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Arab World

Palestinian Govt Sparks Deep Dispute between Fatah and Hamas

This handout picture provided by the Palestinian Authority's Press Office (PPO) shows Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas (L) posing with the newly appointed Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa, in Ramallah on March 14, 2024. (Photo by PPO / AFP / Handout)
This handout picture provided by the Palestinian Authority's Press Office (PPO) shows Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas (L) posing with the newly appointed Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa, in Ramallah on March 14, 2024. (Photo by PPO / AFP / Handout)
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Palestinian Govt Sparks Deep Dispute between Fatah and Hamas

This handout picture provided by the Palestinian Authority's Press Office (PPO) shows Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas (L) posing with the newly appointed Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa, in Ramallah on March 14, 2024. (Photo by PPO / AFP / Handout)
This handout picture provided by the Palestinian Authority's Press Office (PPO) shows Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas (L) posing with the newly appointed Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa, in Ramallah on March 14, 2024. (Photo by PPO / AFP / Handout)

The Palestinian government, which has yet to be even formed, sparked a deep dispute between the Fatah and Hamas movements, levelling the harshest criticism against Hamas since the eruption of the war on Gaza.

The dispute first started when Hamas said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was “out of touch with reality” for appointing Dr. Mohammad Mustafa on Thursday to form a new government.

Fatah responded by saying: “Those who caused Gaza to return under Israeli occupation and caused a nakba (catastrophe) to befall the Palestinian people, especially in Gaza, have no right to make dictates related to national priorities.”

“The real side that is out of touch with reality and the Palestinian people is the Hamas leadership that has until this moment failed to realize the extent of the catastrophe endured by our oppressed people in Gaza and the rest of the Palestinian territories,” it stressed in a statement.

It wondered how Hamas could speak of unilateral action and division when “it did not consult the Palestinian leadership or any other national Palestinian party” when it took the decision “to embark on an adventure on October 7 that has led to a nakba that is more severe than the 1948 Nakba.”

“Has Hamas consulted the Palestinian leadership as it now negotiates with Israel and offers one concession after the other to it?” it wondered, while accusing the movement of only seeking the personal safety of its leaders.

It also accused it of seeking an agreement with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that would keep the movement in Gaza so that it could continue to sow division between the Palestinian people.

Moreover, Fatah said the “life of luxury the Hamas leadership is living in seven-star hotels has blinded it to reason,” calling on it to end its policy of foreign agendas and return to the national fold.

Hamas, the Islamic Jihad, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Palestinian National Initiative movement slammed Abbas’ appointment of Mustafa as prime minister.

In a statement, they accused the Palestinian Authority (PA) of continuing its unilateral approach and dismissing all efforts to restore Palestinian unity.

“We reject such an approach that has harmed and continues to harm our people and national cause,” they declared.

“The top national priority lies in confronting the barbaric systematic Zionist aggression and its genocide and war of starvation, not forming a new government,” they added.

They accused Abbas of deciding to form a new government without seeking national agreement first, “which consolidates his unilateral approach and deepens the division during such a pivotal historic moment.”

“The president’s move reflects the extent of the crisis within the Palestinian leadership, how out of touch with reality it is and the huge gap between it and our people, its concerns and aspirations,” said the statement.

Mustafa is a well-known businessman and economic expert. He succeeds Mohammed Shtayyeh, who resigned to meet American and international demands for reform in the PA.

Hamas was expecting Abbas to consult it in naming a new PM and was taken by surprise when he completely ignored it.

A source from the PA told Asharq Al-Awsat that ties between Fatah and Hamas have not improved even after the eruption of the war on Gaza.

Abbas took his decision out of his belief that there was no need to wait for anyone and that the priorities that Hamas listed demand the formation of a capable government.

Hamas has been demanding providing relief to the people and the rebuilding of Gaza.

The source stressed that Mustafa’s appointment was taken in line with understandings reached with Arab and western countries that are involved in the post-war arrangements in Gaza.

Hamas, which can no longer rule Gaza, should not impede those who can save and aid the people there, it went on to say.

Mustafa is seeking to form a government of independent non-partisan experts. He has a three-week deadline to announce a lineup.

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Arab World

Israel Targets Top Hamas Leader in Deadly Gaza Strike on Anniversary

Palestinians inspect the rubble of a residential apartment following an Israeli air strike in the west of Gaza City on 03 October 2026. (EPA)
Palestinians inspect the rubble of a residential apartment following an Israeli air strike in the west of Gaza City on 03 October 2026. (EPA)
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Israel Targets Top Hamas Leader in Deadly Gaza Strike on Anniversary

Palestinians inspect the rubble of a residential apartment following an Israeli air strike in the west of Gaza City on 03 October 2026. (EPA)
Palestinians inspect the rubble of a residential apartment following an Israeli air strike in the west of Gaza City on 03 October 2026. (EPA)

Israel said on Saturday that it attempted to kill Hamas's top leader in the Gaza Strip in an airstrike on an apartment that local officials said killed five people, four of them women.

