Framework’s Announcement of New Alliance in Iraq Stumbles at Halbousi’s Resignation

People visit the Iraqi Museum in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on September 27, 2022 on the occasion of the World Tourism Day. (AFP)
People visit the Iraqi Museum in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on September 27, 2022 on the occasion of the World Tourism Day. (AFP)
TT

Framework’s Announcement of New Alliance in Iraq Stumbles at Halbousi’s Resignation

People visit the Iraqi Museum in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on September 27, 2022 on the occasion of the World Tourism Day. (AFP)
People visit the Iraqi Museum in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on September 27, 2022 on the occasion of the World Tourism Day. (AFP)

Iraq’s Sunni parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi intends to tender his resignation when the legislature meets on Wednesday.

He announced the move on Sunday, taking the political scene by surprise and undermining the Shiite pro-Iran Coordination Framework’s efforts to announce a new alliance that would form a new government to end the country’s monthslong political impasse.

Member of the Framework and leader of the Hikma movement, Ammar al-Hakim called on Halbousi on Tuesday to withdraw his resignation.

Halbousi had sought to resign months ago.

During a political event in Baghdad, he explained that he wanted to step down because he used to be part of a political alliance that had called for the formation of a national majority government. That alliance included Sadrist movement leader, influential cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and Sunni and Kurdish parties.

Now, Halbousi is part of efforts to form a new coalition that is demanding the formation of a government through consensus.

The Framework has been carrying out efforts to establish the new “management of state” coalition and has even approached Sadr’s former allies. The cleric was asked to join but he ignored the call.

Several political parties, starting with the Framework, have expressed their skepticism over Halbousi’s resignation, speculating that it was just a political maneuver to undermine the grouping and ensure his re-election to his post with a vast majority.

A Sunni official described as “very smart” Halbousi’s move to resign, noting that the Framework was going to sack him as soon as parliament convened because of his alliance with Sadr that had led to divisions among Shiites.

Speaking on condition of anonymity to Asharq Al-Awsat, the official explained that had the alliance with Sadr been successful, the Shiites would have lost their majority in parliament.

“The Framework would have never allowed this,” he stressed.

Moreover, the official said the Framework then worked on encouraging Halbousi’s rivals to “rebel against him” and even name an alternative for the position of parliament speaker.

However, Halbousi was one step ahead of them and joined the new alliance with the Framework. This move not only thwarted the plan to dismiss him, but also forces those who sought his sacking to back his re-appointment as speaker because his resignation would lead to the collapse of the new alliance before it is even officially announced, explained the official.

A leading member of the Framework confirmed that Halbousi’s resignation announcement throttled the group’s plan to unveil the new alliance.

“The Framework has returned to square one with Halbousi’s announcement,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat on condition of anonymity.

“Leaders of Shiite parties are frustrated by how complicated the situation is,” he admitted.

Media professor at the Al-Iraqia University Dr. Fadel al-Badrani said Halbousi made a “smart and bold” move by announcing his resignation.

“He made it at the right moment because the Framework had constantly said that it would seek to withdraw confidence from the speaker,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The resignation was announced just as the Framework was on the verge of revealing the new coalition that would include the majority of political forces in parliament. The coalition needs the speaker to be in place for it to succeed, he said.

The Framework, therefore, has no choice but to reject the resignation and throw its support behind Halbousi remaining in his post, he added.



Many in Gaza are Eating Just Once a Day, as Hunger Spreads amid Aid Issues

An Israeli tank and other military vehicles guard a position as Palestinians flee Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on January 26, 2024, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.  (Photo by Mahmud Hams / AFP)
An Israeli tank and other military vehicles guard a position as Palestinians flee Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on January 26, 2024, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.  (Photo by Mahmud Hams / AFP)
TT

Many in Gaza are Eating Just Once a Day, as Hunger Spreads amid Aid Issues

An Israeli tank and other military vehicles guard a position as Palestinians flee Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on January 26, 2024, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.  (Photo by Mahmud Hams / AFP)
An Israeli tank and other military vehicles guard a position as Palestinians flee Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on January 26, 2024, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.  (Photo by Mahmud Hams / AFP)

