Iraq attempts to avoid fight as semiautonomous militias fire at Israel
Iraq is trying to avoid being drawn into the growing regional conflict as Iran-backed armed groups launch attacks on Israel from Iraqi soil.
The issue has divided parties in Iraq’s ruling coalition, all of whom are sympathetic to the Palestinian cause and view Israel as an enemy, though some differ over how involved Iraq should be in the regional confrontation.
Shia leaders discussed the risk of repercussions from attacks on Israel and possible Israeli retaliation during two meetings in October, said Ahmed Kenani, a lawmaker from the ruling alliance. Key players in the coalition view direct confrontation with Israel as counterproductive and potentially damaging to Iraq.
“Those groups who have the rockets and drones should go to Gaza and Lebanon to fight Israel rather than pushing Iraq towards destruction,” said Abul Ameer Thuaiban, an adviser to Iraq’s prime minister.
Egypt denies assisting Israel’s military after explosives reports
Egypt’s army denied it assisted Israel’s military after media reports said an Egyptian port received a shipment of high explosives bound for an Israeli defence contractor.
“The Egyptian Armed Forces categorically deny what has been circulated on social media and suspicious accounts and what is being promoted about assisting Israel in its military operations in general and in detail,” the army said in a statement.
Human rights lawyers on Wednesday filed a court appeal in Berlin seeking to block a 150-tonne shipment of military-grade explosives on board German cargo ship MV Kathrin, which they said was for Israel’s biggest defence contractor, Elbit Systems.
Earlier, Egypt’s state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV, citing a high-level source, said there was no truth to news reports that the MV Kathrin delivered military supplies for Israel to Alexandria Port.
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/egypt-denies-assisting-israels-military-operations-amid-reports-about-explosives-2024-10-31/
Hezbollah ‘are the sons of these southern towns’
Mounir Shehadeh, a former Lebanese government coordinator for the UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL, says Hezbollah is ready to implement UN Resolution 1701 for a ceasefire – provided that Israel does so.
“[But] Israel has no interest in implementing the resolution, and it has been violating it since it was signed in 2006,” Shehadeh said.
Another stumbling block to a ceasefire is many Hezbollah fighters come from the very villages Israel wants the group to vacate. Hezbollah fighters “are the sons of these southern towns”, noted Shehadeh.
“Someone who was born in these villages and grew up there – and his family is there and his interests are there – how can he be asked to leave his village and head to the north of the Litani [River]?”
