Iraqi Army: 2 Rockets Hit Baghdad's Green Zone

 In this file photo taken on December 29, 2014 US soldiers walk around at the Taji base complex which hosts Iraqi and US troops and is located thirty kilometres north of the capital Baghdad. -AFP
In this file photo taken on December 29, 2014 US soldiers walk around at the Taji base complex which hosts Iraqi and US troops and is located thirty kilometres north of the capital Baghdad. -AFP
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Iraqi Army: 2 Rockets Hit Baghdad's Green Zone

 In this file photo taken on December 29, 2014 US soldiers walk around at the Taji base complex which hosts Iraqi and US troops and is located thirty kilometres north of the capital Baghdad. -AFP
In this file photo taken on December 29, 2014 US soldiers walk around at the Taji base complex which hosts Iraqi and US troops and is located thirty kilometres north of the capital Baghdad. -AFP

Two rockets hit Iraqi capital's high-security Green Zone early Thursday, hours before US-led forces were set to pull out of a second base in the country.

The two projectiles struck near the Baghdad Operations Command, which coordinates Iraq's police and military forces, the military said.

The command center is a few hundred meters away from the US Embassy, which is a regular target of rocket attacks. However, an Iraqi security official who spoke on condition of anonymity said there were no casualties.

Some 7,500 troops are in Iraq as part of the US-led coalition helping local troops fight terrorist remnants.

However, the number is being brought down by temporarily bringing some trainers home as a precautionary measure against the coronavirus pandemic. The alliance is also leaving other Iraqi bases altogether.

It was the latest rocket attack to strike the Green Zone since three rockets hit an area near the embassy last Tuesday, the Associated Press reported.

Earlier this month, two US military personnel and a British soldier were killed in a rocket attack on the Taji airbase further north, which was hit again two days later.

The repeated assaults prompted US airstrikes against what US officials said were mainly weapons facilities belonging to Kataib Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Iraqi militia group believed to be responsible for the attack.



White House Urges Hamas to Sign on to New Deal to Ensure Hostage Release

Palestinian boys examine a car targeted in an Israeli army strike that killed several of its occupants in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinian boys examine a car targeted in an Israeli army strike that killed several of its occupants in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
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White House Urges Hamas to Sign on to New Deal to Ensure Hostage Release

Palestinian boys examine a car targeted in an Israeli army strike that killed several of its occupants in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinian boys examine a car targeted in an Israeli army strike that killed several of its occupants in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

The Biden administration is urging Hamas to sign on to a new ceasefire deal that would ensure the release of hostages, White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Friday.

Kirby said the White House welcomed Israel's decision to send another team to Doha to continue negotiations.

The United States, Egypt and Qatar have been trying to mediate a deal for a ceasefire and hostage release for a year with no success and are making another push this month before Donald Trump's inauguration.
Ceasefire efforts have continually stumbled on a fundamental disagreement over how to end the conflict. Hamas says it will accept an agreement and release the hostages only if Israel commits to ending the war. Israel says it will agree to stop fighting only once Hamas is destroyed.

On Friday, Hamas said it wanted "a complete ceasefire, the withdrawal of occupation forces from the Gaza Strip" and the return of displaced people to their homes in all areas of the enclave.

US President Joe Biden has repeatedly called for a ceasefire agreement. Trump has said that if there is not a deal to release the hostages before his inauguration, "all hell is going to break out.”