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Jordan Hosts Baghdad Conference for Cooperation and Partnership on Tuesday

General view showing empty streets in Amman, Jordan October 9, 2020. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed/File Photo
General view showing empty streets in Amman, Jordan October 9, 2020. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed/File Photo
    Amman, Baghdad - Asharq Al-Awsat
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Jordan Hosts Baghdad Conference for Cooperation and Partnership on Tuesday

General view showing empty streets in Amman, Jordan October 9, 2020. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed/File Photo
General view showing empty streets in Amman, Jordan October 9, 2020. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed/File Photo

Jordan will host the second session of the Baghdad Conference for Cooperation and Partnership on Tuesday.

The event's first session was held in Baghdad in August last year upon the invitation of King Abdullah II, in coordination with French President Emmanuel Macron and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, who both attended the session, according to Petra news agency.

The conference will feature the participation of a number of leaders and representatives of countries and regional organizations.

Participating countries include Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Turkey, and Iran.

The Secretary-General of the Arab League, the Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, representatives from the UN, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and the EU will also take part in the conference.

The opening session of the conference will witness the participation of Arab and EU ambassadors, the 20G, and the permanent members of the Security Council accredited to the Kingdom.

The conference, meant to reiterate support for Iraq's sovereignty, security, and stability, aims to set cooperation mechanisms to enhance regional security and stability and push forward the development process.

Sudani held a press conference in Baghdad during which he spoke about his participation at the conference.

He also confirmed the increase in the exchange rates of the dollar against the Iraqi dinar.

He pointed out that “the government was and is still monitoring the central bank’s policy to ensure market stability,” revealing that “the Iraqi Central Bank’s reserves of foreign currency amounted to 96 billion dollars.”

Al-Sudani said: “The financial situation in Iraq is at its best.”

Regarding the smuggling of oil derivatives, the PM announced the confiscation of more than 1,781,000 liters of oil derivatives, the dismantling of a large number of smuggling networks, and the arrest of 18 members of these networks.

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Israeli Military Orders War Crime Probe into Gaza Shootings, Paper Says

Palestinians climb a vehicle as they gather to receive aid supplies in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip, June 23, 2025. (Reuters)
Palestinians climb a vehicle as they gather to receive aid supplies in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip, June 23, 2025. (Reuters)
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Israeli Military Orders War Crime Probe into Gaza Shootings, Paper Says

Palestinians climb a vehicle as they gather to receive aid supplies in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip, June 23, 2025. (Reuters)
Palestinians climb a vehicle as they gather to receive aid supplies in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip, June 23, 2025. (Reuters)

Israel's Military Advocate General has ordered an investigation into possible war crimes over allegations that Israeli forces deliberately fired at Palestinian civilians near Gaza aid distribution sites, Haaretz newspaper reported on Friday.

Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed over the past month in the vicinity of areas where food was being handed out, local hospitals and officials have said.

Haaretz, a left-leaning Israeli newspaper, quoted unnamed Israeli soldiers as saying they were told to fire at the crowds to keep them back, using unnecessary lethal force against people who appeared to pose no threat.

The military told Reuters that the Israeli army had not instructed soldiers to deliberately shoot at civilians. It added that it was looking to improve "the operational response" in the aid areas and had recently installed new fencing and signs, and opened additional routes to reach the handout zones.

Haaretz quoted unnamed sources as saying that the army unit established to review incidents that may involve breaches of international law had been tasked with examining soldiers' actions near aid locations over the past month.

The military told Reuters that some incidents were being reviewed by relevant authorities.

It added: "Any allegation of a deviation from the law or army directives will be thoroughly examined, and further action will be taken as necessary."

There is an acute shortage of food and other basic supplies after the nearly two-year-old military campaign by Israel against Hamas in Gaza that has reduced much of the enclave to rubble and displaced most of its two million inhabitants.

Thousands of people gather around distribution centers desperately awaiting the next deliveries, but there have been near daily reports of shootings and killings on the approach routes. Medics said six people were killed by gunfire on Friday as they sought to get food in the southern Gaza Strip.

MORE THAN 500 HAVE DIED, GAZA AUTHORITIES SAY

In all, more than 500 people have died near aid centers operated by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) or in areas where U.N. food trucks were set to pass since late May, the Gaza health authorities have said.

The unnamed Israeli soldiers told Haaretz that military commanders had ordered troops to shoot at the crowds of Palestinians to disperse them and clear the area.

During a closed-door meeting with senior Military Advocate General officials this week, legal representatives rejected army claims that the incidents were isolated cases, Haaretz reported.

There has been widespread confusion about access to the aid, with the army imposing for a time a 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew on approach routes to GHF sites. But locals often have to set out well before dawn to have any chance of retrieving food.

In a statement late on Friday, a GHF spokesperson said there had been no incidents or fatalities to date at or in the immediate vicinity of its distribution sites. The statement said the army is tasked with providing safe passage for aid-seekers to all humanitarian organizations operating in Gaza, including GHF.

"GHF is not aware of any of these incidents but these allegations are too grave to ignore and we therefore call on Israel to investigate them and transparently publish the results in a timely manner," the spokesperson said.

The Gaza war began when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, killing nearly 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 others hostage into the enclave.

In response, Israel launched a military campaign that has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians, according to local health authorities in Gaza.

The Gaza health ministry said on Friday that at least 72 people were killed and more than 170 wounded by Israeli fire across Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours.