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Mediations in Iraq’s Kirkuk Seek to Defuse Tensions

Vehicles move along a road in Iraq's multi-ethnic northern city of Kirkuk (disputed between Iraqi Kurdistan and Baghdad) on September 5, 2023. (AFP)
Vehicles move along a road in Iraq's multi-ethnic northern city of Kirkuk (disputed between Iraqi Kurdistan and Baghdad) on September 5, 2023. (AFP)
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Mediations in Iraq’s Kirkuk Seek to Defuse Tensions

Vehicles move along a road in Iraq's multi-ethnic northern city of Kirkuk (disputed between Iraqi Kurdistan and Baghdad) on September 5, 2023. (AFP)
Vehicles move along a road in Iraq's multi-ethnic northern city of Kirkuk (disputed between Iraqi Kurdistan and Baghdad) on September 5, 2023. (AFP)

Military vehicles carrying soldiers and special forces, and riot police arrived in Kirkuk amid reports that a Kurdish protest was being planned in the Iraqi city.

A senior officer said the security forces have received orders from top officials to prevent any unlicensed protest.

The pro-Iran Coordination Framework and Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) have agreed for leader of the Sovereignty coalition, Khamis Khanjar, and others to play a mediator role to defuse tensions in Kirkuk, said informed sources.

Khanjar arrived in the city on Thursday to attend a meeting of the local security committee and pave the way for dialogue and an end to the protest movement that may undermine stability.

Khanjar had also received a statement from the KDP that underlines that it was not involved in any of the protests.

The mediations have so far managed to restore calm, but the roots of the problem remain.

Supporters of the KDP believe that the restored calm is a “blow to their presence in Kirkuk” as their Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) rival prepares to consolidate its power in the city given its growing rapprochement with Shiite factions.

The PUK and Shiite factions appear to be siding together against their “common enemy”, KDP leader Masoud Barzani. However, settling scores in such an ethnically diverse city such as Kirkuk would be “playing with fire”, said a local government official.

Kirkuk was supposed to be subject to article 140 of the constitution that would call for a census and referendum over its fate. However, after the Iraqi federal forces seized control of the city in 2016, the Shiite factions believe that the application of the article was no longer necessary.

As it stands, the Coordination Framework and KDP have agreed to allow Khanjar to play the role of mediator.

The Framework is not seeking a decisive solution to the situation in Kirkuk, but they want to secure calm long enough for local elections to be held, tentatively at the end of the year.

The informed sources said the political contacts between the various parties have eased the tensions, but they are unable to decisively resolve the dispute.

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49 Killed by Israeli Strikes in Gaza over 24 Hours, as Mediators Scramble to Restart Ceasefire

Palestinians inspect the damage at Al Farabi school following an Israeli airstrike, in Gaza City, northern Gaza Strip, 25 April 2025. (EPA)
Palestinians inspect the damage at Al Farabi school following an Israeli airstrike, in Gaza City, northern Gaza Strip, 25 April 2025. (EPA)
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49 Killed by Israeli Strikes in Gaza over 24 Hours, as Mediators Scramble to Restart Ceasefire

Palestinians inspect the damage at Al Farabi school following an Israeli airstrike, in Gaza City, northern Gaza Strip, 25 April 2025. (EPA)
Palestinians inspect the damage at Al Farabi school following an Israeli airstrike, in Gaza City, northern Gaza Strip, 25 April 2025. (EPA)

 

At least 49 people were killed by Israeli strikes in the last 24 hours, according to health officials, as Arab mediators scrambled to restart a ceasefire.
An airstrike in a neighborhood in western Gaza City early Saturday morning, flattened a three-story house, killing 10 people, according to a cameraman cooperating with The Associated Press. The number was confirmed by Gaza’s Health Ministry, along with three more people who were killed in the Shati refugee camp along the city's shoreline.
There was no immediate comment from Israel on the strikes.
The attacks come as Hamas said on Saturday that it sent a high-level delegation to Cairo to try and get the stalled ceasefire back on track.
Israel ended a ceasefire with Hamas last month and has vowed to continue the war until all the hostages are returned and Hamas is destroyed, or disarmed and sent into exile. It says it will hold parts of Gaza indefinitely and implement President Donald Trump’s proposal for the resettlement of the population in other countries, which has been widely rejected internationally.
Hamas has said it will only release the dozens of hostages it holds in return for Palestinian prisoners, a complete Israeli withdrawal and a lasting ceasefire, as called for in the now-defunct agreement reached in January.
Hamas said Saturday that the delegation will discuss with Egyptian officials the group's vision to end the war, which includes the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and reconstruction.
Earlier this week, other Hamas officials arrived in Cairo to discuss a proposal that would include a five-to-seven year truce and the release of all remaining hostages, officials said.
Egypt and Qatar are still developing the proposal, which would include the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the release of Palestinian prisoners, according to an Egyptian official and a Hamas official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.
Meanwhile, Israel has continued its nearly two-month blockade on Gaza even as aid groups warn that supplies are dwindling.
On Friday, the World Food Program said its food stocks in Gaza had run out, ending a main source of sustenance for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the territory. The WFP said in a statement that it delivered the last of its stocks to charity kitchens that it supports around Gaza. It said those kitchens are expected to run out of food in the coming days.
About 80% of Gaza’s population of more than 2 million relies primarily on charity kitchens for food, because other sources have shut down under Israel’s blockade, according to the UN The WFP has been supporting 47 kitchens that distribute 644,000 hot meals a day, WFP spokesperson Abeer Etefa told The Associated Press.
Israel’s offensive has killed over 51,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were fighters or civilians. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 of the Hamas group, without providing evidence.
The war began when the Hamas-led group stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251. The militants still have 59 hostages, 24 of whom are believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.