Rights Groups Sound Alarm on Jump in Iraqi Activist Assassinations https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2459406/rights-groups-sound-alarm-jump-iraqi-activist-assassinations
Rights Groups Sound Alarm on Jump in Iraqi Activist Assassinations
Angry Iraqi demonstrators mourn the killing of female activist and paramedic Janat Madhi, in Basra on Tuesday night, part of an upsurge of violence against the three-month-old protest movement. — AFP
Rights Groups Sound Alarm on Jump in Iraqi Activist Assassinations
Angry Iraqi demonstrators mourn the killing of female activist and paramedic Janat Madhi, in Basra on Tuesday night, part of an upsurge of violence against the three-month-old protest movement. — AFP
Human rights monitors sounded the alarm over a recent spike in assassinations targeting civil rights activists in Iraq's south on Thursday, ahead of a much anticipated meeting between the prime minister and the US president as part of ongoing strategic talks.
Mustafa al-Kadhimi departed for an official trip to Washington this week and is expected to meet with President Donald Trump on Thursday to conclude strategic talks expected to shape the future of Iraq-US ties.
Assassination plots have targeted more civil activists this month in southern Iraq, compared to the period at the height of the protest movement in October, monitors said. Iran-backed militia groups are widely suspected of perpetrating both.
Tens of thousands of Iraqis took to the streets in October to decry rampant government corruption, poor services and unemployment in Baghdad and across Iraq’s south. Hundreds died as Iraqi forces used live ammunition and tear gas to disperse crowds, The Associated Press (AP) reported.
Activist Reham Yacoub was gunned down in the southern Iraqi province of Basra on Wednesday by unidentified gunmen, a security official and human rights watcher said, marking the second such killing in the span of a week. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
Activist Tahseen Osama was killed Friday, prompting dozens to take to the streets and block roads. Police responded by firing live rounds at the demonstrators.
Yacoub was a respected activist who took part in many protests in 2018 and October.
“It seems that there is a well programmed cleansing of activists who were influential in the last protest movement,” said Ali al-Bayati, spokesman for the semi-official Iraqi Independent High Commission for Human Rights.
According to the commission, there have been six assassination attempts targeting activists with two killed in Basra in the month of August alone. That represents a jump as the commission recorded 16 attempted targeted killings in the 10 months after the uprising started in October.
A recent government investigation said 560 protesters and security forces were killed in the October movement. The probe drew criticism from activists who said it fell short of naming the perpetrators, who are widely suspected of having links to Iran-backed militia groups.
Al-Kadhimi fired the Basra police chief on Monday and ordered a new probe into the killing of Osama.
According to AP, in Washington, talks are expected to focus on the future of the US-led coalition in Iraq. Coalition troops have left most bases in a planned drawdown. US officials have also voiced concern over the presence of Iran-backed militia groups.
Following a meeting in Washington with Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein on Wednesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters that armed groups outside of state control “have impeded our progress."
UN Raises Alarm over Israel's Killings of Gazans Near Armistice Linehttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5277825-un-raises-alarm-over-israels-killings-gazans-near-armistice-line
People carry bodies identified by mourners as Hamas' military wing commander Mohammad Odeh, who was killed in an Israeli strike on Tuesday, and his wife and children, during a funeral, in Gaza City, May 27, 2026. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
UN Raises Alarm over Israel's Killings of Gazans Near Armistice Line
People carry bodies identified by mourners as Hamas' military wing commander Mohammad Odeh, who was killed in an Israeli strike on Tuesday, and his wife and children, during a funeral, in Gaza City, May 27, 2026. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
About a third of Palestinians killed by Israel since an October truce were in areas near the military's armistice line with Hamas, raising concerns that troops may be shooting at civilians merely for approaching the area, the UN human rights office said.
The office said such actions would constitute unlawful killings and thus war crimes. Israel's military, which says fire by its troops near the armistice line aims to thwart militant threats, did not immediately provide comment on the allegations.
Israel has demarcated its armistice boundary with Hamas since the truce with a "yellow line" marked on the ground with spaced out concrete blocks. Israeli troops remain deployed to its east, with Hamas in control in a coastal strip of land. But the military has frequently shifted those blocks deeper into Hamas-controlled territory, and Israeli maps show a widened restricted zone of military control now covers nearly two-thirds of Gaza. Israel's expanding zone of control has stirred fears among displaced Palestinians living in tent encampments and bombed out homes near the yellow line that they may be deemed military targets, as the population is squeezed into an even smaller area.
