BAGHDAD: Hundreds of supporters of powerful Iraqi cleric Moqtada Sadr on Wednesday stormed parliament after penetrating the capital’s high-security government Green Zone, protesting against a rival bloc’s nomination for prime minister.
The protests are the latest challenge for oil-rich Iraq, which remains mired in a political and a socioeconomic crisis despite elevated global oil prices.
No lawmakers were present. Only security forces were inside the building and they appeared to allow the protesters in with relative ease.
Protesters “stormed the parliament” after initially being stopped by police firing a barrage of tear gas, a security source told AFP on condition of anonymity.
State news agency INA said on messaging app Telegram that “protesters have entered the parliament building.”
The breach came amid the biggest protest since Iraqi elections were held in October. The demonstrators were protesting the recent nomination of Mohammed Al-Sudani as the official nominee of the Coordination Framework bloc, a coalition led by Iran-backed Shiite parties and their allies.
Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi called on the protesters to “immediately withdraw” from the heavily fortified Green Zone, which is home to both government buildings and diplomatic missions.
He warned in a statement that security forces would see to “the protection of state institutions and foreign missions, and prevent any harm to security and order.”
Riot police used water cannons to repel demonstrators pulling down cement blast walls. But many breached the gates to the area, which houses government buildings and foreign embassies.
The demonstrators walked down the zone’s main thoroughfare, with dozens gathering outside the doors to the parliament building.
Riot police assembled at the doors to the main gates. Demonstrators crowded around two entrances to the Green Zone, with some scaling the cement wall and chanting, “Sudani, out!“
Sadr’s bloc won 73 seats in Iraq’s October 2021 election, making it the largest faction in the 329-seat parliament. But since the vote, talks to form a new government have stalled.
Al-Sudani was selected by State of Law leader and former premier Nouri Al-Maliki. Before Al-Sudani can face parliament to be seated officially as premier-designate, parties must first select a president.
Iraq was plunged deeper into political crisis last month when the 73 lawmakers from Sadr’s bloc quit en masse in an apparent bid to break a logjam over the establishment of a new government.
Sixty-four new Iraqi lawmakers were sworn in later in June, making the pro-Iran bloc the largest in parliament.
Sadr had initially supported the idea of a “majority government” which would have sent his Shiite adversaries from the Coordination Framework into opposition.
The former militia leader then surprised many by compelling his lawmakers to resign, a move seen as seeking to pressure his rivals to fast-track government formation.
Earlier this month, hundreds of thousands of Muslim worshippers loyal to Sadr attended a Friday prayer service in Baghdad, in a display of political might to revive stalled talks on government formation.
The huge turnout came despite scorching heat and the Shiite cleric not being there in person — an indication of his status as a political heavyweight, as well as a key religious authority.
The mercurial cleric’s sermon took aim at rivals from other Shiite factions, including a powerful ex-paramilitary network.
“We are at a difficult... crossroads in the formation of the government, entrusted to some we do not trust,” Sadr said in the speech on July 15, read out by Sheikh Mahmud Al-Jayashi.
Some factions have shown they are “not up to the task,” he added.
(With AFP and AP)
Pro-Sadr protesters storm parliament in Iraq’s Green Zone
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Pro-Sadr protesters storm parliament in Iraq’s Green Zone
World leaders urge aid, war’s end after Gaza deal
PARIS: World figures hailed the announcement of a ceasefire and hostage-prisoner exchange agreement between Israel and Hamas, urging them to stick to it and hurry aid to Gaza civilians.
Here is a roundup of reactions from official statements, broadcast remarks and online messages.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said it was “imperative that this ceasefire removes the significant security and political obstacles to delivering aid across Gaza so that we can support a major increase in urgent life-saving humanitarian support.”
US President Joe Biden said he was “thrilled” that hostages would be freed and “confident” the deal would hold. “I’m deeply satisfied this day has... finally come,” he said in a televised statement.
Incoming US president Donald Trump vowed to “work closely with Israel and our Allies to make sure Gaza NEVER again becomes a terrorist safe haven.”
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said “both parties must fully implement this agreement, as a stepping stone toward lasting stability in the region.”
Turkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hoped the agreement “will be beneficial for our region and for all humanity, particularly for our Palestinian brothers, and that it will open the way to lasting peace and stability.”
Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry stressed “the need to adhere to the agreement and stop the Israeli aggression on Gaza,” calling for “the complete withdrawal of the Israeli occupation forces from the (Gaza) Strip and all other Palestinian and Arab territories and the return of the displaced to their areas.”
Brazil’s foreign ministry called on the parties to “respect the terms of the accord, to guarantee a permanent end to hostilities, the freeing of all hostages and the free entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.”
China’s foreign ministry spokesman said Beijing hoped “that relevant parties will take the ceasefire in Gaza as an opportunity to promote the easing of regional tensions.”
The president of neighboring Egypt, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, called for “the entry of urgent humanitarian aid” into Gaza. He said the deal followed “strenuous efforts” by Egypt, Qatar and the United States.
Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi called on world powers to ensure the “sufficient and durable” delivery of aid to Gaza.
Iraq’s foreign ministry stressed the “need to immediately allow humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian territories” and “intensify international efforts to rebuild” areas damaged during Israel’s Gaza offensive.
“Today, the world realized that the patience of the people of Gaza and the steadfastness of the Palestinian resistance forced the Zionist regime to retreat,” Iran supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said, adding that Israel was “defeated.”
France’s President Emmanuel Macron said the agreement must be “respected” and followed by a “political solution.”
Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the deal “opens the door to a permanent end to the war and to the improvement of the poor humanitarian situation in Gaza” and must be “implemented to the letter.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called it “the long overdue news that the Israeli and Palestinian people have desperately been waiting for.” He urged steps for a “permanently better future... grounded in a two-state solution.”
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said her country “expects that all the hostages can finally return to their families” and saw an “opportunity to significantly increase humanitarian assistance” to Gaza civilians. Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani called it an “important step toward peace.”
Pakistan’s foreign affairs ministry said it hoped the truce would lead to a permanent ceasefire and allow an increase of aid to Gaza and reaffirmed its support for a “just, comprehensive and lasting solution to the Palestinian question.”
UN rights chief Volker Turk said the deal promised “huge relief after so much unbearable pain and misery... and it is imperative that it now holds.” The chief of the UN aid agency for Palestinian refugees Philippe Lazzarini called for “rapid, unhindered and uninterrupted humanitarian access and supplies to respond to the tremendous suffering caused by this war.”
Netanyahu says ‘last minute crisis’ with Hamas holding up approval of Gaza truce and hostage deal
- Netanyahu’s office had earlier accused Hamas of backtracking on an earlier understanding that he said would give Israel a veto over which prisoners convicted of murder would be released in exchange for hostages
TEL AVIV: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that a “last minute crisis” with Hamas was holding up Israeli approval of a long-awaited agreement to pause the fighting in the Gaza Strip and release dozens of hostages. Israeli airstrikes meanwhile killed dozens of people across the war-ravaged territory.
Netanyahu’s office said his Cabinet won’t meet to approve the agreement until Hamas backs down, accusing it of reneging on parts of the agreement in an attempt to gain further concessions.
Izzat Al-Rashq, a senior Hamas official, said the militant group “is committed to the ceasefire agreement, which was announced by the mediators.”
US President Joe Biden and key mediator Qatar announced the deal on Wednesday, which is aimed at releasing scores of hostages held in Gaza and winding down a 15-month war that has destabilized the Middle East and sparked worldwide protests.
Netanyahu’s office had earlier accused Hamas of backtracking on an earlier understanding that he said would give Israel a veto over which prisoners convicted of murder would be released in exchange for hostages.
Netanyahu has faced great domestic pressure to bring home the scores of hostages, but his far-right coalition partners have threatened to bring down his government if he makes too many concessions.
Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip have meanwhile killed at least 48 people over the past day, according to the territory’s Health Ministry. In previous conflicts, both sides have stepped up military operations in the final hours before ceasefires as a way to project strength.
Around half of the dead were women and children, Zaher Al-Wahedi, head of the ministry’s registration department, told The Associated Press. He said the toll could rise as hospitals update their records.
