Kurdish administration in the northeast into the national government. (AFP/File)

“Securing Daesh detention centers will require coordination with the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria and the SDF,” Landis said. “The effort to find a compromise with US-backed Kurdish forces continues, despite some important differences.

“Two Aleppo neighborhoods were recently turned over by the YPG to Al-Sharaa’s forces. More recently, a prison exchange was negotiated between the new Syrian military and the SDF.”

After Daesh’s 2019 defeat, thousands of suspected affiliates were detained in northeast Syria. The largest camps, Al-Hol and Roj, are run by the Kurdish-led AANES and guarded by the SDF.

Security at the camps is fragile, with the SDF stretched by conflict with Turkish-backed forces and resource shortages. A 2023 Daesh attack on Al-Hasakah prison highlighted the risk of mass escapes.

Aid cuts and a potential US withdrawal from northeast Syria threaten further destabilization, raising fears that thousands of Daesh-affiliated detainees could escape, posing a threat to global security.

A view of Camp Roj in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province, where relatives of Daesh militants are being held. (AFP/File)

Recent developments suggest progress. In March, the Al-Sharaa government reached key agreements with the Kurdish-led administration to integrate the SDF into the national army, place Kurdish-run institutions under central control, and jointly manage Daesh detainees.

The first formal steps followed in May, when Kurdish authorities and Syria’s transitional government agreed on a plan to evacuate Syrians from Al-Hol camp to government-held areas. Previously, repatriations had only been allowed to Kurdish-controlled zones.

In Aleppo, the YPG, which is a component of the SDF, handed over the Sheikh Maqsoud and Achrafieh neighborhoods to the Syrian government. These predominantly Kurdish districts had been under YPG/SDF control since 2015 and remained semi-autonomous even after the Assad government recaptured most of Aleppo in 2016.

Landis said similar negotiations are underway with Druze militias in southern Syria. “Arriving at an agreed-upon solution will take time, and both sides are still debating how integral regional militias will be allowed to remain and how much local authority their commanders will have,” he said.

In the past few months, Syria’s Druze community has faced renewed violence and sectarian tensions, particularly in areas near Damascus like Jaramana and Sahnaya.

Mourners lift a portrait during the funeral of members of Syria's Druze community who were killed in recent sectarian clashes, in Salkhad village in the country's southern Suwayda governorate on May 3, 2025. (AFP/File)

In late April, a fake audio recording triggered sectarian violence in the Damascus suburbs of Jaramana and Sahnaya. Clashes between Druze militias, Sunni groups, and government forces left dozens of civilians dead. Human rights monitors reported extrajudicial killings by government-affiliated units.

Although local ceasefires and Druze police deployments have eased tensions in some areas, mistrust runs deep. The Druze community continues to demand greater autonomy and security guarantees, resisting government disarmament efforts amid fears of future attacks.

Concerns have been amplified by sectarian killings targeting the Alawite community, particularly along Syria’s coast. Between March and April, armed groups — including some tied to the transitional government — reportedly executed Alawite civilians and torched their homes.

People march in Syria's northeastern city of Qamishli on March 11, 2025 to protest the wave of sectarian violence targeting the Alawite minority in the west of the country. (AFP/File)

On May 28, the EU sanctioned two individuals and three groups accused of carrying out the attacks. While the EU has announced plans to lift sanctions, foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the move was “conditional” and that sanctions could be resumed if Syria’s new government does not keep the peace.

That fragile peace, analysts say, depends largely on how the transitional leadership navigates Syria’s complex social fabric.

“For the new transitional leadership, managing relationships with Syria’s minorities and broader society, each with its own aspirations, will be essential to stabilizing the country and permanently lifting the threat of renewed US sanctions,” said Otrakji.

One of the most delicate challenges, he said, lies in the relationship between Al-Sharaa’s administration and the Alawite community, which held significant power under the Assad regime.

“Establishing a local police or security force may be the only realistic solution to address mutual distrust and security concerns,” Otrakji said.

“A handful of influential Alawite figures are now competing to convince their community, and other relevant actors, that they should play the leading role in protecting and representing Alawite interests.”

As Al-Sharaa struggles to assert control, fears of renewed civil war persist. US Secretary of State Rubio warned in late May that Syria could be only weeks away from “potential collapse and a full-scale civil war of epic proportions.”

Progressing to the next phase of US relief will require Syria to normalize relations with Israel by joining the Abraham Accords.

