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Iraq: ISIS Down, Corruption to Go

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in the city of Al-Qaim (AFP)
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in the city of Al-Qaim (AFP)
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Iraq: ISIS Down, Corruption to Go

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in the city of Al-Qaim (AFP)
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in the city of Al-Qaim (AFP)

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has prioritized counter-corruption efforts in the post-ISIS era.

There is serious concern about Abadi's ability to win his new battle-- especially that corruption is a challenging phenomenon with mafias and political, judicial and militia figures working on the premise compromising national authority for personal or regional interests.

Head of a political think tank Dr. Ihsan al-Shammari believes that although "putting an end to corruption today seems impossible, as was the case of the victory over ISIS (3 years ago), Abadi still won against the terror group.”

“And he will win his war against corruption.”

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Shammari said that Abadi is very serious in putting an end to corruption.

Former Iraqi Integrity Committee Chairman Judge Rahim Al Ukaili stressed in statements to Asharq Al-Awsat that Abadi should begin to "strike the heads of corruption as they –and with no doubt- continue to loot astronomical sums of money from the national treasury."

Political pressure related to former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki forced Ukaili to submit his resignation.

Shammari added that "the anti-corruption plan is not a new move for Abadi. His government's program focused on fighting it from the early days of its formation."

"In early 2016, the Supreme Anti-Corruption Council was established under his (Abadi) chairmanship in coordination with the head of the Integrity Commission and the Financial Control Bureau.”

“He also restructured the offices of the inspectors, who were inactive in previous years,” said Shammari.

On the practical asteps followed by Abadi, Shammari pointed out that early-on the PM “sought to fix the leakage through which corruption seeps through establishing an electronic system covering all state institutions.”

“The system is aimed at inhibiting corruption. The e-government will be launched soon aimed at breaking the road to corruption,” added Shammari.

Shammari admits that the actions taken by the prime minister “may not show rapid results, but are effective and will achieve desired results in the near or medium term.”

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Israeli Forces Kills over 20 People Seeking Food in Gaza, Witnesses and Health Officials Say

Palestinians return with bags, boxes and wooden pallets from a food distribution point run by the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) group, near the Netsarim corridor in the central Gaza Strip on August 3, 2025. (AFP)
Palestinians return with bags, boxes and wooden pallets from a food distribution point run by the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) group, near the Netsarim corridor in the central Gaza Strip on August 3, 2025. (AFP)
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Israeli Forces Kills over 20 People Seeking Food in Gaza, Witnesses and Health Officials Say

Palestinians return with bags, boxes and wooden pallets from a food distribution point run by the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) group, near the Netsarim corridor in the central Gaza Strip on August 3, 2025. (AFP)
Palestinians return with bags, boxes and wooden pallets from a food distribution point run by the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) group, near the Netsarim corridor in the central Gaza Strip on August 3, 2025. (AFP)

Israeli forces killed at least 23 Palestinians seeking food on Sunday in the Gaza Strip, according to hospital officials and witnesses, who described facing gunfire as hungry crowds surged around aid sites as the malnutrition-related death toll surged.

Desperation has gripped the Palestinian territory of more than 2 million, which experts have warned is at risk of famine because of Israel’s blockade and nearly two-year offensive.

Yousef Abed, among the crowds en route to a distribution point, described coming under what he called indiscriminate fire, looking around and seeing at least three people bleeding on the ground.

“I couldn’t stop and help them because of the bullets,” he said.

Southern Gaza’s Nasser Hospital said they had received bodies from near multiple distribution sites, including eight from Teina, about three kilometers (1.8 miles) away from a distribution site in Khan Younis, which is operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a private US and Israeli-backed contractor that took over aid distribution more than two months ago.

The hospital also received one body from Shakoush, an area hundreds of meters (yards) north of a different GHF site in Rafah. Another nine were also killed by troops near the Morag corridor, who were awaiting trucks entering Gaza through an Israeli border crossing, it said.

Three Palestinian eyewitnesses, seeking food in Teina and Morag, told The Associated Press the shootings occurred on the route to the distribution points, which are in military zones secured by Israeli forces. They said they saw soldiers open fire on hungry crowds advancing toward the troops.

Further north in central Gaza, hospital officials described a similar episode, with Israeli troops opening fire Sunday morning toward crowds of Palestinians trying to GHF’s fourth and northernmost distribution point.

“Troops were trying to prevent people from advancing. They opened fire and we fled. Some people were shot,” said Hamza Matter, one of the aid seekers.

At least five people were killed and 27 wounded at GHF’s site near Netzarim corridor, Awda Hospital said.

Eyewitnesses seeking food in the strip have reported similar gunfire attacks in recent days near aid distribution sites, leaving dozens of Palestinians dead.

The United Nations reported 859 people have been killed near GHF sites from May 27 to July 31 and that hundreds more have been slain along the routes of UN-led food convoys.

The GHF launched in May as Israel sought an alternative to the UN-run system, which had safely delivered aid for much of the war but was accused by Israel of allowing Hamas, which guarded convoys early in the war, to siphon supplies.

Israel has not offered evidence of widespread theft. The UN has denied it.

GHF says its armed contractors have only used pepper spray or fired warning shots to prevent deadly crowding. Israel’s military has said it only fires warning shots as well. Both claimed the death tolls have been exaggerated

Neither Israel’s military nor GHF immediately responded to questions about Sunday's reported fatalities.

Meanwhile, the Gaza health ministry also said six more Palestinian adults died of malnutrition-related causes in the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours. This brings the death toll among Palestinian adults to 82 in the past five weeks since the ministry started counting deaths among adults in late June, it said.

Ninety-three children have also died of causes related to malnutrition since the war in Gaza started in 2023, the ministry said.

The war began when Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, and abducted another 251. They are still holding 50 captives, around 20 believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefires or other deals. Israel’s retaliatory military offensive has killed more than 60,400 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

The ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count, is staffed by medical professionals. The United Nations and other independent experts view its figures as the most reliable count of casualties. Israel has disputed its figures, but hasn’t provided its own account of casualties.