BAGHDAD: As war rages in Gaza and threatens to spread to Lebanon, Iraqi militant groups warn they are ready to enter the fray against Israel and the United States.
A field commander of the so-called Islamic Resistance in Iraq said there would be “escalation for escalation” in the event of a full-scale war in Lebanon.
The commander, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said the Iran-backed group had already sent “experts and advisers” to Lebanon.
Iraqi political scientist Ali Al-Baidar agreed that a major war between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, if it happens, “will not be limited to Lebanese territory.”
“In Iraq and in the region armed groups will enter into the confrontation,” he said, adding that they would want to show “their abilities, but also their loyalty” to their allies.
The bloodiest-ever Gaza war broke out when Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7.
The conflict quickly widened to involve several pro-Iran armed groups in the so-called “Axis of Resistance” expressing solidarity with the Palestinians and demanding an end of the Israeli offensive in Gaza.
The alliance includes Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who have attacked Israel and Israeli-linked shipping, but also armed groups in Syria and Iraq.
In recent weeks, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq has claimed responsibility for drone strikes against targets in Israel, labelling many of them “joint operations” with the Houthis.
The Israeli army, without naming an attacker, has confirmed several aerial attacks from the east since April, but has said they were all intercepted before entering its airspace.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq has previously shown its willingness to launch attacks.
Last winter, it carried out more than 175 rocket and drone strikes against US troops based in Iraq and Syria as part of an international anti-jihadist coalition.
On Sunday, the so-called Coordination of the Iraqi Resistance issued further threats against Israel and Israel’s top ally the United States.
Citing the threat of “total war against Lebanon,” it warned that “if the Zionists (Israelis) carry out their threats, the pace and scale of operations targeting them will intensify.”
It added that “the interests of the American enemy” in Iraq and around the region would also be “legitimate targets.”
The group includes the Hezbollah Brigades, Al-Nujaba and the Sayyed Al-Shuhada Brigades, all of whom are under US sanctions.
Al-Baidar noted the past experience of “operations and attacks against American forces and diplomatic missions” in Iraq.
“It is possible these attacks will repeat themselves with greater intensity,” he said.
In late January, a drone strike launched by Iraqi armed groups killed three US soldiers in a base just across the border in Jordan and provoked an armed response.
The US military — which has some 2,500 troops deployed in Iraq and 900 in Syria with the international coalition — responded with deadly strikes against pro-Iran factions and has vowed to retaliate if attacked again.
“We will not hesitate to take all appropriate actions to protect our personnel,” a State Department spokesperson told AFP, requesting anonymity.
“Iran-aligned militia groups in Iraq undermine Iraq’s sovereignty by conducting unauthorized attacks against third countries, potentially making Iraq a party to a larger regional conflict.”
Many of the Iraqi factions have fighters who are veterans of Iraq’s recent wars or have been deployed in the civil war in Syria, which is separated from Israel by the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Militants are based south of the capital Damascus, and “elite troops” are stationed in the Golan region near the Israeli-occupied sector, says the group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Iraq specialist Tamer Badawi said the importance of Iraqi groups’ “coordinated attacks” carried out with the Houthis “lies in their symbolism.”
He said they aim to highlight “the idea that groups separated by significant geographic distances are capable of synchronizing their armed action against a common adversary.”
Badawi, a doctoral student at Kent University, said any Iraqi intervention in Lebanon — whether by sending “fighters en masse” or just “advisers” — would “depend on Hezbollah’s warfare needs.”
The scale of mobilization would respond to the need of “projecting the optics of transnational solidarity,” Badawi said.
“Symbolism matters for those groups across the region and is part of their branding as members of one league, as much as actual involvement in armed action.”
Many analysts suggest Israel, Hezbollah and Iran do not want a costly full-scale war in Lebanon but caution about the potential for miscalculations that could escalate tensions dangerously.
Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah recently tempered the zeal of his allies in Iraq, Syria and Yemen on the subject of sending their fighters to Lebanon.
Regarding “human resources,” Nasrallah said, “the resistance in Lebanon has numbers exceeding its needs and the imperatives of the front, even in the worst fighting conditions.”
Iraqi armed groups say ready to fight Israel if Lebanon war breaks out
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Iraqi armed groups say ready to fight Israel if Lebanon war breaks out
- The bloodiest-ever Gaza war broke out when Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7
- The conflict quickly widened to involve several pro-Iran armed groups in the so-called “Axis of Resistance”
Algeria and Italy sign $455 million agriculture deal
- The scheme covers 36,000 hectares in Algeria’s Timimoune province
- It will produce wheat, lentils and beans, among other foods, in the hopes of increasing Algerian non-hydrocarbon exports
ALGIERS: Algeria and Italy on Saturday signed a 420-million-euro deal ($455 million) for an agricultural project in the North African country, the Algerian agriculture ministry said in a statement.
The scheme, which Italian officials called their country’s largest agricultural investment in the southern Mediterranean, covers 36,000 hectares (89,000 acres) in Algeria’s Timimoune province.
It will produce wheat, lentils and beans, among other foods, in the hopes of increasing Algerian non-hydrocarbon exports, officials said during the agreement ceremony.
It is also expected to create 6,700 jobs, they said.
The deal came months after Algeria signed a $3.5 billion agreement with Qatar’s largest dairy producer Baladna to establish a vast cow-breeding facility for the production of powdered milk.
Saturday’s agreement was part of Algeria’s strategy to expand production areas in its desert south to 500,000 hectares, Algerian officials said.
The project is also in line with the goals of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s “Mattei Plan,” which is aimed in part at reducing irregular migration from Africa via investment in the continent.
The plan is named after Enrico Mattei, founder of the Italian energy company Eni. In the 1950s, he advocated for cooperation with African countries to develop their natural resources.
Meloni had said the “non-predatory” cooperation program between Europe and Africa was initially valued at 5.5 billion euros, some of which would be loans, with investments focused on energy, agriculture, water, health and education in African countries.
Other deals as part of the program have been signed between Italy and other African countries, including Tunisia and Libya.
Hamas accepts US proposal on talks over Israeli hostages 16 days after first phase
- The group has dropped demand that Israel first commit to a permanent ceasefire before signing the agreement
- The proposal could lead to a framework agreement if embraced by Israel and would end the nine-month-old war
DUBAI/CAIRO: Hamas has accepted a US proposal to begin talks on releasing Israeli hostages, including soldiers and men, 16 days after the first phase of an agreement aimed at ending the Gaza war, a senior Hamas source told Reuters on Saturday.
The militant group has dropped a demand that Israel first commit to a permanent ceasefire before signing the agreement, and would allow negotiations to achieve that throughout the six-week first phase, the source told Reuters on condition of anonymity because the talks are private.
A Palestinian official close to the internationally mediated peace efforts had said the proposal could lead to a framework agreement if embraced by Israel and would end the nine-month-old war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
A source in Israel’s negotiating team, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was now a real chance of achieving agreement. That was in sharp contrast to past instances in the nine-month-old war in Gaza, when Israel said conditions attached by Hamas were unacceptable.
A spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath. On Friday his office said talks would continue next week and emphasized that gaps between the sides still remained.
The conflict has claimed the lives of more than 38,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials, since Hamas attacked southern Israeli cities on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking some 250 hostages, according to official Israeli figures.
The new proposal ensures that mediators would guarantee a temporary ceasefire, aid delivery and the withdrawal of Israeli troops as long as indirect talks continue to implement the second phase of the agreement, the Hamas source said.
Efforts to secure a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza have intensified over the past few days with active shuttle diplomacy among Washington, Israel and Qatar, which is leading mediation efforts from Doha, where the exiled Hamas leadership is based.
A regional source said the US administration was trying hard to secure a deal before the presidential election in November.
Netanyahu said on Friday that the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency had returned from an initial meeting with mediators in Qatar and that negotiations would continue next week.
Hamas accepts US proposal on talks over Israeli hostages 16 days after first phase, Hamas source says
- Hamas has dropped a demand that Israel first commit to a permanent ceasefire before signing the agreement
CAIRO: Hamas has accepted a US proposal to begin talks on releasing Israeli hostages, including soldiers and men, 16 days after the first phase of an agreement aimed at ending the Gaza war, a senior Hamas source told Reuters on Saturday.