UN SAYS KILLINGS MAY BE UNLAWFUL
The UN data, shared exclusively with Reuters, includes 453 verified killings since the ceasefire through to February 5. Of those, 152 Palestinians - comprising 102 men, 15 women, 24 boys and 11 girls - were near the boundary, it said. "The available information raises serious concerns that the Israeli army is shooting at and killing presumed civilians simply on the basis of their proximity to the so-called yellow line, which would amount to unlawful killings and thus war crimes," said Ajith Sunghay, head of the UN Human Rights Office in the occupied Palestinian territory, calling the pattern alarming.
"Civilians do not appear to have posed any risk to the life of the Israeli military, including some cases in which they appear to have been shot while carrying out daily activities or having approached or crossed Israel's so-called yellow line," he said.
The boundary location was often not clear to Palestinians, he added. "Nobody clearly knows exactly where it starts, where it ends, and how it moves, and when it moves." Israeli officials describe the territory they've seized in Gaza, Syria and Lebanon as "buffer zones" that can stave off potential militant attacks following the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led assault that set off the Gaza war. The ceasefire brokered by US President Donald Trump has failed to halt Israeli attacks in Gaza, and Israel has continued to target Hamas leaders, killing two in the past two weeks. Overall, some 900 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes since the truce, Gaza health authorities say, without giving a breakdown by location.
War and Displacement Rob Beirut of Eid al-Adha Joyhttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5277804-war-and-displacement-rob-beirut-eid-al-adha-joy
A woman tosses sweets to displaced children at a makeshift camp for displaced people at Beirut's waterfront during Eid al-Adha, the Feast of Sacrifice, in Beirut, Lebanon, 27 May 2026. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
War and Displacement Rob Beirut of Eid al-Adha Joy
A woman tosses sweets to displaced children at a makeshift camp for displaced people at Beirut's waterfront during Eid al-Adha, the Feast of Sacrifice, in Beirut, Lebanon, 27 May 2026. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
The shape of Eid al-Adha has changed for many Lebanese as the war continues, along with the escalation, warnings, and daily anxiety accompanying it. Security developments resulting from the conflict have disrupted family gatherings that have become increasingly limited, while fear and anxiety continue to deepen despite attempts to preserve what remains of Eid traditions.
Lebanese speak of what resembles a slow “psychological death” caused by the ongoing developments, a feeling not limited to those displaced from the south and Beirut’s southern suburbs, but extending to Lebanese across different regions.
Relentless Fear
Ramia Salman says last Eid al-Adha and this year’s holiday no longer carry the same meanings of joy for many Lebanese, as the atmosphere has become more associated with fear than with the happiness that once accompanied such occasions.
She adds: “Last Eid al-Adha, as with this year’s Eid, the scene felt completely different from what we had known for many years. Holidays were always associated with preparing for family visits, buying Eid necessities, welcoming relatives, and even the small details that gave people a different feeling about the occasion. But what is happening today has greatly changed that feeling.”
She told Asharq Al-Awsat: “Two days before Eid, especially with the escalation witnessed in the western Bekaa, we felt deep fear from the very idea of Eid itself. Instead of waiting for the occasion with joy, we found ourselves simply hoping these days would pass safely. The concern is no longer how we will spend Eid or celebrate it, but how we will get through this phase safely.”
She believes even the traditions of Eid eve have changed noticeably, saying: “Eid night was always a space for joy, movement in the markets, family gatherings, and the feeling that there was an occasion everyone was waiting for. Today the scene has changed dramatically. Gatherings have shifted from meetings tied to joy into gatherings dominated by anxiety, fear, and questions.”
She adds: “Sometimes we feel as though the Israeli army is constantly manipulating our nervous system. The issue is not only related to airstrikes or direct attacks, but to the permanent state of anticipation imposed on people.”
She continues: “Fear and panic are no longer temporary feelings tied to a specific moment. They have become part of daily life. Sometimes we feel we are not just living in fear of a particular event, but enduring a form of continuous internal exhaustion, as if something inside a person is gradually fading away.”
People visit the graves of their loved ones at a local cemetery on Eid al-Adha, the Feast of Sacrifice, in Beirut, Lebanon, 27 May 2026. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
The Meaning of Eid
For her part, Zeinab Tahmaz says holidays had already begun losing part of their traditions in recent years, but the war accelerated that transformation even further.
