BAGHDAD: Thousands of Iraqis took to the streets of Baghdad Monday in counter-protests as rival supporters of Shiite Muslim cleric Moqtada Sadr extended their occupation of parliament into a third day.
Almost 10 months after Iraqis went to the polls, a political standoff pits two key factions of the Shiite political scene, between the populist Sadr with a devoted following of millions, and the powerful pro-Iran Coordination Framework.
“The people will not allow a coup,” read placards held by supporters of the Coordination Framework as they gathered on a main street leading to the Green Zone, the home of parliament, which Sadr’s supporters have been occupying since Saturday.
“It is the parliament of the people, of all Iraqis, not the parliament of a select group,” said 25-year-old protester Ahmed Ali, condemning “the storming” of government institutions.
Police fired water cannon at crowds in a bid to prevent them from crossing a bridge leading to the Green Zone, inside which thousands of Sadr supporters maintained their protests, waving flags and carrying placards of their leader.
Sadr’s supporters on Saturday breached the normally high-security Green Zone — also home to government buildings and embassies — in protest at a prime ministerial nomination by the Coordination Framework.
Followers of the Coordination Framework urged supporters not to enter the Green Zone, saying their objective was to “defend the state and its legitimacy.”
After some two hours, the counter-demonstration announced they were dispersing.
“They wanted to show their political strength, to show that they too have a base that can take over the Iraqi street,” said political scientist Ihsan Al-Shammari, from the University of Baghdad.
In multi-confessional and multi-ethnic Iraq, government formation has involved complex negotiations since a 2003 US-led invasion toppled dictator Saddam Hussein.
In this case, the protracted political deadlock has left the country without a government, a new prime minister or a new president.
Sadr’s massive mobilization of supporters in recent weeks has underscored the political clout of the firebrand preacher.
The Coordination Framework alliance includes lawmakers from the party of Sadr’s longtime foe, ex-prime minister Nuri Al-Maliki.
It also represents the powerful pro-Iran former paramilitary alliance Hashed Al-Shaabi, now integrated into the regular forces.
Hadi Al-Ameri, who heads a faction of the Hashed, repeated a call Monday for “constructive dialogue” and warned against “an atmosphere of media escalation, sparked by statements and counter-statements calling for mass mobilizations that could get out of control and lead to violence.”
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said Tehran respects “the choice of the Iraqi people,” and that “dialogue is the best way to solve the internal problems of Iraq.”
Sadr’s 73 lawmakers had made up the biggest group of parliament’s 329 lawmakers, but they were unable to cobble together a government.
In June they quit, a move that made their pro-Iran rivals the largest bloc in the legislature.
But the Sadrist camp was outraged by the Coordination Framework’s recent nomination of former minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani for premier, prompting them to occupy parliament.
On Sunday, the mercurial Sadr called on “everyone... to support the reformist revolutionaries.”
The Coordination Framework described the appeal as “a call for a coup against the people, the state and its institutions.”
Followers of Sadr also held rallies in the southern cities of Basra, Kut and Nassiriya on Monday.
“Here are the soldiers of the sons of the sayyed,” Sadr’s supporters shouted in the parliament’s entrance hall, using an honorific reference to the preacher, who wears a black turban symbolic of a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad.
“We want to get rid of the government of the corrupt,” said protester Zaher Al-Atabi. “From 2003 until now, those who have run the country have done nothing to develop public services, no health system, no education.”
But while the cleric’s supporters see him as cracking down on graft, Sadrist supporters hold posts at the highest levels of government ministries — and opponents accuse them of being just as corrupt as Iraq’s other political forces.
Iraq tensions soar as protesters rally against parliament occupation
https://arab.news/y3zr4
Iraq tensions soar as protesters rally against parliament occupation
- Sadr’s supporters on Saturday breached the Green Zone in protest at a prime ministerial nomination by the Coordination Framework
- Iraq’s longest post-election deadlock has led to unrest
Roadside bomb kills three soldiers in northern Iraq
BAGHDAD: A roadside bomb targeting an Iraqi army vehicle killed three soldiers in northern Iraq on Sunday, police and hospital sources said.
The attack near the town of Tuz Khurmatu, about 175 km (110 miles) north of the capital Baghdad, critically wounded two others.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but Daesh militants are active in the area, said two Iraqi security officials.
Despite the group’s defeat in 2017, remnants continue to conduct hit-and-run attacks against government forces.
Tens killed, wounded in Israeli strike on residential building in Gaza’s Beit Lahiya, medics say
- The Gaza health ministry said 43,799 people have been confirmed dead since Oct. 7, 2023
CAIRO: Tens of Palestinians were killed or injured in an Israeli strike on a multi-story residential building in northern Gaza’s Beit Lahiya on Sunday, medics told Reuters.
There was no immediate figure of how many people were killed. The Palestinian Civil Emergency said around 70 people have lived in the property.
There was no immediate comment from Israel.
