2 Protesters Killed in Renewed Unrest in Iraq’s Kurdistan Regionhttps://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2671581/2-protesters-killed-renewed-unrest-iraq%E2%80%99s-kurdistan-region
2 Protesters Killed in Renewed Unrest in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region
A member of the Iraqi Kurdish Asayish security force in Iraq on March 14, 2020. (Getty Images)
Two protesters were shot dead on Tuesday in renewed demonstrations against Kurdish political parties in the northern, Kurdish-run region of Iraq, two local officials said.
The officials, including a health source, said one protester had been shot dead by guards of the headquarters of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in the town of Takya, west of the city of Sulaimaniya.
Another protester died after being shot in the neck when Kurdish security forces opened fire to disperse protesters in the town of Sied Sadiq, east of Sulaimaniya, said a health source and a local official who asked not to be identified.
Five people have now been killed and scores wounded in protests in the past 24 hours. Hospital sources and local officials said the death toll in demonstrations on Monday had risen to three.
Protests over unpaid salaries spread on Tuesday to at least six towns near Sulaimaniya, with angry crowds setting ablaze political parties’ headquarters and local government buildings.
Demonstrators have taken to the streets in and around Sulaimaniya for several days, demanding their salaries be paid and criticizing the KDP and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), which controls the Sulaimaniya area.
The semi-autonomous Kurdistan region of Iraq has been hit by a nationwide economic crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic, during which Iraq’s oil revenues have sunk.
Bahbah to Asharq Al-Awsat: Second Phase of Gaza Ceasefire Begins Next Monthhttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5220588-bahbah-asharq-al-awsat-second-phase-gaza-ceasefire-begins-next-month
Palestinians walk along a street surrounded by buildings destroyed during Israeli air and ground operations in Gaza City, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (AP)
Bahbah to Asharq Al-Awsat: Second Phase of Gaza Ceasefire Begins Next Month
Palestinians walk along a street surrounded by buildings destroyed during Israeli air and ground operations in Gaza City, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (AP)
The second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement is expected to begin in January, likely in the first or second week, according to Bishara Bahbah, head of the Arab Americans for Peace Committee and a mediator closely aligned with the US administration on the Gaza file.
Bahbah told Asharq Al-Awsat on Wednesday that preparations for managing Gaza are already complete, with the names of the prospective committee finalized and Palestinian Health Minister Majed Abu Ramadan emerging as the most likely candidate to lead the body.
Bahbah, who remains close to White House deliberations on Gaza, said Washington supports the presence of Turkish forces as part of an international stabilization force, viewing them as the most capable of maintaining stability in the enclave.
He said the anticipated meeting between US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later this month will be decisive for the second phase, noting that the United States will press for its launch next month and for a decision on Türkiye’s participation in the stabilization force.
Defining the mission
Bahbah disclosed details of a meeting held on Tuesday in the Qatari capital Doha on the formation of an international stabilization force for Gaza.
He said one of the main objectives was for Washington to clearly identify which countries are prepared to participate and to determine the nature of each country’s contribution, whether through troops, training, or technical and logistical support.
He said the second objective of the meeting was to clarify how the forces would coordinate with one another and establish a command structure, noting that one proposal under discussion is for a US general to lead the international force.
Discussions also covered deployment locations and whether the force would be stationed outside the so-called yellow line separating Israeli-controlled areas from Hamas-held zones, within that line, or inside densely populated areas, as well as which parties would provide funding, he added.
Rejection of Israel’s approach
On deployment plans, Bahbah said discussions are ongoing but that the model sought by Israel was rejected by an overwhelming majority of participating countries, indicating broad agreement on monitoring rather than combat roles.
On the nature of the mission, he stated that most participating states are unwilling to play any role related to disarmament, instead seeking to act as a buffer between Israeli forces and populated areas in order to protect civilians.
The ultimate objective of the force’s presence is Israel’s gradual withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, he stressed.
“These forces will not act on Israel’s behalf, particularly on disarmament,” Bahbah said, adding that Hamas leaders had expressed to him a willingness to negotiate on the issue.
“Using force will not work,” he warned, noting that Israel had failed to disarm Hamas by force over the past two years and that no international party would succeed in doing so militarily.
A car is seen partially submerged next to a small boat in a flooded area after heavy rains in a makeshift camp for displaced Palestinians in Zawaida, central Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (AP)
Türkiye’s participation pivotal
On Türkiye’s role, Bahbah described Ankara’s participation as pivotal, saying Türkiye is the closest country to Hamas and the most capable of engaging with the group over its weapons, something other states struggle to do.
He said the presence of Turkish forces in Gaza would be essential and would lead to greater stability, adding that Washington supports their involvement.
Bahbah said Trump is expected to pressure Netanyahu during their upcoming meeting in the United States later this month to accept Turkish participation.
He added that Israel is likely to seek conditions, possibly pushing for a compromise in which Türkiye’s role would be technical rather than armed, but stressed that pressure from the US administration would be decisive.
Second phase commitments
On the so-called Peace Council, Bahbah noted that Trump has spoken of many world leaders wanting to join it, stressing that membership would not be free and would entail commitments, including funding, providing security forces, or other obligations.
