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Iraqi Govt Turns to Survey to Ask Citizens about Continuing Mission of Int’l Coalition

An Iraqi soldier salutes from a military vehicle as they take part in a parade marking the Iraqi Army's 103 anniversary in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, Iraq, 06 January 2024. (EPA)
An Iraqi soldier salutes from a military vehicle as they take part in a parade marking the Iraqi Army's 103 anniversary in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, Iraq, 06 January 2024. (EPA)
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Iraqi Govt Turns to Survey to Ask Citizens about Continuing Mission of Int’l Coalition

An Iraqi soldier salutes from a military vehicle as they take part in a parade marking the Iraqi Army's 103 anniversary in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, Iraq, 06 January 2024. (EPA)
An Iraqi soldier salutes from a military vehicle as they take part in a parade marking the Iraqi Army's 103 anniversary in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, Iraq, 06 January 2024. (EPA)

In an unusual step, the Iraqi government asked its citizens for their views about the continued deployment of the US-led anti-ISIS coalition in the country.

It sent people text messages on their mobile phones so they can reply as to whether they support or oppose the continued deployment.

The move took place days after a prominent militia leader was killed by a US strike.

The strike in Baghdad targeted Mushtaq Taleb al-Saidi, who was a leader of Harakat al-Nujaba who was involved in planning and carrying out attacks against American personnel in Iraq and Syria, said the Pentagon last week.

The Popular Mobilization Force, or PMF, a coalition of militias that is nominally under the control of the Iraqi military, said its deputy head of operations in Baghdad, identified as Abu Taqwa, had been killed "as a result of brutal American aggression."

Since the Israel-Hamas war began in October the US military has come under attack at least 100 times in Iraq and Syria, usually with a mix of rockets and one-way attack drones.

The United States has 2,500 troops in Iraq and 900 in neighboring Syria focused on preventing a resurgence of ISIS militants.

Abu Taqwa’s killing sparked outrage among Iran-aligned Shiite parties and armed factions that have demanded the pullout of American forces from Iraq.

Asharq Al-Awsat contacted Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani's aides for further details about the new survey and what the government aims to achieve out of it but received no reply.

Soon after Abu Taqwa’s killing, the government announced that it was forming a committee to prepare the closing down of the international coalition's mission in the country.

"Government is setting the date for the start of the bilateral committee to put arrangements to end the presence of the international coalition forces in Iraq permanently," a statement from the prime minister's office said.

The committee would include representatives of the military coalition, a government official said.

Opinions have varied in Iraq about the text message survey. Some believe it aims to appease the pro-Iran factions, while others viewed it as pointless and won’t lead to any changes on the ground.

Others believe it is aimed at boosting the government by showing that it cares about what the people think and that it was not taking "fateful decisions unilaterally."

Former diplomat and ambassador Dr. Ghazi Faisal said it seems that the government was avoiding turning to parliament to discuss the withdrawal of the international forces in line with the strategic partnership and cooperation agreement signed between Baghdad and Washington.

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, he said the agreement clearly states that an amendment to the deployment of forces must take place through negotiations.

The government ultimately wants to avoid heading to parliament to tackle this issue because it will "definitely" oppose ending the mission of the international coalition, he went on to say.

He explained that Kurdish, Sunni and some Shiite parties are opposed to the withdrawal and the way "Iran is trying to alter American-Iraqi relations through violence or through its proxies in Iraq."

The text messages are a means to pressure Washington, but they don’t reflect the government’s constitutional and legal responsibilities and its responsibilities in international and regional relations, said Faisal.

The parliament had in 2020 approved a decision that would bind the government to ending the mission of international forces. The decision was taken soon after the killing of Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani and PMF deputy leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in a US strike near Baghdad airport in January 2020.

Professor at the University of Baghdad Ihssan Shmary questioned the purpose of the survey, saying it was "very strange".

He told Asharq Al-Awsat that the survey holds no legal or constitutional basis. Moreover, the results could be falsified if a lot of money is poured into swaying the voters.

The results of national elections are cast in doubt "so how can we trust the results of an electronic survey?" he wondered.

The results will ultimately be used to create a political pressure card for or against the continued deployment of the forces, Shmary said.

The survey will have no impact on policy, especially since it is tackling an issue of higher national interests. So, the survey is nothing more than government propaganda aimed at sending messages to the armed factions, he remarked.

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Arab World

Hezbollah Members Questioned Over Suspected Reconnaissance Mission in Northern Lebanon

A Hezbollah member in Syria in 2017 (AFP)
A Hezbollah member in Syria in 2017 (AFP)
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Hezbollah Members Questioned Over Suspected Reconnaissance Mission in Northern Lebanon

A Hezbollah member in Syria in 2017 (AFP)
A Hezbollah member in Syria in 2017 (AFP)

Investigations are continuing into the arrest of five Hezbollah members in a remote mountainous area between the Bsharri and Batroun districts of northern Lebanon on Tuesday, amid questions about the purpose of their movements and whether they were conducting surveillance.