The Israeli army sent tanks into Beit Lahiya and the nearby towns of Beit Hanoun and Jabalia, the largest of the Gaza Strip’s eight historic refugee camps, last month in what it said was a campaign to fight Hamas militants waging attacks and prevent them from regrouping.
It said it has for killed hundreds of militants in those three areas, which residents said Israeli forces had isolated from Gaza City.
Earlier on Sunday, an Israeli air strike killed at least 10 people in the Bureij camp in central Gaza Strip, when a missile hit a house, medics said.
The Gaza health ministry said 43,799 people have been confirmed dead since Oct. 7, 2023. Hamas militants killed around 1,200 Israelis that day, and still hold dozens of some 250 hostages they took back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel bombs south Beirut after Hezbollah targets Haifa area
- Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee on X warned residents near the three target sites to leave
Beirut: An Israeli strike hit south Beirut on Sunday where the military said it targeted Hezbollah, hours after the Iran-backed group said it fired on Israeli bases around the city of Haifa.
A column of smoke rose over the capital’s southern suburbs, AFPTV footage showed, following a warning from the Israeli military for residents to evacuate three areas.
Further south, overnight Israeli airstrikes and artillery shelling hit the flashpoint southern town of Khiam, some six kilometers (four miles) from the border, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported early Sunday.
The bombardment came after Israel’s military reported a “heavy rocket barrage” on Haifa late Saturday and said a synagogue was hit, wounding two civilians.
Israel has escalated its bombing of Lebanon since September 23 and has since sent in ground troops, following almost a year of limited, cross-border exchanges of fire begun by Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in support of Hamas in Gaza.
In the Palestinian territory, where Hamas’s attack on Israel triggered the war, the civil defense agency reported 24 people killed in strikes Saturday.
Police in Israel said three suspects were arrested after two flares landed near Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence in the town of Caesarea, south of Haifa, but he was not home.
The incident comes about a month after a drone targeted the same residence, which Hezbollah claimed.
Israel’s military chief said Saturday Hezbollah had already “paid a big price,” but Israel will keep fighting until tens of thousands of its residents displaced from the north can return safely.
Beirut’s southern suburbs were veiled in smoke Sunday, following repeated Israeli bombardment a day earlier of the Hezbollah stronghold.
The Israeli military said aircraft had targeted “a weapons storage facility” and a Hezbollah “command center.”
Hezbollah fired around 80 projectiles at Israel on Saturday, the military said.
Lebanon rescuers mourned
Israeli forces also shelled the area along the Litani River, which flows across southern Lebanon, NNA said Sunday.
The agency earlier reported strikes on the southern city of Tyre, including in a neighborhood near UNESCO-listed ancient ruins. Israel’s military late Saturday said it had hit Hezbollah facilities in the Tyre area.
In Lebanon’s east, the health ministry said an Israeli strike in the Bekaa Valley killed six people including three children.
Hezbollah said it fired a guided missile that set an Israeli tank ablaze in the southwest Lebanon village of Shamaa, about five kilometers from the border.
Late Saturday, Hezbollah said it had targeted five military bases including the Stella Maris naval base.
In eastern Lebanon, funerals were held for 14 civil defense staff killed in an Israeli strike on Thursday.
“They weren’t involved with any (armed) party... they were just waiting to answer calls for help,” said Ali Al-Zein, a relative of one of the dead.
Lebanese authorities say more than 3,452 people have been killed since October last year, with most casualties recorded since September.
Israel announced the death of a soldier in southern Lebanon, bringing to 48 the number killed fighting Hezbollah.
Imminent famine
In Hamas-run Gaza, the Israeli military said it had continued operations in the northern areas of Jabalia and Beit Lahia, the targets of an intense offensive since early October.
Israel said its renewed operations were aimed at stopping Hamas from regrouping.
A UN-backed assessment on November 9 warned famine was imminent in northern Gaza, amid the increased hostilities and a near-halt in food aid.
Israel has pushed back against a 172-page Human Rights Watch report this week that said its mass displacement of Gazans amounts to a “crime against humanity,” as well as findings from a UN Special Committee pointing to warfare practices “consistent with the characteristics of genocide.”
A foreign ministry spokesman dismissed the HRW report as “completely false,” while the United States — Israel’s main military supplier — said accusations of genocide “are certainly unfounded.”
The Gaza health ministry on Saturday said the overall death toll in more than 13 months of war had reached 43,799.
The majority of the dead are civilians, according to ministry figures, which the United Nations considers reliable.
Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack that sparked the war resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Demonstrators in Tel Aviv on Saturday reiterated demands that the government reach a deal to free dozens of hostages still held in Gaza.
The protest came a week after mediator Qatar suspended its role until Hamas and Israel show “seriousness” in truce and hostage-release talks.
Israeli military reports soldier killed in battle north of Gaza on Saturday
CAIRO: The Israeli military said on Sunday that a fighter in the Nachshon Regiment (90), Kfir Brigade, was killed in battle north of Gaza on Saturday.
