Condolences Pour in from Across the Globe over Iraq Fire Tragedy

An exterior view of the hall where a fire broke out during a wedding ceremony in Al-Hamdaniya town, northern Iraq, 27 September 2023. (EPA)
An exterior view of the hall where a fire broke out during a wedding ceremony in Al-Hamdaniya town, northern Iraq, 27 September 2023. (EPA)
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Condolences Pour in from Across the Globe over Iraq Fire Tragedy

An exterior view of the hall where a fire broke out during a wedding ceremony in Al-Hamdaniya town, northern Iraq, 27 September 2023. (EPA)
An exterior view of the hall where a fire broke out during a wedding ceremony in Al-Hamdaniya town, northern Iraq, 27 September 2023. (EPA)

The Saudi Foreign Ministry expressed on Wednesday its sincerest condolences to the Iraqi government and people, as well as the relatives of the victims, over the Nineveh fire that killed over 100 people.

The ministry underscored the Kingdom’s solidarity with Iraq and its people, wishing the injured a speedy recovery.

A fire ripped through a packed wedding hall in northern Iraq late on Tuesday, killing more than 100 people.

Fire fighters searched the charred remains of the building in Qaraqosh, also known as Al-Hamdaniya, through Wednesday morning and bereaved relatives gathered outside a morgue in the nearby city of Mosul.

The US Ambassador to Iraq Alina Romanowski offered her condolences.

“We stand by the Iraqis in their grief for the victims and the injured at Al-Hamdaniya wedding,” Romanowski said in a post on the X platform.

The UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) said it was “shocked and pained by the horrible loss of life and injuries in the fire in Ninenveh’s Al-Hamdaniya. An immense tragedy.”

“Our sincere condolences to the families who lost loved ones. We wish the injured a speedy recovery,” it added on the X platform.

The European Union mission in Iraq offered its condolences, saying its hearts were with the families of the victims.

It expressed its solidarity with Iraq and wished the injured a speedy recovery.

The spokesman for the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, Ahmed Abou Zeid, said Cairo stands by Iraq, its government and people in wake of the tragedy.

Lebanese parliament Speaker Nabih Berri sent a cable to Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and his counterpart Mohammed al-Halbousi to offer his condolences.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and spokesman of the Iranian Foreign Ministry Nasser Kanaani all offered their condolences.

Kanaani added that Iran was ready to treat the wounded.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Iraq stressed the need for the concerned authorities to dedicate all efforts and means to help the victims and their relatives.

It urged the need to open a probe into the accident and bring those responsible to justice.

It also called for ensuring that all public and private buildings meet safety standards to avoid such tragedies from taking place again in the future.



Israeli Strike Kills Senior Hamas Figure in South Lebanon

Civil defense members hose down a car after an Israeli airstrike targeted a car on the edge of Lebanon's port city of Sidon, two security sources told Reuters, Lebanon August 9, 2024. (Reuters)
Civil defense members hose down a car after an Israeli airstrike targeted a car on the edge of Lebanon's port city of Sidon, two security sources told Reuters, Lebanon August 9, 2024. (Reuters)
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Israeli Strike Kills Senior Hamas Figure in South Lebanon

Civil defense members hose down a car after an Israeli airstrike targeted a car on the edge of Lebanon's port city of Sidon, two security sources told Reuters, Lebanon August 9, 2024. (Reuters)
Civil defense members hose down a car after an Israeli airstrike targeted a car on the edge of Lebanon's port city of Sidon, two security sources told Reuters, Lebanon August 9, 2024. (Reuters)

An Israeli airstrike on a car deep inside Lebanon killed a senior figure from Palestinian armed group Hamas on Friday evening, a Hamas source and two other security sources told Reuters.

The strike, on the southern edges of the Lebanese port city of Sidon some 60 kilometers (nearly 40 miles) from the frontier, killed Samer al-Hajj, a Hamas security official who works in the nearby refugee camp for Palestinians, Ain al-Hilweh. His bodyguard was critically wounded, the three sources said.

The Israeli military has been carrying out strikes against members of Hamas, allied Lebanese armed group Hezbollah and other factions in Lebanon over the last 10 months, in parallel with the Gaza war.

Those armed groups have launched rockets, drones and artillery attacks across the border into northern Israel.

While most of the hostilities have been limited to the strip of border between Israel and Lebanon, Israeli strikes targeting senior figures in Hezbollah, Hamas and other groups have taken place further north.

An Israeli strike on the outskirts of Beirut in January killed Hamas's deputy chief Saleh Arouri. Another Israeli strike on the same area last week killed Hezbollah's top military commander Fuad Shukr.

Hours after Shukr was killed, Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran. Iran and its allies in the region, including Hezbollah and Hamas, have blamed Israel and vowed retaliation.