Judicial sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that investigators were still gathering information and examining why the men had been moving through isolated, uninhabited areas.

“Preliminary information suggests they were on a reconnaissance mission to survey the area,” the sources indicated.

They added that the five were not alone but were accompanied by others monitoring them from a distance. Following the arrests, those individuals reportedly retrieved mobile phones from a room where the detainees had left their belongings. The five had been arrested without their phones.

The suspects claimed they were visiting the area as tourists, an explanation that raised questions, particularly because one lives locally while the others come from South Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley.

Further suspicions arose over documents and maps allegedly found in their possession, some of which they reportedly attempted to tear up as an Internal Security Forces patrol approached.

Asharq Al-Awsat also learned that investigators were leaning toward bringing charges against the detainees in their individual capacities rather than as Hezbollah members, as occurred in a previous explosives-smuggling case.

According to the judicial sources, the suspected surveillance raises questions about whether the survey was linked to security or military preparations, specific targets, or plans to establish a security or military facility.

Salam: No Limits on Investigation

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam followed developments from Antalya, where he arrived to lead Lebanon’s delegation to a climate summit.

“The era of avoiding accountability and covering things up is over,” Salam stressed, adding that the investigation would face “no limits other than those imposed by the law.”

Gemayel: Hezbollah Has Lost Its Way to the South

Lebanese Kataeb Party leader MP Samy Gemayel stepped up his criticism of Hezbollah, linking the arrests to recent security and political developments.

“On the roads to Jerusalem, Damascus and Sanaa, Hezbollah lost its way to the South and ended up in Fanar and the mountains of Bsharri and Tannourine, after Dahr al-Baidar,” he wrote on X.

He argued that dragging Lebanon into wars, defying state decisions, bringing in a truckload of explosives and deploying security groups in the heart of Mount Lebanon were threats to national security and civil peace.

“If all this does not warrant referring Hezbollah’s leadership to the Judicial Council, then the council should be abolished!” he added.

Lebanese Forces MPs Strida Tawk Geagea and Melhem Tawk warned of possible organized security preparations in the area.

They argued that the available information could not be dismissed as an ordinary security incident.

According to published reports they cited, the seized documents contained names of groups, assignments of personnel and references to weapons, including sniper rifles.

The lawmakers questioned why the detainees were in the area, what documents they had attempted to destroy, who had assigned them their mission and what they intended to accomplish.

They warned that the incident raised the possibility of “reconnaissance movements or organized security preparations targeting peaceful Lebanese areas or specific individuals.”

The two urged the interior and defense ministers and judicial authorities to expand the investigation, establish individual and organizational responsibility, and prosecute anyone implicated by the evidence.

The Free Patriotic Movement, meanwhile, called on security and judicial authorities to complete their investigations and disclose the circumstances of the case to the public as quickly as proper legal procedures allow.

It emphasized that security in Batroun, Bsharri and all other Lebanese regions falls exclusively under the responsibility of the state and its institutions.

The party rejected any security activity outside state authority, insisting that proven violations must be punished without political protection for those responsible.

At the same time, it warned against exploiting the incident to stoke sectarian or regional tensions or deepen divisions among Lebanese citizens.

Arab World

Türkiye's President Calls the War in Gaza an 'Ecocide' at the UN Climate Summit

Erdogan pledged to continue investigations into the investment funds scandal until its eradication and to prevent its recurrence (Turkish Presidency)
Erdogan pledged to continue investigations into the investment funds scandal until its eradication and to prevent its recurrence (Turkish Presidency)
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Türkiye's President Calls the War in Gaza an 'Ecocide' at the UN Climate Summit

Erdogan pledged to continue investigations into the investment funds scandal until its eradication and to prevent its recurrence (Turkish Presidency)
Erdogan pledged to continue investigations into the investment funds scandal until its eradication and to prevent its recurrence (Turkish Presidency)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday called for the world to recognize the environmental impacts of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and asked the Israeli government to grant more aid access to the Palestinian territory.

Erdogan was speaking at the UN climate summit, known as COP31, in Antalya, Türkiye.

“What has taken place in Gaza is not only a genocide, but it is also an ecocide,” Erdogan said to applause by world leaders and other climate envoys.

A UN-backed panel of independent experts concluded last year that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza. Israel vehemently denies the allegations and has accused the panel of antisemitism, The Associated Press said.

“Centuries old olive trees have been cut down. The soil and water have been polluted in Gaza, and cities in Gaza have been turned into enormous piles of rubble,” Erdogan said. “With Gaza’s destroyed infrastructure, compounded by torrential rain and by flooding, tens of thousands of tents and shelters have been inundated.”

Israel's Foreign Ministry responded in a post on X, accusing Erdogan of “using an international forum to push his anti-Israel campaign of lies” and of supporting Hamas. Israel launched its campaign in Gaza following attacks by Hamas-led militants in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Militants killed around 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.