Israel pummels south Beirut as Hezbollah targets Haifa area
- Israel’s military reported “heavy rocket barrage” on Haifa, saying synagogue was hit
- Lebanese authorities say over 3,452 people have been killed since October last year
BEIRUT: Israel launched a wave of air strikes on Hezbollah bastions in Beirut and south Lebanon on Saturday, as the Iran-backed militants said they fired on several Israeli military bases around the coastal city of Haifa.
Israel’s military reported a “heavy rocket barrage” on Haifa and said a synagogue was hit, injuring two civilians.
Since September 23, Israel has escalated its bombing of targets in Lebanon, later sending in ground troops after almost a year of limited, cross-border exchanges of fire begun by Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in support of Hamas in Gaza.
In the Palestinian territory, where Hamas’s attack on Israel triggered the war, the civil defense agency reported 24 people killed in strikes on Saturday.
Security services in Israel said two flares landed near Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence in the town of Caesarea, south of Haifa, but he was not home.
The incident comes about a month after a drone targeted the same residence, which Hezbollah claimed.
Israel’s military chief, in comments issued Saturday, said Hezbollah has already “paid a big price” but Israel will keep fighting until tens of thousands of its residents displaced from the north can return safely.
“We will continue to fight, to implement plans, to go further, conduct deep strikes, and hit Hezbollah very hard,” Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said on a visit earlier in the week to the Kfar Kila area of south Lebanon.
AFPTV footage showed fresh strikes Saturday on the southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold, after Israel’s military called on residents to evacuate.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported a series of strikes.
The Israeli military said aircraft had targeted “a weapons storage facility” and a Hezbollah “command center.”
The NNA also reported strikes on the southern city of Tyre, including in a neighborhood near UNESCO-listed ancient ruins. Israel’s military late Saturday said it had hit Hezbollah facilities in the Tyre area.
In Lebanon’s east, the health ministry said an Israeli strike in the Bekaa Valley killed six people including three children.
Hezbollah said it fired a guided missile which set an Israeli tank ablaze in the southwest Lebanon village of Shamaa, about five kilometers (three miles) from the border.
Late Saturday, after Israel reported the rocket barrage on Haifa, Hezbollah said it had targeted five military bases, including the Stella Maris naval base which it said it fired on earlier in the day.
In eastern Lebanon, funerals were held for 14 civil defense staff killed in an Israeli strike on Thursday.
“They weren’t involved with any (armed) party... they were just waiting to answer calls for help,” said Ali Al-Zein, a relative of one of the dead.
Lebanese authorities say more than 3,452 people have been killed since October last year, with most casualties recorded since September.
Israel announced the death of a soldier in southern Lebanon, bringing to 48 the number killed in fighting with Hezbollah.
In Hamas-run Gaza, the Israeli military said it continued operations in the northern areas of Jabalia and Beit Lahia, the targets of an intense offensive since early October.
Israel said its renewed operations aimed to stop Hamas from regrouping.
A UN-backed assessment on November 9 warned famine was imminent in northern Gaza, amid the increased hostilities and a near-halt in food aid.
Israel has pushed back against a 172-page Human Rights Watch report this week that said its displacement of Gazans amounts to a “crime against humanity,” as well as findings from a UN Special Committee that pointed to warfare practices that “are consistent with the characteristics of genocide.”
A foreign ministry spokesman dismissed the HRW report as “completely false,” while the United States — Israel’s main military supplier — said accusations of genocide “are certainly unfounded.”
The Gaza health ministry on Saturday said the overall death toll in more than 13 months of war has reached 43,799.
The majority of the dead are civilians, according to ministry figures which the United Nations considers reliable.
In Rafah, southern Gaza, Jamil Al-Masry told AFP a house was hit, causing “a massive explosion.”
“We went to the house, only to find it in ruins, with fire raging and smoke and dust everywhere.”
Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack that sparked the war resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Demonstrators in Tel Aviv on Saturday reiterated demands that the government reach a deal to free dozens of hostages still held in Gaza.
The protest came a week after mediator Qatar suspended its role until Hamas and Israel show “seriousness” in truce and hostage-release talks.
In a rare claim of responsibility for a strike on Syria, Israel said it targeted the Islamic Jihad group on Thursday.
A statement from the group on Saturday confirmed that “prominent leader” Abdel Aziz Minawi and external relations chief Rasmi Yusuf Abu Issa were killed in the air raid on Qudsaya, in the Damascus area.
Islamic Jihad still holds several Israeli hostages taken during the October 7 attack.
Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad are all backed by Israel’s arch-enemy Iran, which said Friday it supported a swift end to the nearly two-month war in Lebanon.
With diplomacy aimed at ending the Gaza war stalled, a top government official in Beirut said on Friday that US ambassador Lisa Johnson had presented a 13-point proposal to halt the Israel-Hezbollah conflict.
It includes a 60-day truce, during which Lebanon will deploy troops to the border. The official added that Israel has yet to respond to the plan.