Yasmin Eid coughs and covers her face, cooking a small pot of lentils over a fire fed with twigs and scrap paper in the tent she shares with her husband and four young daughters in the Gaza Strip.
It was their only meal Wednesday — it was all they could afford.
“My girls suck on their thumbs because of how hungry they are, and I pat their backs until they sleep,” she said.
After being displaced five times, the Eids reside in central Gaza, where aid groups have relatively more access than in the north, which has been largely isolated and heavily destroyed since Israel began waging a renewed offensive against the militant group Hamas in early October. But nearly everyone in Gaza is going hungry these days. In the north experts say a full-blown famine may be underway, The Associated Press said.
On Thursday, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister, accusing them of using “starvation as a method of warfare” — charges Israel adamantly denies.
In Deir al-Balah, the Eids are among hundreds of thousands sheltering in squalid tent camps. The local bakeries shut down for five days this week. The price of a bag of bread climbed above $13 by Wednesday, as bread and flour vanished from shelves before more supplies arrived.
The United Nations humanitarian office warned of a “stark increase” in the number of households experiencing severe hunger in central and southern Gaza. It appeared to be linked to the robbery at gunpoint of nearly 100 aid trucks last weekend in southern Gaza, close to Israeli military positions. Israel blamed Hamas but appears to have taken no action to stop the looting, while Hamas said it was the work of local bandits.
Aid groups say the looting is one of many obstacles to getting food and other vital aid to the territory's 2.3 million Palestinians. They also have to contend with Israeli movement restrictions, ongoing fighting, and heavy damage wreaked by the Israeli bombardment of roads and critical infrastructure.
For the Eids, hunger is the daily routine For months, Yasmin and her family have gone to bed hungry.
“Everything has increased in price, and we cannot buy anything," she said. “We always go to sleep without having dinner.”
She misses coffee, but a single packet of Nescafe goes for around $1.30. A kilogram (2 pounds) of onions goes for $10, a medium bottle of cooking oil for $15 — if available. Meat and chicken all but vanished from the markets months ago, but there are still some local vegetables. Such sums are astronomical in an impoverished territory where few people earn regular incomes.
Crowds of hundreds wait hours to get food from charities, which are also struggling.
Hani Almadhoun, co-founder of the Gaza Soup Kitchen, said his teams can offer only small bowls of rice or pasta once a day. He said they “can go to the market on one day and buy something for $5, and then go back in the afternoon to find it doubled or tripled in price.”
Its kitchen in the central town of Zuweida operated on a daily budget of around $500 for much of the war. When the amount of aid entering Gaza plummeted in October, its costs climbed to around $1,300 a day. It can feed about half of the 1,000 families who line up each day.
The sharp decline in aid, and a US ultimatum Israel says it places no limits on the amount of aid entering Gaza and has announced a number of measures it says are aimed at increasing the flow in recent weeks, including the opening of a new crossing. It blames UN agencies for not retrieving it, pointing to hundreds of truckloads languishing on the Gaza side of the border.
But the military's own figures show that the amount of aid entering Gaza plunged to around 1,800 trucks in October, down from over 4,200 the previous month. At the current rate of entry, around 2,400 trucks would come into Gaza in November. Around 500 trucks entered each day before the war.
The UN says less than half the truckloads are actually distributed because of ongoing fighting, Israeli denial of movement requests, and the breakdown of law and order. Hamas-run police have vanished from many areas after being targeted by Israeli airstrikes.
The war started Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led fighters stormed into Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250. Around 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are dead, and Hamas militants have repeatedly regrouped after Israeli operations, carrying out hit-and-run attacks from tunnels and bombed-out buildings.
Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed over 44,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to local health authorities, who do not say how many of the dead were fighters.
The United States warned Israel in October that it might be forced to curtail some of its crucial military support if Israel did not rapidly ramp up the amount of aid entering Gaza. But after the 30-day ultimatum expired, the Biden administration declined to take any action, saying there had been some progress.
Israel meanwhile passed legislation severing ties with UNRWA. Israel accuses the agency of allowing itself to be infiltrated by Hamas — allegations denied by the UN.
Israeli news outlets have reported that officials are considering plans for the military to take over aid distribution or contract it out to private security companies. Asked about such plans Wednesday, government spokesman David Mercer said “Israel is looking at many creative solutions to ensure a better future for Gaza.”
Yoav Gallant, the former defense minister who was seen as a voice of moderation in the far-right government before being fired this month, warned on X that handing over aid distribution to a private firm was a “euphemism for the beginning of military rule.”
As that debate plays out in Jerusalem, less than 100 kilometers (60 miles) away from central Gaza, most Palestinians in the territory are focused on staying alive in a war with no end in sight.
“I find it difficult to talk about the suffering we are experiencing. I am ashamed to talk about it,” said Yasmin’s husband, Hani. “What can I tell you? I’m a person who has 21 family members and is unable to provide them with a bag of flour.”