Thousands Mourn Palestinian Fire Victims in Gaza

Palestinians take part in the funeral of the fire victims in the Gaza Strip on Friday, November 18, 2022 (DPA)
Palestinians take part in the funeral of the fire victims in the Gaza Strip on Friday, November 18, 2022 (DPA)
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Thousands Mourn Palestinian Fire Victims in Gaza

Palestinians take part in the funeral of the fire victims in the Gaza Strip on Friday, November 18, 2022 (DPA)
Palestinians take part in the funeral of the fire victims in the Gaza Strip on Friday, November 18, 2022 (DPA)

Thousands of Palestinians turned out Friday for the funeral of 21 people who died in a Gaza Strip apartment building fire.

At least seven children were among the dead in the blaze at Jabalia Palestinian refugee camp on Thursday night, said the head of the Indonesian Hospital there, Saleh Abu Lai.

Most of the dead were members of the Abu Rayya family. Mourners carried the coffins, draped in Palestinian flags, through crowds in the camp toward Beit Lahia cemetery for burial.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called it a national tragedy and announced a day of mourning on Friday

It took firefighters more than an hour to get control of the massive flames that burst through the top floor of a four-story residential building in Jabalia, one of eight refugee camps in the Gaza Strip, where 2.3 million people live in one of the most densely populated areas on earth.

Details about the cause of the fire remain unclear as there were no survivors, Abu Ahmad Abu Rayya, the head of the clan, said.

“A father, his children and his grandchildren, not one of them got out alive to tell us what happened,” Abu Rayya told the crowds with a strained voice.

Gaza’s Interior Ministry said it had launched an investigation into the incident, which revealed that large amounts of gasoline had been stored at the site, possibly fueling the blaze that quickly engulfed the building.

Head of the Indonesian Hospital in Jabalia Saleh Abu Laila told AFP that the facility had received the bodies of at least seven children.

While the cause of the fire remained unknown, a spokesman for the civil defense unit told AFP that supplies of fuel were stored in the house.

Several Arab states, the United Nations and the European Union expressed their condolences for the bereaved families.

Palestinian officials said a nearly 15-year-long blockade on Gaza has crippled the economy and undermined their effort to upgrade the capability of the enclave's civil emergency department to fight fires, especially in high rise-buildings.

A spokesman for COGAT, the Israeli defense ministry unit that manages the Erez crossing, told AFP that Israel “will provide help... as needed” through the transit point.

Outgoing Defense Minister Benny Gantz expressed sympathy for the “serious disaster” in Gaza.

He said it would be right for Israel to do in order to save human lives, but it appears that there were no wounded survivors to transport.

With electricity supply sparse in the impoverished territory, domestic blazes are common, as Gazans seek alternative sources for cooking and light, including kerosene lamps.

This year Gaza received an average of 12 hours of mains electricity daily, up from just seven hours five years ago, according to United Nations data.

New dangers arise in the winter when many people burn coal for heat



Two US Congressmen Introduce Bill to Free Iraq from Iran

Members of Iraq's Shiite Muslim Al-Nujaba movement wave the Palestinian flag during a rally in Baghdad on October 8, 2023 (AFP)
Members of Iraq's Shiite Muslim Al-Nujaba movement wave the Palestinian flag during a rally in Baghdad on October 8, 2023 (AFP)
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Two US Congressmen Introduce Bill to Free Iraq from Iran

Members of Iraq's Shiite Muslim Al-Nujaba movement wave the Palestinian flag during a rally in Baghdad on October 8, 2023 (AFP)
Members of Iraq's Shiite Muslim Al-Nujaba movement wave the Palestinian flag during a rally in Baghdad on October 8, 2023 (AFP)

Two US congressmen introduced the “Free Iraq from Iran” bill this week, to diminish Tehran’s influence in Baghdad and to support its independence.

“Grateful to introduce this bipartisan bill with colleague Jimmy Panetta (D-CA),” Representative Joe Wilson (R-SC) wrote on his X account.

The new bill says that in 180 days, the Secretary of State, in conjunction with the Secretary of the Treasury, and the CEO of the US Agency for Global Media, shall develop and submit to Congress a strategy to support the efforts of the Iraqi people in countering Iran in Iraq and countering Iranian backed puppet militias in Iraq.

This strategy shall include a description of efforts to dismantle all Iran-backed puppet militias in Iraq, including the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), and to end US security assistance to the Iraqi government until Iraq removes Iranian-backed puppet militias from its security forces.

The bill also calls on providing support to Iraqi civil society actors and opposition groups to enhance their security and operational capabilities, and to expand and enhance American broadcasting efforts in Iraq to uncover war crimes and corruption of Iranian backed puppet militias in Iraq.

Several Iraqi circles, including members of the Coordination Framework, said Wilson's bill will not secure a majority of votes in Congress. However, they feared the undesirable consequences of any US strikes on Iran, especially as Tehran has lately started to abandon its allies in the region.

Last month, Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei said Iran does not have any proxy forces in the region.

On Thursday, The Telegraph wrote that Iran has ordered military personnel to leave Yemen, abandoning its Houthi allies as the US escalates an airstrike campaign against the group.

Senior Iraqi pro-government officials are concerned about a potential conflict between Washington and Tehran and have argued with their opponents about how to prepare for such possible war.

Iraq will be the first to suffer from such conflict, the officials said.

In return, pro-Iranian Iraqi officials say a regional war will not have major repercussions on their country. They say some political forces were using such assumptions as part of their campaigns to prepare for the general elections scheduled later this year.

Threatening US Bases

Meanwhile, Najaf-based Iraqi Shiite cleric Sadr al Din al Qabanji warned that US bases in Iraq are within the striking range of Iran and Iranian-backed Iraqi militias.

During his Friday sermon, Qabanji urged US President Donald Trump not to start or threaten war, referring to Trump’s threat to bomb Iran if Iran does not agree to a new nuclear deal.

Amid the escalating tension between Washington and Tehran and the ongoing US strikes on Houthis in Yemen, the Pentagon said it has reinforced US military capability in the Middle East with more warplanes.

On Monday, Khamenei ruled out any foreign attack on this country but said the US would receive a strong blow if Trump followed through with his threats.

“The enmity from the US and Israel has always been there. They threaten to attack us, which we don’t think is very probable, but if they commit any mischief they will surely receive a strong reciprocal blow,” Khamenei said.

On Friday, Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammed Shia Al-Sudani said his government has preserved Iraq’s stability through wise and responsible leadership, preventing the country from being dragged into regional conflict.

He added that some impulsive voices called for Iraq to engage in war and conflict. “Iraq’s and the Iraqi people’s interests are our top priority. There is no room for compromise, whether with internal or external actors,” the PM said.