A phased withdrawal and hostage release with potential pitfalls
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel in a surprise attack on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250. Some 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, and the Israeli military believes around a third and up to half of them are dead.
Under the deal reached Wednesday, 33 hostages are set to be released over the next six weeks in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Israeli forces will pull back from many areas, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians would be able to return to what’s left of their homes, and there would be a surge of humanitarian assistance.
The remainder of the hostages, including male soldiers, are to be released in a second — and much more difficult — phase that will be negotiated during the first. Hamas has said it will not release the remaining captives without a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal, while Israel has vowed to keep fighting until it dismantles the group and to maintain open-ended security control over the territory.
Israel’s offensive has killed over 46,000 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Health Ministry. it does not say how many of the dead were militants. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence.
The war has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and displaced some 90 percent of its population of 2.3 million people, according to the United Nations.
Israel says final details still being worked out
Mediators from Egypt, Qatar and the US are expected to meet in Cairo on Thursday for talks on implementing the agreement. They have spent the past year holding indirect talks with Israel and Hamas that finally resulted in a deal after repeated setbacks.
President-elect Donald Trump’s Mideast envoy joined the talks in the final weeks, and both the outgoing administration and Trump’s team are taking credit for the breakthrough.
Many longer-term questions about postwar Gaza remain, including who will rule the territory or oversee the daunting task of reconstruction after a brutal conflict that has destabilized the broader Middle East and sparked worldwide protests.
Israel has come under heavy international criticism, including from its closest ally, the United States, over the civilian toll in Gaza. It also blames Hamas for the civilian casualties, accusing it of using schools, hospitals and residential areas for military purposes.
The International Court of Justice is investigating allegations brought by South Africa that Israel has committed genocide. The International Criminal Court, a separate body also based in The Hague, has issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu, his former defense minister and a Hamas commander for war crimes and crimes against humanity linked to the war.
Israel and the United States have condemned the actions taken by both courts.
Hamas, a militant group that does not accept Israel’s existence, has come under overwhelming pressure from Israeli military operations, including the invasion of Gaza’s largest cities and towns and the takeover of the border between Gaza and Egypt. Its top leaders, including Yahya Sinwar, who was believed to have helped mastermind the Oct. 7, 2023, attack, have been killed.
But its fighters have regrouped in some of the hardest-hit areas after the withdrawal of Israeli forces, raising the prospect of a prolonged insurgency if the war continues.
Key negotiators who helped get a Gaza ceasefire deal
- Qatar, Egypt and the United States mediated the long-running efforts to halt the fighting in the ravaged Palestinian territory
DOHA: A ceasefire agreement in Gaza has been reached between Israel and Hamas after more than 15 months of war. The United States, Egypt and Qatar have mediated the long-running efforts to halt the fighting in the ravaged Palestinian territory, often coming close to a deal before a frustrating breakdown in negotiations.
The latest round of talks proved successful this week, with all sides bringing their top negotiators to the Qatari capital, Doha.
Here is a look at the key players who negotiated the deal:
David Barnea
The head of Israel’s spy agency headed up Israel’s negotiation team throughout the negotiation process.
Working alongside the head of Israel’s Shin Bet security agency and top political and military advisers to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and meeting with the Biden administration, Barnea was the highest-profile member of the Israeli negotiating team — but kept his own proclivities private during the talks.
Ronen Bar
The head of Israel’s Shin Bet security agency also has been involved in negotiations for months. Bar’s agency handles matters relating to Palestinian security prisoners, some of whom, under the agreed-upon deal, are set to be released by Israel in exchange for hostages.
Bar has led the agency since 2021. Just days after the devastating Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel that launched the war, he took responsibility for failing to thwart the militants. He said investigations into what happened would need to come after the war.
Khalil Al-Hayya
The acting head of Hamas’ political bureau and the militant group’s chief negotiator is based in Qatar but does not meet directly with Israeli or American officials, communicating instead through Egyptian and Qatari mediators.
His role increased in importance after Israeli soldiers killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in the Gaza Strip. Sinwar, the architect of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, was believed to be dictating the Hamas stance in negotiations up until his death.