The militant Islamist group has dropped a demand that Israel first commit to a permanent ceasefire before signing the agreement, and would allow negotiations to achieve that throughout the six-week first phase, the source told Reuters on condition of anonymity because the talks are private.
A Palestinian official close to the internationally mediated peace efforts had said the proposal could lead to a framework agreement if embraced by Israel and would end the nine-month-old war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
A source in Israel’s negotiating team, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Friday there was now a real chance of achieving agreement. That was in sharp contrast to past instances in the nine-month-old war in Gaza, when Israel said conditions attached by Hamas were unacceptable.
A spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath. On Friday his office said talks would continue next week and emphasized that gaps between the sides still remained.
The conflict has claimed the lives of more than 38,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials, since Hamas attacked southern Israeli cities on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking some 250 hostages, according to official Israeli figures.
The new proposal ensures that mediators would guarantee a temporary ceasefire, aid delivery and the withdrawal of Israeli troops as long as indirect talks continue to implement the second phase of the agreement, the Hamas source said.
Efforts to secure a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza have intensified over the past few days with active shuttle diplomacy among Washington, Israel and Qatar, which is leading mediation efforts from Doha, where the exiled Hamas leadership is based.
A regional source said the US administration was trying hard to secure a deal before the presidential election in November.
Netanyahu said on Friday that the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency had returned from an initial meeting with mediators in Qatar and that negotiations would continue next week.
Fighting rages
Meanwhile, Israeli forces stepped up military strikes across the enclave, killing at least 29 Palestinians in the past 24 hours, and wounding 100 others, the territory’s health officials said.
Among those killed in separate air strikes were five local journalists, raising the death toll of journalists since Oct 7 to 158, according to the Hamas-led Gaza government media office.
Israeli forces, which have deepened their incursions into Rafah, near the border with Egypt, killed four Palestinian policemen and wounded eight others, in an air strike on their vehicle on Saturday, health officials said.
A statement issued by the Hamas-run interior ministry said the four included Fares Abdel-Al, the head of the police force in western Rafah neighborhood of Tel Al-Sultan.
The Israeli military said forces continued “intelligence-base operations” in Rafah, destroyed several underground structures, seized weapons and equipment, and killed several Palestinian gunmen.
Israel said its operations in Rafah aimed to eradicate the last Hamas armed wing battalions.
In the central Al-Nuseirat camp, one of the enclave’s eight historic refugee camps, an Israeli air strike on a house killed 10 Palestinians, medics said.
The Israeli military said it eliminated a Hamas rocket cell that operated from inside a humanitarian-designated area. It said it carried out a precise strike after taking measures to ensure civilians were unharmed. Hamas denies Israeli accusations it uses civilian properties for military purposes.
The armed wings of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad said fighters attacked Israeli forces in several areas of the enclave by anti-tank rockets and mortar bombs.
Gaza’s biggest soccer stadium is now a shelter for thousands of displaced Palestinians
- The makeshift tents hug the shade below the stadium’s seating, with clothes hung out to dry across dusty, dried-up soccer field
- Hundreds of thousands of people have remained in northern Gaza, even as Israeli troops have surrounded and largely isolated it
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip: Thousands of displaced Palestinians in northern Gaza have sought refuge in what was once the territory’s biggest soccer arena, where families scrape by with little food or water as they try to keep one step ahead of Israel’s latest offensive.
Their makeshift tents hug the shade below the stadium’s seating, with clothes hung out to dry across the dusty, dried-up soccer field. Under the covered benches where players used to sit on the sidelines, Um Bashar bathes a toddler standing in a plastic tub. Lathering soap through the boy’s hair, he wiggles and shivers as she pours the chilly water over his head, and he grips the plastic seats for balance.
They’ve been displaced multiple times, she said, most recently from Israel’s renewed operations against Hamas in the Shijaiyah neighborhood of Gaza City.
“We woke up and found tanks in front of the door,” she says. “We didn’t take anything with us, not a mattress, not a pillow, not any clothes, not a thing. Not even food.”
