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Prominent Member of Asaib Ahl al-Haq Survives Assassination Attempt in Southern Iraq

Asaib Ahl al-Haq member Ziad al-Oujaili. (Iraq’s 964 media)
Asaib Ahl al-Haq member Ziad al-Oujaili. (Iraq’s 964 media)
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Prominent Member of Asaib Ahl al-Haq Survives Assassination Attempt in Southern Iraq

Asaib Ahl al-Haq member Ziad al-Oujaili. (Iraq’s 964 media)
Asaib Ahl al-Haq member Ziad al-Oujaili. (Iraq’s 964 media)

A prominent member of the Asaib Ahl al-Haq survived on Sunday an assassination attempt in Iraq’s southern Dhi Qar governorate.

Ziad al-Oujaili told local media that assailants on a motorcycle tossed a bag containing an explosive under his vehicle.

He said he was only four meters away from the car when it went off.

He escaped unscathed and the car was destroyed.

Police are now investigating the incident, he added.

The Asaib Ahl al-Haq has risen to prominence in recent years, especially after the rise to power of the pro-Iran Shiite Coordination Framework of which it is a part of.

Just years ago it was a minor faction that only boasted one member at parliament. The faction was initially formed after it defected from the Sadrist movement of influential cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

Now, the Asaib Ahl al-Haq enjoys 15 MPs at parliament and it occupies important ministerial positions, including the post of minister of education, and public positions throughout central and southern Iraq.

Assassination attempts are usually tied to partisan disputes over the governance of provinces, rivalry over economic projects or disputes between clans.

Dhi Qar has been tense over the arrest of Coordination Framework member Ammar al-Rikabi on Wednesday on charges of running an online extortion network.

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Israeli Minister Says Time Running out for Diplomatic Solution with Hezbollah in Lebanon

Israeli artillery shells an area of Al-Khiam in southern Lebanon, as seen from the Upper Galilee, northern Israel, 11 September 2024. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
Israeli artillery shells an area of Al-Khiam in southern Lebanon, as seen from the Upper Galilee, northern Israel, 11 September 2024. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
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Israeli Minister Says Time Running out for Diplomatic Solution with Hezbollah in Lebanon

Israeli artillery shells an area of Al-Khiam in southern Lebanon, as seen from the Upper Galilee, northern Israel, 11 September 2024. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
Israeli artillery shells an area of Al-Khiam in southern Lebanon, as seen from the Upper Galilee, northern Israel, 11 September 2024. EPA/ATEF SAFADI

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Monday that the window was closing for a diplomatic solution to the standoff with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement in southern Lebanon.

Gallant's remarks came as the White House Special envoy Amos Hochstein visited Israel to discuss the crisis on the northern border where Israeli troops have been exchanging missile fire with Hezbollah forces for months.

"The possibility for an agreed framework in the northern arena is running out," Gallant told Austin in a phone call, according to a statement from his office, Reuters reported.

As long as Hezbollah continued to tie itself to Hamas in Gaza, where Israeli forces have been engaged for almost a year, "the trajectory is clear," he said.

The visit by Hochstein, who is due to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, comes amid efforts to find a diplomatic path out of the crisis, which has forced tens of thousands on both sides of the border to leave their homes.

On Monday, Israeli media reported that the head of the army's northern command had recommended a rapid border operation to create a buffer zone in southern Lebanon.

While the war in Gaza has been Israel's main focus since the attack by Hamas-led gunmen on Oct. 7 last year, the precarious situation in the north has fuelled fears of a regional conflict that could drag in the United States and Iran.

A missile barrage by Hezbollah the day after Oct. 7 opened the latest phase of conflict and since then there have been daily exchanges of rockets, artillery fire and missiles, with Israeli jets striking deep into Lebanese territory.

Hezbollah has said it does not seek a wider war at present but would fight if Israel launched one.

Israeli officials have said for months that Israel cannot accept the clearance of its northern border areas indefinitely but while troops remain committed to Gaza, there have also been questions about the military's readiness for an invasion of southern Lebanon.

However, some of the hardline members of the Israeli government have been pressing for action and on Monday, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a longtime foe of Gallant, called for him to be sacked.

"We need a decision in the north and Gallant is not the right person to lead it," he said in a statement on the social media platform X.

Hundreds of Hezbollah fighters and dozens of Israeli soldiers and civilians have been killed in the exchanges of fire, which have left communities on both sides of the border as virtual ghost towns.