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Iraqis Protest Rise in Food Prices, Officials Blame Ukraine War

Iraqis demonstrate to denounce rising prices of basic food items, in al-Haboubi Square in the center of Iraq's city of Nasiriyah in the southern Dhi Qar province on March 9, 2022. (AFP)
Iraqis demonstrate to denounce rising prices of basic food items, in al-Haboubi Square in the center of Iraq's city of Nasiriyah in the southern Dhi Qar province on March 9, 2022. (AFP)
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Iraqis Protest Rise in Food Prices, Officials Blame Ukraine War

Iraqis demonstrate to denounce rising prices of basic food items, in al-Haboubi Square in the center of Iraq's city of Nasiriyah in the southern Dhi Qar province on March 9, 2022. (AFP)
Iraqis demonstrate to denounce rising prices of basic food items, in al-Haboubi Square in the center of Iraq's city of Nasiriyah in the southern Dhi Qar province on March 9, 2022. (AFP)

Protests erupted Wednesday in Iraq's impoverished south over a rise in food prices that officials attributed to the conflict in Ukraine.

For about a week, the price of cooking oils and flour have skyrocketed in local markets as government officials have sought to address growing anger with various statements and measures.

More than 500 protesters gathered in a central square in the southern city of Nasiriyah -- a flashpoint of anti-corruption protests that gripped the country in 2019.

"The rise in prices is strangling us, whether it is bread or other food products," retired teacher Hassan Kazem said. "We can barely make ends meet."

On Tuesday, the Iraqi government announced measures to confront the increase in international prices.

These included a monthly allowance of about $70 for pensioners whose income does not exceed one million dinars (almost $700), as well as civil servants earning less than 500,000 dinars.

The authorities also announced the suspension of customs duties on food products, basic consumer goods and construction materials for two months.

Trade ministry spokesman Mohamed Hanoun attributed the rise in cooking oil prices to the conflict in Ukraine.

"There's a major global crisis because Ukraine has a large share of (the world market in cooking) oils," he said.

On Tuesday, a protester was seriously injured in a demonstration in the central province of Babil that was marred by violence, a security source said.

The interior ministry announced it had arrested 31 people accused of "raising the prices of food commodities and abusing citizens".

A protester in Nasiriyah on Wednesday denounced the "greed of traders who manipulate prices".

Both Russia and Ukraine are major producers of foodstuffs, including sunflower oil and wheat, and the Middle East is particularly dependent on imports from the two countries.

Iraq was rocked by nationwide protests in 2019 against rampant corruption, a lack of job opportunities and poor living conditions.

More than 600 people were killed and tens of thousands injured during the demonstrations.

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Israeli Troops, Palestinian Fighters Clash in West Bank after Incidents Near Settlements

Israeli troops move inside the Jenin refugee camp on the fourth day of an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 31 August 2024. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH
Israeli troops move inside the Jenin refugee camp on the fourth day of an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 31 August 2024. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH
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Israeli Troops, Palestinian Fighters Clash in West Bank after Incidents Near Settlements

Israeli troops move inside the Jenin refugee camp on the fourth day of an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 31 August 2024. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH
Israeli troops move inside the Jenin refugee camp on the fourth day of an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 31 August 2024. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH

Clashes broke out between Israeli troops and Palestinian fighters in the occupied West Bank on Saturday as Israel pushed ahead with a military operation in the flashpoint city of Jenin.
Israeli troops searched areas around Jewish settlements after two separate security incidents on Friday evening. In Jenin itself, drones and helicopters circled overhead while the sound of sporadic firing could be heard in the city, said Reuters.
Hundreds of Israeli troops have been carrying out raids since Wednesday in one of their largest actions in the West Bank in months.
The operation, which Israel says was mounted to block Iranian-backed militant groups from attacking its citizens, has drawn international calls for a halt.
At least 19 Palestinians, including armed fighters and civilians, have now been killed since it began. The Israeli military said on Saturday a soldier had been killed during the fighting in the West Bank.
The Israeli forces were battling Palestinian fighters from armed factions that have long had a strong presence in Jenin and the adjoining refugee camp, a densely populated township housing families driven from their homes in the 1948 Middle East war around the creation of Israel.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said on Saturday a child had been taken to hospital in Jenin with a bullet wound to the head.
The escalation in hostilities in the West Bank takes place as fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas group still rages in the coastal Gaza Strip nearly 11 months since it began, and hostilities with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement in the Israel-Lebanon border area have intensified.
Late on Friday, Israeli forces said two men were killed in separate incidents near Gush Etzion, a large West Bank settlement cluster located south of Jerusalem, that the military assessed were both attempted attacks on Israelis.
In the first, a car exploded at a petrol station in what the army said was an attempted car bombing attack. The military said a man was shot dead after he got out of the car and tried to attack soldiers.
In the second incident, a man was killed after the military said a car attempted to ram a security guard and infiltrate the Karmei Tzur settlement. The car was chased by security forces and crashed and an explosive device in it was detonated, the military said in a statement.
The two deaths were confirmed by Palestinian health authorities but they gave no details on how they died.
Troops combed the area following the two incidents. Security forces also carried out raids in the city of Hebron, where the two men came from.
Hamas praised what it called a "double heroic operation" in the West Bank. It said in a statement it was "a clear message that resistance will remain striking, prolonged and sustained as long as the brutal occupation's aggression and targeting of our people and land continue".
The group, however, did not claim direct responsibility for the attacks.
Israeli army chief General Herzi Halevi said on Saturday Israel would step up defensive measures as well as offensive actions like the Jenin operation.
Amid the gunfire, armored bulldozers searching for roadside bombs have ploughed up large stretches of paved roads and water pipes have been damaged, leading to flooding in some areas.
Since the Hamas attack on Israel last October that triggered the Gaza war, at least 660 Palestinian combatants and civilians have been killed in the West Bank, according to Palestinian tallies, some by Israeli troops and some by Jewish settlers who have carried out frequent attacks on Palestinian communities.
Israel says Iran provides weapons and support to militant factions in the West Bank - under Israeli occupation since the 1967 Middle East war - and the military has as a result cranked up its operations there.