The pre-dawn strike came on the anniversary according to the Jewish calendar of the October 7, 2023 attack, the deadliest-ever day for Israel which retaliated with a devastating offensive in Gaza.

The Israeli military said it aimed to kill Ali al-Amoudi, describing him as the "right-hand man" of slain Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar and saying he was involved in planning the October 7 attack.

Israel said it was reviewing whether it killed or injured him.

It said it targeted him after learning that he was inside an apartment building, saying it showed that Hamas was using civilians as human shields.

"Today, al-Amoudi is the most senior Hamas figure in the Gaza Strip and is directly involved in Hamas's terror activities and in rebuilding the organization for war. The terrorist was struck in order to remove the threat," a military statement said.

"Steps were taken to mitigate harm to civilians, including the use of precise munitions," the military said, adding it "regrets any harm caused to uninvolved individuals".

Israel killed Sinwar in Gaza in October 2024, in what many Israelis saw as a major symbolic victory, although Israel has vowed to keep destroying Hamas even since a US-brokered ceasefire was declared a year ago.

Amoudi is considered Hamas's top person in the Gaza Strip. The movement's leader Khalil al-Haya lives in Qatar and has tried to maneuver diplomatically to Hamas's advantage.

Haya agreed in July to a US plan for Hamas to give up its weapons, in what President Donald Trump hailed as a breakthrough but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed as insincere.

An official at Gaza City's Al-Shifa hospital told AFP it received at dawn the bodies of five people and a number of injured following an airstrike in the Rimal neighborhood.

It said the dead were two women and their daughters, as well as a man.

Mahmoud Bassal, the spokesman for the civil defense agency which operates as a rescue force under Hamas authority, said two missiles directly hit the apartment, causing a fire and damaging the building.

Mourners gathered later on Saturday at the small Greek Orthodox church of Saint Porphyrius in Gaza City for the funeral of the two women, identified as 56-year-old Maysaa Abu Daoud and her 36-year-old daughter Mary Al-Najjar.

Ihab Ayad, a relative of the women, said that they had been "minding their own business" at home when Israel carried out the strike.

"We didn't hurl stones or fire rockets. If any child among us carries a stone, they call him a terrorist, a murderer. But they possess the most powerful arsenal and destroy everything," he said.

The Hamas-led October 7 attack killed 1,221 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

The massive Israeli offensive in response has left most of Gaza in ruins and killed more than 74,200 people, according to Gaza's health ministry, which is under Hamas authority and whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.

Israeli forces have killed more than 1,440 people since the announcement of the ceasefire a year ago, according to Gaza's health ministry.

The Israeli military has identified five deaths in its ranks over the same period, as well as the death of one civilian contractor.

Arab World

Yemen’s Armed Forces Say It Is Conducting Strikes Against Houthis in Sanaa

Yemen government soldiers ride in a pick-up truck near the Jabal Han front, west of the city of Taiz on October 3, 2026. (AFP)
Yemen government soldiers ride in a pick-up truck near the Jabal Han front, west of the city of Taiz on October 3, 2026. (AFP)
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Yemen’s Armed Forces Say It Is Conducting Strikes Against Houthis in Sanaa

Yemen government soldiers ride in a pick-up truck near the Jabal Han front, west of the city of Taiz on October 3, 2026. (AFP)
Yemen government soldiers ride in a pick-up truck near the Jabal Han front, west of the city of Taiz on October 3, 2026. (AFP)

Yemen's armed forces said early on Sunday it was conducting strikes against the Iran-aligned Houthis in the capital Sanaa and the group's stronghold Saada. 

A spokesperson for Yemen's armed forces, which ‌are aligned with ‌the legitimate government, ‌said ⁠forces were targeting "vital targets", without providing further details. 

The ‌conflict between the Iran-backed Houthis and forces aligned ‌with the government mostly ‌stopped after a 2022 truce, but fighting has broken out again in a spillover from the wider war between Iran ‌and the United States. 

Hostilities resumed this year after the ⁠Houthis ⁠escalated attacked in Yemen, making major territorial gains along the Red Sea coast. 

Earlier, government forces broke a new wave of Houthi attacks targeting the western front of the city of Taiz and forced the attackers to retreat.

This coincided with a broad escalation in air and artillery targeting operations that struck the group's positions, reinforcements, and supply lines across various fronts in the governorate.