She fled with about 70 others to Yarmouk Sports Stadium — a little under 2 miles (3 kilometers) northwest of Shijaiyah, which heavily bombed and largely emptied early in the war. Many of the people who ended up in the stadium say they have nothing to return to.
“We left our homes,” said one man, Hazem Abu Thoraya, “and all of our homes were bombed and burned, and all those around us were as well.”
Hundreds of thousands of people have remained in northern Gaza, even as Israeli troops have surrounded and largely isolated it. However, aid flows there have improved recently, and the UN said earlier this week that it is now able to meet people’s basic needs in the north. Israel says it allows aid to enter Gaza and blames the UN for not doing enough to move it.
Still, residents say the deprivation and insecurity are taking an ever-growing toll.
“There is no safe place. Safety is with God,” said a displaced woman, Um Ahmad. “Fear is now felt not only among the children, but also among the adults. ... We don’t even feel safe walking in the street.”
Reformist Pezeshkian wins Iran’s presidential runoff election, beating hard-liner Jalili
- A vote count offered by authorities put Pezeshkian as the winner with 16.3 million votes to Jalili’s 13.5 million in Friday’s election
- Pezeshkian, a heart surgeon and longtime lawmaker, has promised to reach out to the West in a bid to ease economic sanctions
DUBAI: Reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian won Iran’s runoff presidential election Saturday, beating hard-liner Saeed Jalili by promising to reach out to the West and ease enforcement on the country’s mandatory headscarf law after years of sanctions and protests squeezing the Islamic Republic.
Pezeshkian promised no radical changes to Iran’s Shiite theocracy in his campaign and long has held Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as the final arbiter of all matters of state in the country. But even Pezeshkian’s modest aims will be challenged by an Iranian government still largely held by hard-liners, the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, and Western fears over Tehran enriching uranium to near-weapons-grade levels.
A vote count offered by authorities put Pezeshkian as the winner with 16.3 million votes to Jalili’s 13.5 million in Friday’s election.
Supporters of Pezeshkian, a heart surgeon and longtime lawmaker, entered the streets of Tehran and other cities before dawn to celebrate as his lead grew over Jalili, a hard-line former nuclear negotiator.
But Pezeshkian’s win still sees Iran at a delicate moment, with tensions high in the Mideast over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, Iran’s advancing nuclear program, and a looming US election that could put any chance of a detente between Tehran and Washington at risk.
The first round of voting June 28 saw the lowest turnout in the history of the Islamic Republic since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Iranian officials have long pointed to turnout as a sign of support for the country’s Shiite theocracy, which has been under strain after years of sanctions crushing Iran’s economy, mass demonstrations and intense crackdowns on all dissent.
Government officials up to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei predicted a higher participation rate as voting got underway, with state television airing images of modest lines at some polling centers across the country.
However, online videos purported to show some polls empty while a survey of several dozen sites in the capital, Tehran, saw light traffic amid a heavy security presence on the streets.
The election came amid heightened regional tensions. In April, Iran launched its first-ever direct attack on Israel over the war in Gaza, while militia groups that Tehran arms in the region — such as the Lebanese Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthis — are engaged in the fighting and have escalated their attacks.
Iran is also enriching uranium at near weapons-grade levels and maintains a stockpile large enough to build several nuclear weapons, should it choose to do so. And while Khamenei remains the final decision-maker on matters of state, whichever man ends up winning the presidency could bend the country’s foreign policy toward either confrontation or collaboration with the West.
The campaign also repeatedly touched on what would happen if former President Donald Trump, who unilaterally withdrew America from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, won the November election. Iran has held indirect talks with President Joe Biden’s administration, though there’s been no clear movement back toward constraining Tehran’s nuclear program for the lifting of economic sanctions.
More than 61 million Iranians over the age of 18 were eligible to vote, with about 18 million of them between 18 and 30. Voting was to end at 6 p.m. but was extended until midnight to boost participation.
The late President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a May helicopter crash, was seen as a protégé of Khamenei and a potential successor as supreme leader.
Still, many knew him for his involvement in the mass executions that Iran conducted in 1988, and for his role in the bloody crackdowns on dissent that followed protests over the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman detained by police over allegedly improperly wearing the mandatory headscarf, or hijab.
