Sadr Says Wants to Form Govt with Political Majority in Iraq

Head of the Sadrist movement, cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. (Reuters)
Head of the Sadrist movement, cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. (Reuters)
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Sadr Says Wants to Form Govt with Political Majority in Iraq

Head of the Sadrist movement, cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. (Reuters)
Head of the Sadrist movement, cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. (Reuters)

Head of the Sadrist movement, cleric Moqtada al-Sadr is still able to control the political scene in Iraq from his modest home in Najaf city, some 160 kms south of Baghdad.

Sadr had emerged as the victor in last month’s parliamentary elections, handing him the reins in forming the next government. The elections have also created a sharp divide between Shiite parties, with Sadr the victor, on one end, and pro-Iran factions on the losing end.

Sadr on Sunday declared that he wanted to form a government through the political majority. In a statement, he explained that the new parliament should bring together the majority that forms the government and is responsible for reform on all levels, and the opposition that should be consulted for the reforms and government formation.

All of this should take place through democratic means, he stressed.

The government formation process will have to wait, however, as the elections commission continues to manually recount votes that have been appealed. The losing factions are also still holding street rallies in protest against the poll results in an effort to influence the formation process.

On whether a political majority government can be formed, Sunni MP Mashaan al-Jabouri said: “Anyone who wants change in the country has to support a majoritarian government.”

“Our concern, however, is that with such a government, the Shiites that are not part of it could create problems that may threaten civil peace,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“If such an obstacle is overcome, then all of us would support the formation of a political majority government and a strong opposition,” he added.

State of Law MP Mohammed Saadoun al-Sahyoun said the next government can be formed through one of three possible coalitions.

The first coalition could bring the Sadrist bloc with Sunnis and Kurdish forces, the second would see the losing factions side with the Kurdish coalition, and the third, which is the most likely, would see the Sadrists join the losing Shiites in forming the government.

The political disputes between the blocs are great and deep, but not insurmountable, he stated. Rapprochement is needed between rivals because the Iraqi people are awaiting a new government that can address pending problems.



Israel Strikes in Gaza Kill at Least 200, Palestinian Health Authorities Say 

A man looks at the rubble of a destroyed section of a school-turned-camp following an Israeli strike in Gaza City on March 18, 2025. (AFP)
A man looks at the rubble of a destroyed section of a school-turned-camp following an Israeli strike in Gaza City on March 18, 2025. (AFP)
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Israel Strikes in Gaza Kill at Least 200, Palestinian Health Authorities Say 

A man looks at the rubble of a destroyed section of a school-turned-camp following an Israeli strike in Gaza City on March 18, 2025. (AFP)
A man looks at the rubble of a destroyed section of a school-turned-camp following an Israeli strike in Gaza City on March 18, 2025. (AFP)

Israeli air strikes in Gaza killed at least 200 people, Palestinian health authorities said, as attacks hit dozens of targets early on Tuesday, ending a weeks-long standoff over extending the ceasefire that halted fighting in January.

Strikes were reported in multiple locations, including northern Gaza, Gaza City and the Deir al-Balah, Khan Younis and Rafah in central and southern Gaza Strip. Palestinian health ministry officials said many of the dead were children.

The Israeli military, which said it hit dozens of targets, said the strikes would continue for as long as necessary and would extend beyond air strikes, raising the prospect that Israeli ground troops could resume fighting.

The attacks were far wider in scale than the regular series of drone strikes the Israeli military has said it has conducted against individuals or small groups of suspected militants and follows weeks of failed efforts to agree an extension to the truce agreed on January 19.

In hospitals strained by 15 months of bombardment, piles of bodies in white plastic sheets smeared with blood could be seen stacked up as casualties were brought in.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said its teams dealt with 86 killed and 134 wounded, but others were brought to overwhelmed hospitals by private cars.

Officials from Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, Al-Aqsa Hospital in the central Gaza Strip and Al-Ahly Hospital in Gaza City, which have all been extensively damaged in the war, said that altogether they had received around 85 dead. Authorities also reported separately that 16 members of one family in Rafah, in southern Gaza had been killed.

A spokesperson for the Gaza health ministry said the death toll was at least 200.

Hamas said Israel had overturned the ceasefire agreement, leaving the fate of 59 hostages still held in Gaza uncertain.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office accused Hamas of "repeated refusal to release our hostages" and rejecting proposals from US President Donald Trump's Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff.

"Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength," it said in a statement.

In Washington, a White House spokesperson said Israel had consulted the US administration before it carried out the strikes, which the military said targeted mid-level Hamas commanders and leadership officials as well as infrastructure belonging to the armed group.

"Hamas could have released hostages to extend the ceasefire but instead chose refusal and war," White House spokesperson Brian Hughes said.

In Gaza, witnesses contacted by Reuters said Israeli tanks shelled areas in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, forcing many families who had returned to their areas after the ceasefire began to leave their homes and head northward to Khan Younis.

STANDOFF

Negotiating teams from Israel and Hamas had been in Doha as mediators from Egypt and Qatar sought to bridge the gap between the two sides following the end of an initial phase in the ceasefire, which saw 33 Israeli hostages and five Thais returned by armed groups in Gaza in exchange for some 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.

With the backing of the United States, Israel had been pressing for the return of the remaining 59 hostages still held in Gaza in exchange for a longer-term truce that would have halted fighting until after the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan and the Jewish Passover holiday in April.

However, Hamas had been insisting on moving to negotiations for a permanent end to the war and a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, in accordance with the terms of the original ceasefire agreement.

"We demand that the mediators hold Netanyahu and the Zionist occupation fully responsible for violating and overturning the agreement," the group said.

Each side has accused the other of failing to respect the terms of the January ceasefire agreement, and there were multiple hiccups during the course of the first phase. But until now, a full return to the fighting had been avoided.

Israel had blocked deliveries of aid from entering Gaza and had threatened on numerous occasions to resume fighting if Hamas did not agree to return the hostages it still holds.

The army did not provide details about the strikes carried out in the early hours of Tuesday, but Palestinian health authorities and witnesses contacted by Reuters reported damage in numerous areas of Gaza, where hundreds of thousands are living in makeshift shelters or damaged buildings.

A building in Gaza City, in the northern end of the strip was hit and at least three houses were hit in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza. In addition, the strikes hit targets in the southern cities of Khan Younis and Rafah, according to medics and witnesses.

Among those killed was senior Hamas official Mohammad Al-Jmasi, a member of the political office, and members of his family, including his grandchildren who were in his house in Gaza City when it was hit by an airstrike, Hamas sources and relatives said. In all, at least five senior Hamas officials were killed along with members of their families.

Much of Gaza now lies in ruins after 15 months of fighting, which erupted on October 7, 2023 when thousands of Hamas-led gunmen attacked Israeli communities around the Gaza Strip, killing some 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies, and abducting 251 hostages into Gaza.

The Israeli campaign in response has killed more than 48,000 people, according to Palestinian health authorities, and destroyed much of the housing and infrastructure in the enclave, including the hospital system.