The Iran-backed Houthi group has been exerting pressure for more than two weeks in an effort to encircle the city of Taiz from the south by seizing control of its countryside and isolating it from the liberated Yemeni regions toward Lahij and Aden.

It has also been trying to consolidate its gains in the West Coast and Bab al-Mandab regions by taking control of the highlands.

Armed Forces spokesperson Colonel Majid Al-Nuzaili said that the forces carried out 71 precise operations against Houthi gatherings, mobilizations, and reinforcements in the areas of Al-Aqrud, Samea, Al-Ahkoum, Al-Akboosh, Jabal Rasen, Jabal Jardad, Bani Omar, Bani Bakari, Al-Kaawish, and Al-Athawir.

He added that the operations resulted in the destruction of a number of hostile transport and support vehicles and the neutralization of militia elements, repelling their advance.

Arab World

'National Day' Stirs Debate over Independence in Iraq

Members of the Iraqi security forces stand guard near the Victory Arch monument during preparations for Sovereignty Day celebrations, marking the withdrawal of US-led coalition forces from Iraq, in Baghdad, Iraq, October 2, 2026. (Reuters)
Members of the Iraqi security forces stand guard near the Victory Arch monument during preparations for Sovereignty Day celebrations, marking the withdrawal of US-led coalition forces from Iraq, in Baghdad, Iraq, October 2, 2026. (Reuters)
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'National Day' Stirs Debate over Independence in Iraq

Members of the Iraqi security forces stand guard near the Victory Arch monument during preparations for Sovereignty Day celebrations, marking the withdrawal of US-led coalition forces from Iraq, in Baghdad, Iraq, October 2, 2026. (Reuters)
Members of the Iraqi security forces stand guard near the Victory Arch monument during preparations for Sovereignty Day celebrations, marking the withdrawal of US-led coalition forces from Iraq, in Baghdad, Iraq, October 2, 2026. (Reuters)

Senior officials in Iraq celebrated the National Day on October 3, which marks the country's independence from the British mandate and its entry into the League of Nations in 1932. The day has sparked debate over conflicting occasions in the official calendar.

President Nizar Amidi said in a statement that “on this day in 1932, Iraq became an independent state and a member of the League of Nations,” noting that “Iraqis have remained committed to their homeland despite the wars, crises, challenges, and difficulties they have endured.”

Meanwhile, government spokesperson Haider Al-Aboudi stressed that “on this occasion, the government renews its pledge that the decision of Iraqis remains in their own hands, and that sovereignty is manifested in security and a dignified life.”

Judge Faiq Zidan, head of the Supreme Judicial Council, also stressed that “the judiciary will remain a guarantee for rights and a fortress for justice,” adding that “the accelerating developments at this stage and the increasing challenges facing Iraq make it capable of protecting its present and shaping its future with deeply rooted institutions and an independent judiciary.”

British King Charles III and Emperor Naruhito of Japan both sent congratulatory cables to the Iraqi government on National Day, which does not receive significant political or public attention due to legislative and political disputes.

King Charles expressed his aspiration for continued cooperation between the two countries in facing shared challenges, particularly regarding climate, environmental preservation, and working together to find effective and sustainable solutions to these challenges.

Debate over ‘National Day’

For years, cultural and political elites have been engaged in a debate over a date that could achieve consensus as the country's National Day.

The former Baath regime had designated July 17 to commemorate its 1968 coup against the rule of the late Prime Minister Abdul Karim Qasim, while leftist factions used to celebrate the fall of the monarchy on July 14, 1958.

After 2003, leaders of opposition parties to the regime of the late President Saddam Hussein attempted to designate the day of his regime's fall, April 9, as a national holiday. The suggestion was rejected by the American civil administrator, Paul Bremer, according to Nabil al-Musawi, a leader in the Iraqi National Congress led by Ahmad Chalabi.

Later, during the government of former Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, it was agreed to designate October 3, 1932, as Iraq's National Day.

In a statement on Saturday, Kadhimi said that when his government chose October 3 as a national day to commemorate Iraq's accession to the League of Nations in 1932, he did not want it “to be just an occasion on the nation's calendar, but rather a day where Iraqis gather in love for their homeland and pride in their unifying national identity.”

Some Iraqi historians disagreed with the government, stating that October 3 should not be the National Day because, in their view, independence from the British mandate in 1932 was not complete.

Legal expert Ali al-Tamimi told Asharq Al-Awsat that October 3 is the only date that has a binding legal basis to serve as the country's National Day.

Al-Tamimi added that the legal philosophy behind this day is that it serves as international recognition of the completion of the components of the modern Iraqi state, including an independent government, fixed borders, financial resources, an independent judiciary, and international commitment, making Iraq the first Arab country to join the League of Nations.