Iraq Sees Risk of Regional Conflict if Gaza War Resumes 

Mourners carry the coffins of Iraq's Kataeb Hezbollah fighters who were killed by US airstrike in Jurf al-Sakhar, south of Baghdad during a funeral in Baghdad, Iraq November 22, 2023. (Reuters)
Mourners carry the coffins of Iraq's Kataeb Hezbollah fighters who were killed by US airstrike in Jurf al-Sakhar, south of Baghdad during a funeral in Baghdad, Iraq November 22, 2023. (Reuters)
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Iraq Sees Risk of Regional Conflict if Gaza War Resumes 

Mourners carry the coffins of Iraq's Kataeb Hezbollah fighters who were killed by US airstrike in Jurf al-Sakhar, south of Baghdad during a funeral in Baghdad, Iraq November 22, 2023. (Reuters)
Mourners carry the coffins of Iraq's Kataeb Hezbollah fighters who were killed by US airstrike in Jurf al-Sakhar, south of Baghdad during a funeral in Baghdad, Iraq November 22, 2023. (Reuters)

Iraq sees a risk of regional conflict if the current truce in Gaza is not turned into a permanent ceasefire, the Iraqi prime minister's foreign affairs adviser said, as mediators sought an extension of the temporary four-day Israel-Hamas truce.

Israel's devastating bombardment of Gaza in response to Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel has drawn in Iran-aligned armed groups in the region including Lebanese Hezbollah and several Iraqi factions, who have mounted near-daily attacks on Israeli and US forces.

But there have been no reports of attacks on US forces in Iraq or Syria since Israel and Hamas began a four-day truce last week that was set to expire on Monday, compared to over 70 in the weeks prior.

Some of the main Iraqi armed factions behind the recent attacks, including Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada and Kataeb Hezbollah, have announced they will abide by the Gaza ceasefire but indicated they would resume attacks if it ends.

They have also said in statements that they still seek the eventual ouster of US forces in Iraq. There are around 2,500 US troops on a mission the US says is to advise and assist Iraqi forces battling remnants of ISIS.

"The entire region is on the verge of a devastating conflict that may include everyone, and the extent of its expansion or how to control and stop it is not known," said Farhad Alaadin, foreign affairs adviser to Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.

"For this reason, we see any ceasefire in the conflict as beneficial and important at this stage for the people of Palestine and Gaza first and for all countries in the region, including Iraq," he told Reuters.

European Union Ambassador to Iraq Thomas Seiler said in a social media post that he hopes Iraqi factions "continue with their cessation of attacks."

Two sets of US strikes in Iraq last week killed 10 members of Kataeb Hezbollah, according to posts by the group on social media, a move condemned by the Iraqi government as escalatory and a violation of sovereignty.

Kataeb Hezbollah is part of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), a group of mostly Shiite armed groups formed to fight ISIS in 2014 that became an official security agency under the command of the prime minister.

While technically part of the state, some of the PMF's most powerful Iran-backed factions often act outside the chain of command. Sudani has said attacks by armed groups on foreign forces in Iraq were unlawful and went against the country's national interest.



Stranded Aid Trucks in Egypt Deepen Gaza's Humanitarian Crisis

A drone picture of part of a line of trucks waiting on an Egyptian road along the border with Israel, near the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip May 2, 2024. REUTERS/Oren Alon
A drone picture of part of a line of trucks waiting on an Egyptian road along the border with Israel, near the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip May 2, 2024. REUTERS/Oren Alon
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Stranded Aid Trucks in Egypt Deepen Gaza's Humanitarian Crisis

A drone picture of part of a line of trucks waiting on an Egyptian road along the border with Israel, near the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip May 2, 2024. REUTERS/Oren Alon
A drone picture of part of a line of trucks waiting on an Egyptian road along the border with Israel, near the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip May 2, 2024. REUTERS/Oren Alon

Hundreds of trucks loaded with food and water have been stranded on a scorching Egyptian road, some for nearly two months, awaiting permission to deliver the much needed humanitarian supplies to war-torn Gaza.
About 50 kilometers from the Gaza border, trucks carrying flour, water and other aid line a dusty road in both directions. The drivers say they have been waiting for several weeks in the searing Egyptian summer heat, Reuters said.
The standstill is exacerbating Gaza's dire humanitarian crisis after nine months of war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. Aid groups warn there is a high risk of famine across the besieged coastal territory.
The truck drivers, parked on the outskirts of the Egyptian city of al-Arish in the Sinai Peninsula, say they have been unable to deliver humanitarian supplies ever since Israel expanded its offensive on the Gaza-Egypt border in May.
Some food has had to be discarded, they said.
"I swear to God, before this load, we came here and stood for more than 50 days and eventually the load was returned because it had expired," said truck driver Elsayed el-Nabawi.
"We had to turn around and return it. We loaded another batch, and here we are standing again and only God knows if this load will make it before it expires or what will happen to it."
The Israeli military started its assault on the southern Gazan city of Rafah in May.
"We've been stranded here for over a month waiting to deliver this load. We've been waiting for our turn but nothing yet" said Ahmed Kamel, another of the truck drivers, who sit by their vehicles drinking tea and smoking cigarettes.
"We don't know our fate - when we will be able to enter? Today? Tomorrow? The day after tomorrow? Only God knows. Will the stuff we're carrying hold up or most of it will go bad?"
Aid and commercial supplies have still entered Gaza through other land border crossings, through air drops and by sea, but aid groups and Western diplomats say the supplies are far below needs. The drivers say they are waiting for Israeli permission.
'DIFFICULTIES'
Distribution of aid in Gaza was difficult even before Israel's assault on Rafah. Israel has enforced restrictions on goods entering the enclave, saying it wants to prevent them reaching Hamas. Some aid convoys have also been hit in Israeli military strikes, resulting in deaths of aid workers.
Palestinian gangs inside Gaza have also reportedly sought to steal aid and commercial supplies entering the territory of some 2.3 million Palestinians. Desperate Palestinians have also overwhelmed trucks, taking much needed humanitarian supplies.
A senior official at the Israeli foreign ministry said the backlog of aid in Egypt was due to humanitarian aid that has piled up on the Gazan side of the Kerem Shalom crossing point, creating a backlog of around 1,200 truckloads worth of aid.
The official said that while Israel continued to facilitate the entry of supplies into Gaza, the distribution network inside Gaza run by international groups had been "disrupted" in recent months, blaming local Palestinian criminal gangs and Hamas.
The Israeli military, which oversees coordination of aid in Gaza, has said that it is letting in enough food in from Israel and Egypt for the entire population. It has also acknowledged that aid agencies face "difficulties" in transporting food once it has entered through crossing points, including from Israel.