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Qaani in Baghdad 2 Days after Iran's Strikes on Erbil

Esmail Qaani. (AFP file photo)
Esmail Qaani. (AFP file photo)
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Qaani in Baghdad 2 Days after Iran's Strikes on Erbil

Esmail Qaani. (AFP file photo)
Esmail Qaani. (AFP file photo)

Commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force Esmail Qaani arrived in Baghdad on Tuesday in an unannounced visit, two days after the Guards claimed responsibility for ballistic missile attacks against Erbil, the capital of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region.

Iran said the barrage was retaliation for an Israeli strike in Syria that killed two members of the Guards earlier this month. Iranian state media said the Guards had launched the attack against Israeli "strategic centers" in Erbil.

Qaani was likely in Baghdad to present "evidence" to back the Iranian claims of alleged Israeli activity in Kurdistan. He will also attempt to politically exploit the attack to help unify Shiite ranks in Iraq amid the sharp division between the Sadrist movement, led by cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, and the pro-Iran Coordination Framework.

Qaani will attempt to persuade Sadr that Israeli Mossad agents were operating in Erbil. This will force the cleric to abandon his alliance with the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP), headed by Masoud Barzani, and Sunni parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi and Khamis Khanjar.

Should he succeed, Qaani would have thrown a wrench in Sadr's plans for a majority coalition that shuts out Tehran from Iraqi politics.

So far, Qaani's frequent visits to Iraq after the October parliamentary elections have failed to unify Shiite ranks. In fact, Tehran's role appears to have waned, while Turkey has succeeded in uniting Sunni factions.

Despite its pressure, Iran has failed in thwarting the divisions among Shiite groups and it has failed in countering Sadr's plan for a majority coalition and government that shuns foreign meddling, namely from Iran and the United States.

The Erbil attack is also seen as a message to Barzani, whom Tehran blames for dividing Shiites.

Ultimately, Iran believes that its plans in Iraq can only be achieved by breaking up Sadr's alliance with the KDP and Sunnis. It would rather that all Shiites unite in one bloc, while it could care less if the Sunnis and Kurds unite or remain divided.

Sadr has formed a committee with Barzani to verify Iran's claims about Erbil.

Outgoing Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi had headed to the Kurdish capital on Monday to inspect the damage. He urged Iran to present evidence of its claims, a sign that he has sided with Sadr in the entire affair.

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Israeli Strikes Kill at Least 17 in Gaza as Ground Troops Enter Palestinian Territory’s North

A picture taken from the Israeli side of the border with the Gaza Strip shows a smoke plume rising above destroyed buildings in the southern part of the Palestinian territory on April 3, 2025. (Photo by Menahem KAHANA / AFP)
A picture taken from the Israeli side of the border with the Gaza Strip shows a smoke plume rising above destroyed buildings in the southern part of the Palestinian territory on April 3, 2025. (Photo by Menahem KAHANA / AFP)
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Israeli Strikes Kill at Least 17 in Gaza as Ground Troops Enter Palestinian Territory’s North

A picture taken from the Israeli side of the border with the Gaza Strip shows a smoke plume rising above destroyed buildings in the southern part of the Palestinian territory on April 3, 2025. (Photo by Menahem KAHANA / AFP)
A picture taken from the Israeli side of the border with the Gaza Strip shows a smoke plume rising above destroyed buildings in the southern part of the Palestinian territory on April 3, 2025. (Photo by Menahem KAHANA / AFP)

Israeli strikes killed more than a dozen people in the Gaza Strip early Friday, as Israel sent more ground troops into the Palestinian territory to ramp up its offensive against Hamas.

At least 17 people, some from the same family, were killed after an airstrike hit the southern city of Khan Younis, according to hospital staff. Hours later, people were still searching through the rubble, looking for survivors.

The attack came a day after Israeli strikes killed at least 100 Palestinians. Hundreds more have died in the past two weeks, as Israel has intensified operations, intended to pressure Hamas to release remaining hostages it took during its attack on Israel in October 2023. On Friday, Israel said it had begun ground activity in northern Gaza, in order to expand its security zone.

Israel’s military had issued sweeping evacuation orders for parts of northern Gaza before expected ground operations. The UN humanitarian office said around 280,000 Palestinians have been displaced since Israel ended the ceasefire with Hamas last month.

In recent days, Israel has vowed to seize large parts of the Palestinian territory and establish a new security corridor across it.

To pressure Hamas, Israel has imposed a monthlong blockade on food, fuel and humanitarian aid that has left civilians facing acute shortages as supplies dwindle — a tactic that rights groups say is a war crime. Israel said earlier this week that enough food had entered Gaza during a six-week truce to sustain the territory’s roughly 2 million Palestinians for a long time.

Hamas says it will only release the remaining 59 hostages — 24 of whom are believed to be alive — in exchange for the release of more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli pullout from Gaza. The group has rejected demands that it lay down its arms or leave the territory.

The predawn strike on Friday hit a three-story building. In addition to the dead, the attack wounded at least 16 people from the same family. Associated Press reporters saw bodies being carried out in blankets, while others searched for people trapped under the rubble and collected charred remains.

“We don’t know how to collect them and how to bury them. We don’t know whose remains these are. They were burned and dismembered,” said Ismail Al-Aqqad, whose brother died in the strike, as well as his brother’s family.

On Thursday, more than 30 bodies, including women and children, were taken to hospitals in and around Khan Younis, according to hospital staff.

Israel said Friday that it had killed a top Hamas commander in a strike in Lebanon’s coastal city of Sidon. Israel said that Hassan Farhat was a commander of Hamas’ western area in Lebanon and that he was responsible for numerous attacks against Israel, including one in February 2024, which killed an Israeli soldier and injured others.

In Israel’s renewed offensive, troops have expanded the buffer zone, retaking the eastern section of the Netzarim corridor and partially disconnecting northern and southern Gaza.

The US-based Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, known as ACLED, reported there were over 300 airstrike events during 10 days at the end of March — nearly 10 times the number in February.

The war began when Hamas-led fighters attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages, most of whom have since been released in ceasefire agreements and other deals. Israel rescued eight living hostages and has recovered dozens of bodies.

More than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza as part of Israel's offensive, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t say whether those killed are civilians or combatants. The ministry says more than half of those killed were women and children. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 fighters, without providing evidence.

The war has left most of Gaza in ruins, and at its height displaced around 90% of the population.