Israeli troops deploy at the buffer zone that separates the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights from Syria, on December 9, 2024, near the Druze village of Majdal Shams. (AFP/File)

The Abraham Accords are a series of diplomatic agreements brokered by the US in 2020, normalizing relations between Israel and several Arab states, including the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco.

The accords marked a significant shift in Middle East diplomacy, promoting cooperation despite the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Their potential has been undermined, however, by public outcry over the war in Gaza.

Al-Sharaa has publicly signaled openness to diplomacy. “Al-Sharaa has reiterated his interest in arriving at a peaceful settlement with Israel,” said Landis. “He has made a trust-building gesture by handing over the papers of the celebrated Israeli spy Eli Cohen.”

The Syrian leadership reportedly approved last month’s return of 2,500 documents related to Cohen and his personal belongings. The Israeli spy was executed in Damascus in 1965. The archive, held by Syrian intelligence for six decades, included his letters, will, passports, and surveillance photos.

“Word is that Al-Sharaa has also been trying to reach out to Israel through the US to establish talks,” Landis said.


READ MORE

Israel says retrieved official Syrian archive on executed spy Eli Cohen

• Syria and Israel in direct talks focused on security, sources say


Despite Syrian statements seeking peace, Israel remains cautious. Since Assad’s fall, it has conducted hundreds of airstrikes across Syria and seized control of a UN-monitored buffer zone inside Syrian territory.

Taking advantage of the power vacuum left by Assad’s ouster, Israeli troops advanced up to 15 km into Syrian territory, establishing a “zone of control” and a deeper “sphere of influence” reaching as far as 60 km east, particularly in the southern provinces of Quneitra and Daraa.

In recent months, the Israeli military has established at least nine new outposts and bases, including on Mount Hermon and within the former UN Disengagement Observer Force buffer zone. Israeli troops have also occupied several Syrian villages, including Al-Kiswa, Al-Bakar, Sidon Al-Golan, Sidon Al-Hanout and Al-Adnaniyah.

Still, some see potential for reconciliation. “The majority of Syrians want to have peace at home, and they want to have peace in the neighborhood,” Ibrahim Al-Assil, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, told CNN.

“The issue with Israel is indeed complicated, but it’s not impossible to resolve the issue of the Golan Heights, the issue of the borders, the concerns of both sides are deep and real and serious,” he said.  

“That means there is a potential for these talks, and there is a potential for having better relationships on both sides, the Israeli side and the Syrian side, and that require both sides to start a long journey of negotiations between both of them, and to believe that a better relationship is possible between both of them.”

Ghassan Ibrahim, founder of the Global Arab Network, believes the real test for Al-Sharaa’s government will be reconstruction.

For post-Assad Syria to rebuild after years of conflict, interim President Ahmad Al-Sharaa must obtain full and permanent lifting of restrictions imposed by the US and other western economies. (AFP/File)

“The key now is how the government handles the opportunities it’s being given — politically, regionally, internationally, and with sanctions relief,” he told Arab News.

“Will reconstruction be piecemeal, with companies simply seizing contracts, or will it be comprehensive?”

The London-based Syria analyst added: “Ideally, reconstruction should create opportunities for businesses, rebuild infrastructure, improve quality of life, and promote stability — ultimately encouraging refugees to return.

“These are the things that will be judged moving forward.”
 

 


Israel army orders evacuation of northern Gaza neighborhoods

Palestinians inspect the damage at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, in Gaza City, June 7, 2025. (REUTERS)
Updated 07 June 2025
Follow

Israel army orders evacuation of northern Gaza neighborhoods

  • Palestinian Health Ministry says Gaza’s hospitals only have fuel for three more days

GAZA CITY: The Israeli military has called for Gazans to evacuate from neighborhoods in the north of the Gaza Strip, where it said rockets had been fired from.

Israeli forces will “attack each zone used to launch rockets,” the military’s Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee posted on X, adding: “For
your security, evacuate immediately to the south.”
The warning covered a neighborhood northwest of Gaza City and another in Jabalia.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said on Saturday that Gaza’s hospitals only had fuel for three more days and that Israel was denying access for international relief agencies to areas where fuel storage designated for hospitals is located.

FASTFACT

The UN has warned that most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are at risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli blockade.