But even before Sinwar’s death, Al-Hayya was managing affairs for the militant group. Al-Hayya, seen as less of a hard-liner than Sinwar, had served as Sinwar’s deputy and had managed ceasefire negotiations in 2014 as well.
He is a longtime official with the group and survived an Israeli airstrike that hit his home in Gaza in 2007, killing several of his family members.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani
Qatar’s prime minister and foreign minister led his country’s pivotal mediation efforts in the stop-start negotiations. He has been a key communicator with Hamas throughout the process, as Israel and Hamas have not communicated directly.
The most consequential phase of negotiations — those that have occurred over the last few weeks — took place in Doha, his country’s capital.
Al Thani said the ceasefire would take effect Sunday.
Hassan Rashad
The director of Egypt’s General Intelligence Agency was also a liaison with Hamas throughout the talks.
Rashad took office in October 2024, replacing former chief intelligence official Abbas Kamel, who led the negotiations during the first ceasefire in November 2023.
Several rounds of negotiations have occurred in Cairo, and the mediators will move to the Egyptian capital Thursday for further talks on implementing the deal.
Brett McGurk
President Joe Biden’s top Middle East adviser has been putting together a draft of the deal from the discussions with the two sides as the lead negotiator in the Israel-Hamas negotiations.
McGurk has been a fixture in US Mideast policy for more than two decades in the National Security Council and White House under both Democratic and Republican administrations.
He’s shuttled frequently to the Middle East for talks with senior officials about the conflicts with Hamas and Hezbollah.
Steve Witkoff
President-elect Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East has met separately in recent weeks with Netanyahu and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, another key mediator.
Witkoff, a Florida real estate investor and co-chair of Trump’s inaugural committee, has kept in contact with Biden’s foreign policy team as the incoming Trump and outgoing Biden administrations coordinated on the deal.
A look at the Gaza ceasefire deal
DOHA: Key mediator Qatar said on Wednesday that 33 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza would be released in the first stage of a ceasefire deal aimed at ending the war in the Palestinian territory.
Two sources close to Hamas earlier told AFP that Israel would release about 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, while an Israeli government spokesman said hundreds would be released.
Below are the key details of the expected initial phase of the deal according to Qatari, US, Israeli and Palestinian officials and media reports:
Qatar said Wednesday that Israel and Hamas had agreed to a ceasefire in Gaza starting on Sunday and a hostage and prisoner exchange after 15 months of war.
Thirty-three Israeli hostages will be released in the first, 42-day phase of the agreement that could become a “permanent ceasefire,” said Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani.
Those first released would be “civilian women and female recruits, as well as children, elderly people... civilian ill people and wounded,” he said.
Israeli government spokesman David Mencer said on Tuesday Israel was “prepared to pay a heavy price — in the hundreds” in exchange for the 33 hostages.
An anonymous Israeli official said “several hundred terrorists” would be freed in exchange for the hostages, with the final number depending on how many of the 33 hostages are alive.
Two sources close to Hamas told AFP that Israel would release about 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, including those with “lengthy sentences.”
Sheikh Mohammed said the number of Palestinian prisoners to be released in exchange for the Israeli hostages in the second and third phases would be “finalized” during the initial 42 days.
The 33 are among the 94 hostages held in Gaza since Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which triggered the ongoing war. The total includes 34 captives the Israeli military has declared dead.
According to the Times of Israel, Israeli officials believe the 33 hostages are alive, though confirmation from Hamas is pending.
Gaza humanitarian situation, by the numbers
- At least 1.9 million people are displaced
- 92 percent of housing units are destroyed
- 68 percent of the road network is destroyed or damaged
- There are “zero” fuel reserves to operate generators at hospitals
- 88 percent of school buildings need rebuilding or major repairs
- Food aid amounting to three months’ of rations for Gaza’s population are waiting to enter
During the initial, 42-day ceasefire Israeli forces will withdraw from Gaza’s densely populated areas to “allow for the swap of prisoners, as well as the swap of remains and the return of the displaced people,” Qatar’s prime minister said.
Negotiations for a second phase would commence on the “16th day” after the first phase’s implementation, an Israeli official said.
