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Iraqi President Calls for Int’l Action to Face Regional Challenges

Iraqi President Barham Salih meets with Spanish Ambassador to Iraq Juan Jose Escobar in Baghdad on Wednesday (INA)
Iraqi President Barham Salih meets with Spanish Ambassador to Iraq Juan Jose Escobar in Baghdad on Wednesday (INA)
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Iraqi President Calls for Int’l Action to Face Regional Challenges

Iraqi President Barham Salih meets with Spanish Ambassador to Iraq Juan Jose Escobar in Baghdad on Wednesday (INA)
Iraqi President Barham Salih meets with Spanish Ambassador to Iraq Juan Jose Escobar in Baghdad on Wednesday (INA)

Iraqi President Barham Salih called on Wednesday for joint international action to confront challenges and ease tensions in the region.

During a meeting in Baghdad with the Spanish Ambassador to Iraq, Juan Jose Escobar, on the occasion of the end of his mission, the President stressed the need for international cooperation in facing the common challenges of combating terrorism, in addition to the importance of solidarity, supporting the stability of the region and easing the tensions surrounding it.

A presidential statement said Salih also appreciated Spain’s supportive stances for Iraq in combating terrorism within the international coalition as well as supporting stability.

The Iraqi President’s invitation for joint international actions on regional challenges came as Baghdad prepares to host the first conference of regional neighbors at the end of August, with the aim of discussing the political and security challenges facing the region.

The conference is scheduled to be held at the summit level during the last ten days of August and would not be limited to Arab or Islamic countries neighboring Iraq but would extend to other states in the regional neighborhood.

Meanwhile, head of the National Power of the State Coalition Ammar Al-Hakim stressed the importance of developing relations between the US and Iraq to serve the interests of both countries.

Hakim held talks Wednesday with US Ambassador Matthew Tueller on the political developments in Iraq and the region, as well as the outcomes of the strategic dialogue between Iraq and US.

“The importance of these relations is to serve the interests of two countries, and the need to proceed with the adoption of dialogue as a way to resolve differences and spare the region the repercussions of tensions and conflicts between its countries," said Hakim.

Also on Wednesday, the European Union Delegation to Iraq warned against fraud in the coming parliamentary elections, expected to be held in Iraq next October.

Martin Huth, the European Union ambassador to Iraq, said there are concerns about the security and human rights environment in which the elections will take place.

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Israel Turbocharges West Bank Settlement Expansion with Largest Land Grab in Decades

A picture taken in the village of Turmus Ayya near Ramallah city shows the nearby Israeli Shilo settlement in the background, in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2024. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)
A picture taken in the village of Turmus Ayya near Ramallah city shows the nearby Israeli Shilo settlement in the background, in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2024. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)
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Israel Turbocharges West Bank Settlement Expansion with Largest Land Grab in Decades

A picture taken in the village of Turmus Ayya near Ramallah city shows the nearby Israeli Shilo settlement in the background, in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2024. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)
A picture taken in the village of Turmus Ayya near Ramallah city shows the nearby Israeli Shilo settlement in the background, in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2024. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)

Israel has approved the largest seizure of land in the occupied West Bank in over three decades, a settlement tracking group said Wednesday, a move that is likely to worsen already soaring tensions linked to the war in Gaza.

Israel's aggressive expansion in the West Bank reflects the settler community's strong influence in the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the most religious and nationalist in the country's history. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a settler himself, has turbocharged the policy of expansion, seizing new authorities over settlement development and saying he aims to solidify Israel's hold on the territory and prevent the creation of a Palestinian state, The AP reported.

Authorities recently approved the appropriation of 12.7 square kilometers (nearly 5 square miles) of land in the Jordan Valley, according to a copy of the order obtained by The Associated Press. Data from Peace Now, the tracking group, indicate it was the largest single appropriation approved since the 1993 Oslo accords at the start of the peace process.

Settlement monitors said the land grab connects Israeli settlements along a key corridor bordering Jordan, a move they said undermines the prospect of a contiguous Palestinian state.

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric called it “a step in the wrong direction,” adding that “the direction we want to be heading is to find a negotiated two-state solution.”
The newly seized land is in an area of the West Bank where, even before the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, settler violence was displacing communities of Palestinians. That violence has only surged since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack ignited the war in Gaza. Settlers have carried out more than 1,000 attacks on Palestinians since October in the West Bank, causing deaths and damaging property, according to the UN.

The land seizure, which was approved late last month but only publicized on Wednesday, comes after the seizure of 8 square kilometers (roughly 3 square miles) of land in the West Bank in March and 2.6 square kilometers (1 square mile) in February.

That makes 2024 by far the peak year for Israeli land seizure in the West Bank, Peace Now said.

By declaring them state lands, the government opens them up to being leased to Israelis and prohibits private Palestinian ownership. This year's land seizures are contiguous, linking two already existing settlements to create a solid block near the border with Jordan. The lands were declared to be closed Israeli military zones before they were declared state land.

The Palestinians view the expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank as the main barrier to any lasting peace agreement, preventing any possibility of a cohesive state. Most of the international community considers settlements illegal or illegitimate.