There was no immediate response from the Israeli military or COGAT, the Israeli defense agency that coordinates humanitarian matters with the Palestinians.
Also on Saturday, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said it was unable to distribute assistance to Palestinian civilians, blaming threats by Hamas, which the group denied.
“The threats made it impossible to proceed today without putting innocent lives at risk,” the GHF said in a statement in which it also said it intended to resume aid distribution “without delay.”
A Hamas official said he did not know of such “alleged threats.”
Aid distribution was halted on Friday after the GHF said overcrowding had made it unsafe to continue operations.
The UN has warned that most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are at risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli blockade, with the rate of young children suffering from acute malnutrition nearly tripling.

FASTFACT

The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, overseeing a new model of aid distribution.

On Wednesday, the GHF suspended operations and asked the Israeli military to review security protocols after Palestinian hospital officials said more than 80 people had been shot dead and hundreds wounded near distribution points between June 1-3.
Eyewitnesses blamed Israeli soldiers for the killings. The Israeli military said it fired warning shots on two days, while on Tuesday it said soldiers had fired at Palestinian “suspects” who were advancing towards their positions.
The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, overseeing a new model of aid distribution that the UN says is neither impartial nor neutral.
The GHF says it has provided around 9 million meals so far.
The Israeli military said on Saturday that 350 trucks of humanitarian aid belonging to UN and other international relief groups were transferred this week via the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza.

 


UNRWA chief condemns Israeli ban on foreign journalists entering Gaza

Updated 07 June 2025
Follow

UNRWA chief condemns Israeli ban on foreign journalists entering Gaza

  • Lazzarini said Israeli authorities’ refusal to grant access to foreign media since the beginning of the war in Gaza was unprecedented in modern conflict

AMMAN: The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees has sharply criticized Israel for barring international journalists from entering the Gaza Strip, calling the ongoing restriction a “ban on reporting the truth.”

Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, said the Israeli authorities’ refusal to grant access to foreign media since the beginning of the war in Gaza was unprecedented in modern conflict.

“This is unlike any other conflict in contemporary history,” Lazzarini wrote in a post on X. “It essentially prevents journalists from reporting the truth from the Gaza Strip.”

He warned that the continued ban on international coverage had grave consequences, describing it as “the perfect recipe for fueling media misinformation, deepening polarization, and obscuring humanity.”

Lazzarini called for an immediate end to the ban on foreign media organizations and urged Israel to facilitate access for international journalists. He also called for support for Palestinian journalists who remain in Gaza and continue to report under extremely difficult and dangerous conditions.

“The world must not be kept in the dark,” he said.

The remarks come amid growing international concern over press freedom in Gaza, where Palestinian reporters have borne the brunt of the conflict with limited external scrutiny due to access restrictions.


UN welcomes new Libya safety and rights committees

Updated 07 June 2025
Follow

UN welcomes new Libya safety and rights committees

  • UNSMIL said the committees were “composed of key parties“
  • The safety committee was tasked with drafting a plan to disarm non-state actors in Tripoli

TRIPOLI: The United Nations mission in Libya on Saturday welcomed the formation of two committees by the Libyan presidential council to address safety and human rights after recent deadly clashes in Tripoli.

UNSMIL said the committees were “composed of key parties,” with one aimed at “strengthening security arrangements to prevent the outbreak of fighting and ensure the protection of civilians.”

The second committee was tasked with “addressing human rights concerns in detention facilities, including widespread arbitrary detention,” it added.

Libya is split between the UN-recognized government in Tripoli, led by Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah, and a rival administration in the east.

The North African country has remained deeply divided since the 2011 NATO-backed revolt that toppled and killed longtime leader Muammar Qaddafi.

Last month, its capital was rocked by days of deadly fighting between rival armed groups that left at least eight people dead, according to the UN.

The violence was sparked by the killing of Abdelghani Al-Kikli, the leader of the Support and Stability Apparatus (SSA) armed group, by the government-backed 444 Brigade, which later took on another rival faction, Radaa.

It also came after Dbeibah announced a string of executive orders seeking to dismantle armed groups that he later said had “become stronger than the state.”

Earlier this week, the Libyan presidential council announced the creation of the committees in a move that Dbeibah described as necessary “to strengthen the rule of law.”

The safety committee was tasked with drafting a plan to disarm non-state actors in Tripoli and strengthen the control of official security forces, the council said.

And the human rights committee will monitor conditions in detention centers and review cases of people detained without judicial oversight.

This came after UN Human Rights Commissioner Volker Turk raised alarm over “gross human rights violations uncovered at official and unofficial detention facilities” run by the SSA group.

UNSMIL said it was “committed to providing technical support” to the newly formed committees.

“UNSMIL stresses that these committees come at a crucial moment when Libyans are demanding meaningful reform, accountable and democratic state institutions,” it said.