She told Asharq Al-Awsat that “since last Eid al-Adha, the atmosphere has been almost nonexistent.” Recalling scenes from last year, she says: “At the time, warnings were issued and we saw how many areas, especially in the southern suburbs, were evacuated. That was proof that people no longer had the desire to go out or even visit their villages.”
She continues: “We had the scent of Eid, the village, our grandfather’s house, and family gatherings. These were things we once took for granted. But this year, even those things have been taken away from us.”
She says: “Sometimes I feel the war is not only taking away our sense of safety or the atmosphere itself, but also our ability to feel things the same way. The things we once waited for with excitement are no longer awaited in the same way.”
Fear Changed Eid Plans
Ali Al-Husseini says the escalation has not only changed the atmosphere of Eid, but also altered personal and family decisions that once seemed settled.
He told Asharq Al-Awsat: “I had planned to spend Eid with my family in the Bekaa, and the idea was tied to returning, even briefly, to the atmosphere we used to know.” He noted that “the escalation in the days leading up to Eid had the exact opposite psychological effect. Instead of making us think about Eid, it created feelings of fear and anxiety.”
He says: “I decided to remain with my children in our place of displacement in Mount Lebanon out of fear of any new escalation or warnings, and concern that developments could spiral in a way that would prevent me from returning to Beirut for medical treatment.”
A Slow Death
Saeed Shehab believes the war has not only stripped people of the details of Eid, but also forced them to reconsider even the things that once seemed self-evident.
He told Asharq Al-Awsat: “Under these circumstances, Eid itself feels absent, whether there is a warning or not,” adding: “People have started clinging to the simplest things and saying thank God they still have a house they can sit in, a house that has not been destroyed and where they are still able to remain.”
He continues: “Beyond the feeling that you have already been deprived of many things, you hear reports about the possibility that the area where you are staying could be targeted, and you feel that even the last sense of safety you cling to could be taken away from you.”
He says: “You can lose your hometown, lose people and details that once meant something to you, and then feel that even the house giving you some reassurance could also become threatened.”
He adds: “The problem is not only what is happening outside, but what remains inside a person. A person does not only lose a house or a place, but sometimes feels they are losing part of themselves as well. There is sorrow that remains inside them, and psychological exhaustion that accumulates, as though over time you are living through a kind of slow death of the feelings and things that once gave you hope or a sense of life.”
Lebanese Army Says One Soldier Killed in Israeli Strike in Bekaahttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5277798-lebanese-army-says-one-soldier-killed-israeli-strike-bekaa
Lebanese Army Says One Soldier Killed in Israeli Strike in Bekaa
Lebanese soldiers stand guard outside the Justice Palace in Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
The Lebanese army said on Wednesday that a soldier had been killed in an Israeli air strike near his post in Bekaa and that it had retrieved his body, Reuters reported.
It said the retrieval was delayed from the previous day due to the security situation in the area.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah said its fighters clashed with Israeli forces in a town north of the Litani river on Wednesday, a day after Israel's military said it was expanding its ground operations.
Israel intensified the scope of its strikes on south and east Lebanon on Tuesday despite a ceasefire, killing at least 31 people, Lebanese authorities said, as Hezbollah also kept up its attacks.
In a statement Wednesday, Hezbollah said its fighters "clashed with the enemy forces at point-blank range" with light and medium weapons in the town of Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, on the edge of an Israeli-declared "yellow line" in south Lebanon where its troops have been operating.
Since early Tuesday, the group had said its fighters had faced Israeli troops entering the town, which holds strategic importance due to its proximity to the major southern city of Nabatieh, just six kilometres (four miles) away.
Israel's army on Wednesday renewed an evacuation warning for Nabatieh city after issuing a similar order a day earlier, saying it would act "forcefully" against Hezbollah which it accuses of violating the ceasefire.
The Israeli troop advance towards Zawtar al-Sharqiyah comes after an Israeli military official said Tuesday that soldiers had begun operating beyond the "yellow line", which runs around 10 kilometres deep inside Lebanese territory and where residents have been warned not to return.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also said on Tuesday that his country was intensifying operations in Lebanon.
"The (Israeli army) is operating with substantial forces on the ground and securing strategically dominant positions. We are reinforcing the security buffer zone in order to protect the communities of northern Israel," he said.
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