“Those who truly care about Gaza should demand that Hamas disarm so reconstruction can begin,” the statement read. Israel wasn't invited to COP31.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 74,000 people, according to local health authorities, and destroyed much of Gaza. The Health Ministry, part of Gaza’s Hamas-run government, doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants, but says women and children make up nearly half of the dead.

Erdogan has been an outspoken critic of Israel, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called Erdogan an antisemitic “tyrant.”

“The latest country to become a superspreader of antisemitic lies is Türkiye," Netanyahu said in September while speaking at the UN General Assembly.

In recent days, heavy rainfall and subsequent flooding destroyed many of the tents and makeshift shelters that Palestinian residents now live in. At least four people were killed earlier this week when a sand embankment collapsed on their shelter. The rain also left many displaced people without food, drinking water or a dry place to sleep.

Humanitarian aid enters the territory, but imports remain far below levels before the start of the Israel-Hamas war — and many items remain blocked by Israel.

A 2025 report by the UN Environment Program also outlined the devastating reality of Gaza’s environment since the war began.

Remote sensing assessments showed that by May 2025, more than 97% of the tree crops, 82% of annual crops, 95% of shrubland and 89% of grass and fallow land had been damaged, according to the UNEP report.

“As of now, our families only have 3% of cropland to use, and that is assuming it’s distributed across 2 million Palestinians" in the Gaza Strip, said Mohammed Usrof, co-founder and executive director of the Palestinian Institute for Climate Strategy.

“Not talking about these losses undermines Palestinians’ food supply, livelihoods and ability to remain on their land,” Usrof said.

The territory’s ability to dispose of garbage, treat sewage and deliver clean water has been virtually decimated by three years of war. This has made grim living conditions worse and raised health risks for hundreds of thousands of people deprived of adequate shelter, food and medicine, aid groups say.

The conflict has “all but eliminated” Gazan fishing livelihoods, the report said, highlighting how marine ecosystems have been contaminated with munitions, sewage and solid waste.

“For people in Gaza, this translates into severely limited access to safe drinking water, greater exposure to waterborne diseases and toxic substances, deepening food insecurity and the loss of livelihoods dependent on agriculture and fishing,” Ghiwa Nakat, executive director at Greenpeace MENA, told The Associated Press.

Nakat also warned that Gaza's environment could take years to recover.

“The environmental damage will not end when the war ends,” Nakat said. “Contaminated soil and groundwater, destroyed ecosystems and the collapse of essential environmental infrastructure could undermine public health, food security and livelihoods for generations, threatening communities’ resilience and their ability to recover.”

World leaders began formal talks at COP31 this week, seeking agreement on concrete steps to curb global warming after a year of deadly floods, heat waves and other climate-related disasters.

More than 70 world leaders and senior government officials are speaking at the summit, though some key leaders are absent, including heads of state from the United States, China and India.

Arab World

Israeli Strike on a Gaza Hospital Kills 6 People

Members of the Palestinian Civil Defense inspect damage inside a building at Nasser Hospital following an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip November 12, 2026. Picture taken with a mobile phone. REUTERS/Stringer
Members of the Palestinian Civil Defense inspect damage inside a building at Nasser Hospital following an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip November 12, 2026. Picture taken with a mobile phone. REUTERS/Stringer
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Israeli Strike on a Gaza Hospital Kills 6 People

Members of the Palestinian Civil Defense inspect damage inside a building at Nasser Hospital following an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip November 12, 2026. Picture taken with a mobile phone. REUTERS/Stringer
Members of the Palestinian Civil Defense inspect damage inside a building at Nasser Hospital following an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip November 12, 2026. Picture taken with a mobile phone. REUTERS/Stringer

An Israeli airstrike targeting the Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza killed six people and wounded at least a dozen more, Gaza's Health Ministry said.

The strike was carried out early Thursday, according to the Israeli military, which said it struck “a senior Hamas terrorist” and other militants, without providing evidence.

The Gaza Health Ministry said the strike hit the hospital’s surgical wing and that a doctor was among the dead. An Associated Press journalist at the scene said that parts of the building’s second floor were destroyed.

Nasser Hospital in the city of Khan Younis is one of the few functioning medical facilities left in Gaza, whose healthcare infrastructure has been decimated by a yearslong war.

Israel accuses Hamas and its allies of using hospitals as cover for military activity. In a statement, the Israeli military said Hamas had “established a presence within the hospital complex” and was using it as “a command center for military and terrorist activities.”

Israeli forces have previously attacked and raided Nasser Hospital. In 2025, the military killed five journalists — including AP contributor Mariam Dagga — when it struck a gathering point for local reporters at the complex.

The war started on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage. Since then, Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 74,600 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government but whose figures are generally considered reliable by the international community.

Israel has continued to strike Gaza despite a US-backed ceasefire and controls at least 60% of the enclave. Since the truce went into effect in October 2025, Israeli strikes and gunfire have killed 1,622 people, health authorities say. Five Israeli soldiers have also been killed during that period.