Report: Israel Sets 35 Strike Targets in Iraq as Sudani Seeks to Rein in Factions

Iraqi PM Mohammed Shia al-Sudani meets with Hikma movement leader Ammar al-Hakim. (Iraqi government media)
Iraqi PM Mohammed Shia al-Sudani meets with Hikma movement leader Ammar al-Hakim. (Iraqi government media)
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Report: Israel Sets 35 Strike Targets in Iraq as Sudani Seeks to Rein in Factions

Iraqi PM Mohammed Shia al-Sudani meets with Hikma movement leader Ammar al-Hakim. (Iraqi government media)
Iraqi PM Mohammed Shia al-Sudani meets with Hikma movement leader Ammar al-Hakim. (Iraqi government media)

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani has asked Shiite figures to mediate with Iran-backed armed factions to prevent them from getting involved in the war between fellow Iran-aligned Hezbollah in Lebanon and Israel, Iraqi sources said on Tuesday.

The PM launched the efforts after information circulated within the ruling Coordination Framework revealed that Israel had set 35 targets it may strike in Iraq.

The targets may be hit at any moment, and they include political and faction leaders, said a source.

The Iraqi factions have vowed to retaliate to Israel’s assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut last week. They announced that they were ready to fight alongside the group in southern Lebanon.

An Iraqi government spokesman had said that the local parties have managed to avoid an escalation, but political circles warned the fears persist that the factions may be dragged to war with Israel.

On Monday, the factions struck the Victoria Base Complex near Baghdad International Airport. The government is concerned that the United States and Israel may retaliate to the attack inside Iraq itself.

Sudani has been working on reining the factions. He recently tasked three influential figures, including a political religious official, with carrying out urgent contacts and meetings with the leaders of armed factions to persuade them to distance themselves from the conflict in Lebanon.

The PM held a regular meeting with the State Administration coalition, which includes the majority of political leaders, to discuss the latest developments in the region and their impact on Iraq, said a government statement.

It stressed the unity of Iraq’s position and its political forces, as well as their backing of the government’s stance on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Sources said Sudani selected head of the Hikma movement Ammar al-Hakim to act as mediator with the armed factions to stop the escalation.

Despite his efforts, another source doubted that the factions would comply with Sudani or any other figure.

“They realize that the situation is dangerous, but they also believe that this is an existential battle aimed at striking at the very heart of the Axis of Resistance” that comprises Hezbollah and other Iran-backed armed factions in the region.



Israel Police Says Forces Kill Five Palestinian Fighters in West Bank

 Palestinian people inspect the car that was hit by bullets in which Palestinians were reportedly killed by Israeli special forces in the West Bank city of Nablus, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP)
Palestinian people inspect the car that was hit by bullets in which Palestinians were reportedly killed by Israeli special forces in the West Bank city of Nablus, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP)
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Israel Police Says Forces Kill Five Palestinian Fighters in West Bank

 Palestinian people inspect the car that was hit by bullets in which Palestinians were reportedly killed by Israeli special forces in the West Bank city of Nablus, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP)
Palestinian people inspect the car that was hit by bullets in which Palestinians were reportedly killed by Israeli special forces in the West Bank city of Nablus, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP)

Israeli forces killed five armed Palestinian fighters in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, Israeli police said.

There was no immediate comment from Palestinian officials or armed groups. The Palestinian health ministry confirmed the deaths of only four men.

The Palestinian official news agency WAFA said that Israeli special forces had opened fire on a vehicle that the men were travelling in, in the city of Nablus in the northern West Bank.

Violence has surged across the West Bank since the start of the Hamas-Israel war in Gaza. Hundreds of Palestinians - including armed fighters, stone-throwing youths and civilian bystanders - have been killed in clashes with Israeli security forces.

Dozens of Israelis have been killed in Palestinian street attacks over the past year. At least six people were wounded, two of them seriously, in a stabbing attack in the Israeli city of Hadera on Wednesday, Israeli authorities said.