This phase would cover the release of the remaining captives, including “male soldiers, men of military age, and the bodies of slain hostages,” the Times of Israel reported.
Israeli media reported that under the proposed deal, Israel would maintain a buffer zone within Gaza during the first phase.
Israeli forces were expected to remain up to “800 meters inside Gaza stretching from Rafah in the south to Beit Hanun in the north,” according to a source close to Hamas.
Israeli forces would not fully withdraw from Gaza until “all hostages are returned,” the Israeli official said.
Haaretz newspaper reported that Israel would allow the movement of residents from southern Gaza to the north.
The source close to Hamas said Israeli forces would withdraw from the Netzarim corridor westward toward Salaheddin Road to the east, enabling displaced people to return through an electronic checkpoint equipped with cameras.
“No Israeli forces will be present, and Palestinian militants will be barred from passing through the checkpoint during the return of displaced persons,” he said.
Joint mediators Qatar, the United States and Egypt will monitor the ceasefire deal through a body based in Cairo, Sheikh Mohammed said, urging “calm” in Gaza before the agreement comes into force.
There was “a clear mechanism to negotiate phase two and three,” Sheikh Mohammed added.
“We hope that this will be the last page of the war, and we hope that all parties will commit to implementing all the terms of this agreement,” Qatar’s prime minister said as he unveiled the deal.
Under the arrangements outlined by Qatar, the details of phases two and three will be “finalized” during the implementation of phase one.
US President Joe Biden said the as-yet unfinalized second phase would bring a “permanent end to the war.”
Biden said phase two would comprise an exchange for the release of remaining hostages who are still alive, including the male soldiers. Then all remaining Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza, the US president said.
Netanyahu says Gaza ceasefire is still not complete, hours after US and Qatar announce deal
- ’Final details’ of Gaza deal being worked out, Netanyahu’s office says
- Mediators will next head to Cairo for talks on implementing the ceasefire
JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the ceasefire agreement with Hamas is still not complete and final details are being worked out.
“An official statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be issued only after the completion of the final details of the agreement, which are being worked on at present,” his office said in a statement released at midnight.
Netanyahu has not said explicitly whether he accepts the deal announced hours earlier by Qatar’s prime minister and President Joe Biden.
In a statement, Netanyahu said he would only issue a formal response “after the final details of the agreement, which are currently being worked on, are completed.”
Netanyahu’s statement comes hours after the United States and Qatar announced the deal, which would pause the devastating 15-month war in Gaza and clear the way for dozens of hostages to go home. The conflict has destabilized the Middle East and sparked worldwide protests.
Egyptian, Qatar and US negotiators will head to Cairo on Thursday for further talks on implementing all aspects of the ceasefire deal, according to a senior US official.
The official said the negotiators are focused on making sure expectations are clear to both Israel and Hamas, and that implementation of the agreement is carried out as smoothly as possible.
The official was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Gaza’s second-largest militant group after Hamas, hailed the ceasefire deal as “honorable.”
Hamas had needed the group’s support for the deal in order to avoid a potential disruption in the process.
“Today, our people and their resistance imposed an honorable agreement to stop the aggression,” Palestinian Islamic Jihad said in a statement.
The group said the deal between Israel and Hamas includes the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza as well as an “honorable” prisoner exchange. It said that militant groups in Gaza “will remain vigilant to ensure the full implementation of this agreement.”
Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s fighters took part in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and have since been battling Israeli forces in Gaza.
Gazans celebrate
Large crowds of joyful Palestinians took to the streets in Gaza when the agreement was announced, cheering and honking car horns.
“No one can feel the feeling that we are experiencing now, an indescribable, indescribable feeling,” said Mahmoud Wadi in central Gaza’s Deir Al-Balah before joining a chanting crowd.
The Israel Hamas-war has killed more than 46,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to health authorities there. The Health Ministry does not distinguish between fighters and civilians, but says women and children make up more than half the fatalities.
Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza began on Oct. 7, 2023, when militants stormed into southern Israel and killed about 1,200 people and abducted around 250. A third of the 100 hostages still held in Gaza are believed to be dead.