Asked about potential members, he said names he has seen for the executive council include US envoys Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, former British prime minister Tony Blair, former US ambassador Richard Grenell, and former Bulgarian diplomat Nickolay Mladenov.
On Gaza’s administration, Bahbah revealed that a list of 42 candidates for a technocratic committee has been approved by Hamas, Fatah, and Egypt, adding that Health Minister Abu Ramadan is likely to chair the committee.
Despite talk of obstacles to moving to the second phase, Bahbah said he expects it to be launched in the first or second week of January, specifically after the Trump-Netanyahu summit resolves outstanding issues.
He denied knowledge of any arrangements for Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to attend the summit.
Trump will not allow the agreement to fail, he remarked, describing this as “100 percent certain” and adding that Hamas remains committed to the ceasefire despite continued Israeli violations.
Bahbah said the movement understands that Israel is seeking any pretext to resume what he described as acts of annihilation in Gaza and is therefore showing greater restraint to deny it that opportunity.
Report: RSF Destroying Evidence of Atrocities in Sudanhttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5220576-report-rsf-destroying-evidence-atrocities-sudan
The Sudanese flag flutters in Omdurman, part of greater Khartoum on December 13, 2025. (AFP)
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Report: RSF Destroying Evidence of Atrocities in Sudan
The Sudanese flag flutters in Omdurman, part of greater Khartoum on December 13, 2025. (AFP)
Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces destroyed and concealed evidence of mass killings they committed after overrunning the Darfur city of el-Fasher, a new report has found.
Yale University's Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL), which has used satellite imagery to monitor atrocities since the RSF's war with the army began, said on Tuesday the group "destroyed and concealed evidence of its widespread mass killings" in the North Darfur state capital.
The RSF's violent takeover of the army's last holdout position in the Darfur region in October led to international outrage over reports of summary executions, systematic rape and mass detention.
The HRL said that in the aftermath of the takeover, it had identified 150 clusters of objects consistent with human remains.
Dozens were consistent with reports of execution-style killings, and dozens more with reports of the RSF killing civilians as they fled.
Within a month, nearly 60 of those clusters were no longer visible, while eight earth disturbances appeared near the sites of mass killing, the HRL said.
It said the disturbances were not consistent with civilian burial practices.
"Largescale and systematic mass killing and body disposal has occurred," the report determined, estimating the death toll in the city to be in the tens of thousands.
Aid groups and the United Nations have repeatedly demanded safe access to el-Fasher, where communications remain cut and an estimated tens of thousands of survivors are trapped, many detained by the RSF.
The UN has called the Sudan conflict a "a war of atrocities".
There is no confirmed death toll from the Sudan war which began in April 2023, with estimates at more than 150,000.
The fighting has also displaced millions of people, and created the world's largest hunger and displacement crises.
Efforts to end the war have repeatedly faltered.
Lebanon Judge to Question Shipowner Linked to Port Blasthttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5220563-lebanon-judge-question-shipowner-linked-port-blast
Igor Grechushkin, a Russian businessman based in Cyprus, is escorted by police before the start of his trial on the possible extradition to Lebanon, in Sofia, Bulgaria, December 10, 2025. (Reuters)
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Lebanon Judge to Question Shipowner Linked to Port Blast
Igor Grechushkin, a Russian businessman based in Cyprus, is escorted by police before the start of his trial on the possible extradition to Lebanon, in Sofia, Bulgaria, December 10, 2025. (Reuters)
Lebanese judge Tarek Bitar headed to Bulgaria on Wednesday to question a shipowner wanted in connection with a catastrophic 2020 Beirut port blast, a judicial official told AFP.
The long-awaited questioning comes after a court this month refused Lebanon's request to extradite Igor Grechushkin, a 48-year-old Russian-Cypriot who was arrested in September at Sofia airport.
Authorities in Lebanon say the August 4, 2020, explosion was triggered by a fire in a warehouse where tons of ammonium nitrate fertilizer had been stored haphazardly for years, despite repeated warnings to senior officials.
Beirut authorities have identified Grechushkin as the owner of the Rhosus, the ship that brought the ammonium nitrate into the port.
The blast was one of the world's largest non-nuclear explosions, destroying swathes of the Lebanese capital, killing more than 220 people and injuring more than 6,500.
The Lebanese judicial official told AFP on condition of anonymity that "Bitar headed to Sofia on Wednesday" and is expected to question Grechushkin the following day.
The Lebanese embassy in Sofia is arranging for a translator and a clerk to record the minutes of the questioning, which Bulgarian judicial officials are to attend, the official said.
According to Bulgarian prosecutors, Grechushkin is accused by Lebanese judicial authorities of "introducing explosives into Lebanon -- a terrorist act that resulted in the death of a large number of people".
The Lebanese judicial official told AFP that authorities are relying on Grechushkin's testimony and the information he has about the ammonium nitrate shipment "and the party that ordered and financed it", and to determine if Beirut was the ship's destination.
Bitar resumed his investigation this year as Lebanon's balance of power shifted following a war between Israel and Hezbollah that weakened the group, which had spearheaded a campaign against him.
A travel ban imposed on Bitar as part of a judicial battle related to the case was recently lifted.
President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, who both took office this year, have vowed to uphold the independence of the judiciary in a country plagued by official impunity.
Officials named in the port explosion investigation had filed a flurry of lawsuits seeking to hamper its progress.
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