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Iraq, Türkiye Near Agreement on ‘Security Corridor’... Plus Water, Energy Deal

Türkiye's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan arrives to meet with Iraq's Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, in Baghdad, Iraq, March 14, 2024. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad
Türkiye's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan arrives to meet with Iraq's Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, in Baghdad, Iraq, March 14, 2024. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad
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Iraq, Türkiye Near Agreement on ‘Security Corridor’... Plus Water, Energy Deal

Türkiye's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan arrives to meet with Iraq's Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, in Baghdad, Iraq, March 14, 2024. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad
Türkiye's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan arrives to meet with Iraq's Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, in Baghdad, Iraq, March 14, 2024. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad

A high-ranking Turkish delegation held talks in Baghdad on Thursday to plan a major military operation in northern Iraq against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), according to Iraqi sources.

Turkish officials also discussed creating a “buffer zone” within Iraq’s borders.

Iraqi sources also revealed that political support could be provided for the operation in exchange for deals on water and energy resources.

Turkish sources suggested that the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) in Iraq might be involved in the operation.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Defense Minister Yasar Guler and intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin attended the talks with their Iraqi counterparts.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein hosted Fidan for discussions on countering terrorism.

According to a press release, they planned “political consultations.” The Iraqi embassy in Ankara stated that the Turkish delegation attended a security meeting focused on “counterterrorism cooperation.”

A Turkish Defense Ministry official mentioned discussions about “operations against the banned PKK in Iraq,” reported Reuters.

Ankara has stepped up cross-border actions against the PKK in northern Iraq, warning against further incursions.

The conflict was long fought mainly in rural areas of southeastern Türkiye but is now more focused on the mountains of northern Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, where PKK fighters are based.

Iraq has previously protested these operations as violations of its sovereignty, but Ankara argues they are necessary for border protection.

Discussions are underway for turning areas with Turkish military bases in the Iraqi Kurdistan region into a “security corridor” covering PKK-active regions, including the Qandil Mountains, Iraqi sources revealed.

Officials at the Iraqi Prime Minister’s office declined to comment on the matter.

However, a leader in the “Coordination Framework” alliance said Baghdad and Ankara share common concerns about PKK risks, fearing its activity could impede development efforts.

Last week, Türkiye’s Defense Minister mentioned plans to establish a security belt in Iraq to tackle the PKK.

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Arab World

Hezbollah Fires about 250 Rockets, Other Projectiles into Israel in Heaviest Barrage in Weeks

Members of the Israeli forces inspect a site following a rocket fired from Lebanon hit an area in Rinatya, outskirts of Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)
Members of the Israeli forces inspect a site following a rocket fired from Lebanon hit an area in Rinatya, outskirts of Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)
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Hezbollah Fires about 250 Rockets, Other Projectiles into Israel in Heaviest Barrage in Weeks

Members of the Israeli forces inspect a site following a rocket fired from Lebanon hit an area in Rinatya, outskirts of Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)
Members of the Israeli forces inspect a site following a rocket fired from Lebanon hit an area in Rinatya, outskirts of Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)

Hezbollah fired about 250 rockets and other projectiles into Israel on Sunday, wounding seven people in one of the group's heaviest barrages in months, in response to deadly Israeli strikes in Beirut while negotiators pressed on with ceasefire efforts to halt the all-out war.

Some of the rockets reached the Tel Aviv area in the heart of Israel.

Meanwhile, an Israeli strike on an army center killed a Lebanese soldier and wounded 18 others in the southwest between Tyre and Naqoura, Lebanon's military said.  

The Israeli military expressed regret, saying that the strike occurred in an area of combat against Hezbollah and that the military's operations are directed solely against the fighters.

Israeli strikes have killed over 40 Lebanese troops since the start of the war between Israel and Hezbollah, even as Lebanon's military has largely kept to the sidelines.

Lebanon's caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, condemned the latest strike as an assault on US-led ceasefire efforts, calling it a “direct, bloody message rejecting all efforts and ongoing contacts” to end the war.

Hezbollah fires rockets after strikes on Beirut  

Hezbollah began firing rockets, missiles and drones into Israel after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack out of the Gaza Strip ignited the war there. Hezbollah has portrayed the attacks as an act of solidarity with the Palestinians and Hamas. Iran supports both armed groups.

Israel launched retaliatory airstrikes at Hezbollah, and in September the low-level conflict erupted into all-out war as Israel launched waves of airstrikes across large parts of Lebanon and killed Hezbollah's top leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and several top commanders.

The Israeli military said about 250 projectiles were fired Sunday, with some intercepted.

Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service said it treated seven people, including a 60-year old man in severe condition from rocket fire on northern Israel, a 23-year-old man who was lightly wounded by a blast in the central city of Petah Tikva, near Tel Aviv, and a 70-year-old woman who suffered smoke inhalation from a car that caught fire there.  

In Haifa, a rocket hit a residential building that police said was in danger of collapsing.

The Palestine Red Crescent reported 13 injuries it said were caused by an interceptor missile that struck several homes in Tulkarem in the West Bank. It was unclear whether the injuries and damage elsewhere were caused by rockets or interceptors.

Sirens wailed again in central and northern Israel hours later.

Israeli airstrikes without warning on Saturday pounded central Beirut, killing at least 29 people and wounding 67, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry.

Smoke billowed above Beirut again Sunday with new strikes. Israel's military said it targeted Hezbollah command centers in the southern suburbs, known as Dahiyeh, where the group has a strong presence.

Israeli attacks have killed more than 3,700 people in Lebanon, according to the Health Ministry. The fighting has displaced about 1.2 million people, or a quarter of Lebanon’s population.

On the Israeli side, about 90 soldiers and nearly 50 civilians have been killed by bombardment in northern Israel and in battle following Israel's ground invasion in early October. Around 60,000 Israelis have been displaced from the country's north.

EU envoy calls for pressure to reach a truce  

The Biden administration has spent months trying to broker a ceasefire, and US envoy Amos Hochstein was in the region last week.

The European Union’s top diplomat called Sunday for more pressure on Israel and Hezbollah to reach a deal, saying one was "pending with a final agreement from the Israeli government.”

Josep Borrell spoke after meeting with Mikati and Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally who has been mediating with the group.

Borrell said the EU is ready to allocate 200 million euros ($208 million) to assist the Lebanese military, which would deploy additional forces to the south.

The emerging agreement would pave the way for the withdrawal of Hezbollah and Israeli troops from southern Lebanon below the Litani River in accordance with the UN Security Council resolution that ended the monthlong 2006 war. Lebanese troops would patrol with the presence of UN peacekeepers.