US Recommends Designating Badr Organization's Leader, PMF Factions as Terrorists

A convoy of US vehicles is seen after withdrawing from northern Syria, at the Iraqi-Syrian border crossing in the outskirts of Dohuk, Iraq, on October 21, 2019. REUTERS/Ari Jalal
A convoy of US vehicles is seen after withdrawing from northern Syria, at the Iraqi-Syrian border crossing in the outskirts of Dohuk, Iraq, on October 21, 2019. REUTERS/Ari Jalal
TT

US Recommends Designating Badr Organization's Leader, PMF Factions as Terrorists

A convoy of US vehicles is seen after withdrawing from northern Syria, at the Iraqi-Syrian border crossing in the outskirts of Dohuk, Iraq, on October 21, 2019. REUTERS/Ari Jalal
A convoy of US vehicles is seen after withdrawing from northern Syria, at the Iraqi-Syrian border crossing in the outskirts of Dohuk, Iraq, on October 21, 2019. REUTERS/Ari Jalal

The Republican Study Committee (RSC) in the US Congress has recommended designating the “Badr Organization” and its head and secretary-general Hadi al-Ameri, in addition to several factions of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) as terrorists.

Al-Hurra news station revealed that the report published by RSC stressed that Badr Organization, Ameri, and factions of Kataib al-Imam Ali, Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, Liwa Abu al-Fadhal al-Abbas, Jund al-Islam, among others should be classified as terrorists.

For his part, Ameri pinned high hopes on the Iraqi negotiators that they will not disappoint the Iraqi people who took to the streets demanding the departure of foreign forces and the achievement of full national sovereignty.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Hisham Daoud's advisor affirmed that Iraq shares friendly and strong ties with the US as well as other countries in diverse fields such as military, security, energy, culture, and education.

Daoud stressed that the US is a key state and Iraq needs to be on good terms with countries of strong economies.

Earlier, Iraq asked for Washington’s help in the fight against ISIS but Mustafa al-Kadhimi’s government affirms now that Iraq has military capabilities and potentials to face internal risks and terrorism, he noted.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, MP and committee member Aras Habib Karim said that what matters in the current Iraqi-US talks is that it outlines a roadmap for future ties between the two countries.

"It is my belief that the government of Iraq is going to want to retain US and coalition forces," General Kenneth McKenzie, the commander of US forces in the region, said in an online conference sponsored by a Washington think tank.

"And as you know, from my perspective, we're in Iraq to finish the defeat of ISIS and to support Iraq as they finish that defeat and come to a final, final victory against it," he said.



Israeli Troops Battle Palestinian Fighters in Gaza City of Khan Younis

 Smoke rises following Israeli strikes during an Israeli military operation, amid Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)
Smoke rises following Israeli strikes during an Israeli military operation, amid Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)
TT

Israeli Troops Battle Palestinian Fighters in Gaza City of Khan Younis

 Smoke rises following Israeli strikes during an Israeli military operation, amid Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)
Smoke rises following Israeli strikes during an Israeli military operation, amid Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)

Israeli troops battled Palestinian fighters in Khan Younis in southern Gaza and destroyed tunnels and other infrastructure, as they sought to suppress small militant units that have continued to hit troops with mortar fire, the military said on Friday.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said troops had killed around 100 Palestinian fighters since Israeli troops began their latest operation in Khan Younis on Monday, which continued as pressure mounted for a deal to halt the fighting.

It said seven small units that had been firing mortars at the troops were hit in an air strike, while further south, in Rafah, four fighters were also killed in air strikes.

The Islamic Jihad armed wing said it fired rockets toward the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon and other Israeli towns near Gaza. No casualties were reported, the Israeli ambulance service said.

The continued fighting, more than nine months since the start of Israel's invasion of Gaza following the Oct. 7 attack, underlined the difficulty the IDF has had in eliminating fighters who have reverted to a form of guerrilla warfare in the ruins of the coastal strip.

A Telegram channel operated by the armed wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the two main militant groups in Gaza, said fighters had been waging fierce battles with Israeli troops east of Khan Younis with machine guns, mortars and anti-tank weapons.

Medics said at least six Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes in eastern Khan Younis.

US PRESSURE

US President Joe Biden, and Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic Party nominee for president, both urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a proposed ceasefire deal as soon as possible.

However there has been no clear sign of movement in talks to end the fighting and bring home some 115 Israeli and foreign hostages still being held in Gaza. Public statements from Israel and Hamas appear to indicate that serious differences remain between the two sides.

Local residents contacted by messenger app, said Israeli tanks had pushed into three towns to the east of Khan Younis, Bani Suhaila, Al-Zanna and Al-Karara and blew up several houses in some residential districts.

The military said air force jets hit around 45 targets, including tunnels and two launch pads from which rockets were fired into Beersheba in southern Israel.

Even while the fighting continued around Khan Younis and Rafah in the south, in the northern part of the enclave, Israeli tanks pushed into the Tel Al-Hawa suburb west of Gaza city, residents said.

A Hamas Telegram channel said fighters targeted an Israeli tank in Tal Al-Hawa and shot an Israeli soldier.

Medics said two Palestinians were also killed in an air strike in western Gaza city.

More than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed in the fighting in Gaza, according to local health authorities, who do not distinguish between fighters and non-combatants.

Israeli officials estimate that some 14,000 fighters from armed groups including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, have been killed or taken prisoner, out of a force they estimated to number more than 25,000 at the start of the war.