Iraq Collects Humanitarian Donations for Gaza

Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani holds a meeting with the Coordination Framework forces on Saturday evening (Iraqi government)
Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani holds a meeting with the Coordination Framework forces on Saturday evening (Iraqi government)
TT

Iraq Collects Humanitarian Donations for Gaza

Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani holds a meeting with the Coordination Framework forces on Saturday evening (Iraqi government)
Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani holds a meeting with the Coordination Framework forces on Saturday evening (Iraqi government)

Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani held a meeting with the Shiite Coordination Framework coalition over the developments in Gaza after which he gave directives that donations be collected and dispatched to the besieged Gazans in occupied Palestine.

The attendees condemned the ongoing Zionist attack in the occupied territories, the direct targeting of civilians, and the brutal siege implemented by the occupation authorities on the Gaza Strip, which aggravated the humanitarian conditions of the Palestinians.

They also called on the international community to assume its responsibilities and work to stop the violations committed against the Palestinians.

The attendees then voiced appreciation of Iraq's government positions, the positions of the people and parliament, and the stance of the supreme religious authority in Najaf. They called for the continuation of popular and national demonstrations in support of the Palestinian cause.

They also expressed their thanks to the Iraqi government for its courageous stance in defending the Palestinian people, stressing the importance of continuing diplomatic efforts with countries of the world in order to protect the Palestinian people.

Meanwhile, the spokesman for the Commander-in-Chief of the Iraqi Armed Forces, Major General Yahia Rasool, said the army received direct donations and humanitarian aid for the Palestinian people. “On Sunday, humanitarian aid will be delivered all day to the Palestinian people,” he noted.

On Saturday evening, the Iraqi Parliament, headed by Speaker Muhammed al-Halbousi, held a session to discuss the siege and brutal bombing of the Gaza Strip and the deteriorating humanitarian conditions in Palestine.

“The heads of the parliamentary blocs expressed their firm positions towards the Palestinian issue, voicing support and solidarity with the Palestinian people, and rejecting the brutal crimes committed by the usurping Zionist entity, including genocidal massacres against the Palestinian people in Gaza and the unjust siege it imposes on its residents,” according to a statement by the Media Office of the Parliament, received by the Iraqi News Agency, INA.

The MPs condemned “the brutal practices and crimes committed by the Zionist occupation forces against the Palestinian people,” renewing the call for the Arab League to hold an emergency session to condemn the aggression against Gaza and open ways to deliver humanitarian, medical and food aid to the Gaza Strip.

Also, they called on the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union to adopt a unified and serious position to call on the international community to lift the injustice against the Palestinian people and not use the war machine to exterminate them. They expressed their categorical rejection of the Zionist entity’s policy of forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza.

Meanwhile, several political and parliamentary forces called on Iraqi authorities to reconsider the country’s relationship with Washington, due to the US full support of Israel.

Iraqi political and parliamentary forces demanded that the Iraqi political leadership, including the government and parliament, boycott US Ambassador in Baghdad, Alina Romansky, who holds several weekly meetings with the majority of Iraqi political and party leaders, including the leaders of the Shiite Coordination Framework.

In this regard, the Nabni coalition called for an end to the forced displacements carried out by Israel against citizens in the Gaza Strip.



Israeli Strikes in Gaza Kill 9, Including 2 Children

A Palestinian boy plays among the rubble of a destroyed building following an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, 04 October 2024. (EPA)
A Palestinian boy plays among the rubble of a destroyed building following an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, 04 October 2024. (EPA)
TT

Israeli Strikes in Gaza Kill 9, Including 2 Children

A Palestinian boy plays among the rubble of a destroyed building following an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, 04 October 2024. (EPA)
A Palestinian boy plays among the rubble of a destroyed building following an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, 04 October 2024. (EPA)

Palestinian medical officials said Israeli strikes in northern and central Gaza early Saturday have killed at least nine people, including two children.

One strike hit a group of people in the northern town of Beit Hanoun, killing at least five people, including two children, according to the Health Ministry’s Ambulance and Emergency service.

Another strike hit a house in the northern part of Nuseirat refugee camp, killing at least four people, the Awda hospital said. The strike also left a number of wounded people, it said.

The Israeli military did not have any immediate comment on the strikes, but has long accused Hamas of operating from within civilian areas.

Earlier, the army warned residents in parts of central Gaza to evacuate, saying its forces will soon operate there in response to Palestinian fighters.  

The warnings cover areas along a strategic corridor in central Gaza, which was at the heart of obstacles to a ceasefire deal earlier this summer.  

The military warned Palestinians in areas of Nuseirat and Bureij refugee camps, located along the Netzarim corridor, to evacuate to the area the military designated a humanitarian zone, an area called Muwasi along Gaza’s shore.  

It’s unclear how many Palestinians are currently living in this area, parts of which were evacuated previously.  

Israeli forces have repeatedly returned to heavily destroyed areas of Gaza where they had fought earlier battles against Hamas and other fighters since the start of war one year ago.  

The vast majority of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million people has been displaced in the war, often multiple times, and hundreds of thousands are packed into squalid tent camps.  

Others have remained in their homes despite being ordered to leave, saying nowhere in the isolated coastal territory feels safe.  

At least 41,825 Palestinians have been killed and 96,910 wounded in Israel's military offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, the enclave's health authorities said on Saturday.