Iraq Seeks to Ease Tensions ahead of PM’s Meeting with Biden 

Iraqi Kurdistan Region President Nechervan Barzani (right), Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (center) and former Kurdish President Masoud Barzani. (AFP file photo) 
Iraqi Kurdistan Region President Nechervan Barzani (right), Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (center) and former Kurdish President Masoud Barzani. (AFP file photo) 
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Iraq Seeks to Ease Tensions ahead of PM’s Meeting with Biden 

Iraqi Kurdistan Region President Nechervan Barzani (right), Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (center) and former Kurdish President Masoud Barzani. (AFP file photo) 
Iraqi Kurdistan Region President Nechervan Barzani (right), Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (center) and former Kurdish President Masoud Barzani. (AFP file photo) 

The State Administration Coalition in Iraq announced its complete support to Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani's upcoming visit to the United States where he will meet with President Joe Biden.

Sudani sponsored the coalition’s meeting that was held at the government palace and attended by Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish political leaders. The meeting was also notably attended by a prominent leader of the armed factions, Abu Alaa al-Walae, demonstrating that the truce between the government and groups remains in place.

Sudani is set to discuss several key issues related to Iraq’s ties with the US that have been nothing short of tumultuous since the US invasion 21 years ago.

The PM is seeking to resolve internal disputes so that he can dedicate himself to facing the Americans, who are banking on these disputes to continue to maintain influence in Iraq.

An informed Iraqi source told Asharq Al-Awsat that officials at the State Administration Coalition meeting held frank discussions over the future of relations between Iraq and Washington and the US-led anti-ISIS coalition.

The meeting clearly backed Sudani’s visit to the US and focused on security and relations between Baghdad and Washington whereby the state would be allowed to impose its control over all aspects of the country.

Sudani is hoping that his visit will be more successful than those carried out by previous PMs, who had headed to the US with various agendas and goals.

His predecessor Mustafa al-Kadhimi had paid two visits to the US during his relatively short two-and-a-half-year tenure.

Separately, Kurdish forces expressed their support to the outcomes of the visit carried out by Iraqi Kurdistan Region President Nechervan Barzani to Baghdad.

Barzani met with several senior officials, including Sudani.

Iraqi President Abdullatif Rashid stressed on Monday the need for cooperation between the Baghdad and Erbil governments so that they can overcome all disputes.

He also underlined the need for parliamentary elections to be held in Kurdistan.

Barzani and his accompanying delegation met with members of the pro-Iran Shiite Coordination Framework and the State Administration Coalition.



Israel Confirms a Gaza Hospital Director Is at Notorious Military Prison in West Bank

Supporters of the Health Workers 4 Palestine movement demonstrate in solidarity with Dr. Hossam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan hospital in the Gaza Strip, in front of the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium, 06 January 2025. (EPA)
Supporters of the Health Workers 4 Palestine movement demonstrate in solidarity with Dr. Hossam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan hospital in the Gaza Strip, in front of the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium, 06 January 2025. (EPA)
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Israel Confirms a Gaza Hospital Director Is at Notorious Military Prison in West Bank

Supporters of the Health Workers 4 Palestine movement demonstrate in solidarity with Dr. Hossam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan hospital in the Gaza Strip, in front of the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium, 06 January 2025. (EPA)
Supporters of the Health Workers 4 Palestine movement demonstrate in solidarity with Dr. Hossam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan hospital in the Gaza Strip, in front of the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium, 06 January 2025. (EPA)

An Israeli rights group says Hossam Abu Safiya, the director of a north Gaza hospital who had disappeared since he was taken by Israeli troops during a raid two weeks ago, is being held in a notorious Israeli military prison in the occupied West Bank.

The group, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, said the Israeli military confirmed in an email that Abu Safiya is at Ofer Prison. A lawyer for Abu Safiya’s family was told that he will not be allowed to see him until Jan. 29, said a spokesman for PHRI, Ran Yaron, told The Associated Press. The military had previously refused to comment when asked by the AP about Abu Safiya’s location.

Colleagues and family have expressed fears over the safety of Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, after troops seized him and dozens of others during a Dec. 27 raid on the hospital. Former detainees have reported harsh conditions at Ofer Prison, including beatings, minimal food rations and refusals of medical care.

A prominent Palestinian surgeon detained in a hospital raid in December 2023 died in Ofer Prison the following April.

The military has said Abu Safiya is being investigated on suspicion of cooperating with or working for Hamas. It claims that Hamas fighters were using the hospital as a refuge and base amid Israel’s months-long offensive in surrounding areas of north Gaza. It says it detained 240 Hamas and Islamic Jihad members from the hospital in the raid, although it has provided no evidence.

Staff deny the claims, and the Gaza Health Ministry says at least 60 medical staff were among those detained. Colleagues say the 51-year-old Abu Safiya kept Kamal Adwan Hospital operating even as Israeli troops besieged it for around 85 days starting in October.

He became known for his frequent videos, pleading for international help as Israeli fire hit the hospital multiple times during the siege. One of his sons was killed by an Israeli drone strike during the siege, and Abu Safiya was wounded by shrapnel from another strike.

Naji Abbas, of Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, said the refusal to allow a lawyer to meet Abu Safiya “raises serious concerns about the treatment he is enduring in detention.”