Iraqi PM Urges Trump to 'Work Towards Ending' Mideast Wars

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani. (Reuters)
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani. (Reuters)
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Iraqi PM Urges Trump to 'Work Towards Ending' Mideast Wars

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani. (Reuters)
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani. (Reuters)

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani expressed hopes during a phone call with US President-elect Donald Trump that he would keep his "promises to work towards ending wars" in the Middle East.

In the phone call, the Iraqi premier pointed to Trump's "campaign statements and promises to work towards ending wars in the region", a statement from Sudani's office said late Friday.

"The two sides agreed to coordinate efforts in achieving this goal," it added, AFP reported.

About 2,500 American troops are deployed in Iraq as part of a US-led coalition that was formed to help battle ISIS.

Bases hosting the American troops have been the target of dozens of rocket and drone attacks launched by Iran-backed groups in Iraq, which have also claimed attacks against Israel.

Baghdad has for years called on Washington to provide a clear timeline for the withdrawal of their remaining coalition troops.

The US and Iraq announced in late September that the international coalition would end its decade-long military mission in federal Iraq within a year, and by September 2026 in the autonomous Kurdistan region.

But the joint statement and US officials did not say whether any American troops would remain in Iraq.

Under Trump's first term in office, relations deteriorated between the two countries after a US drone strike in January 2020 killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani -- the chief of the Quds Force and the architect of the Islamic republic's military operations abroad.

Also killed in that strike was Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy head of Iraq's former paramilitary Hashed al-Shaabi that have been integrated into the armed forces.

As part of their investigations into Muhandis's assassination, the Iraqi judiciary issued a warrant for Trump's arrest in January 2021.



Palestinian Health Ministry Says One Dead in Israel West Bank Raid

Demonstrators clash with Palestinian security forces in Nablus in the West Bank (File photo/Reuters)
Demonstrators clash with Palestinian security forces in Nablus in the West Bank (File photo/Reuters)
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Palestinian Health Ministry Says One Dead in Israel West Bank Raid

Demonstrators clash with Palestinian security forces in Nablus in the West Bank (File photo/Reuters)
Demonstrators clash with Palestinian security forces in Nablus in the West Bank (File photo/Reuters)

The health ministry in the occupied West Bank said one person was killed and nine injured in an Israeli raid on a refugee camp, with the Israeli military saying Saturday it had opened fire at "terrorists".

An 18-year-old man, Muhammad Medhat Amin Amer, "was killed by bullets from the (Israeli) occupation in the Balata camp" in the territory's north, the Palestinian health ministry said in a late-night statement, adding that nine people were injured, "four of whom are in critical condition".

According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, the raid began on Friday night and triggered violent clashes, AFP reported.

The official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that Israeli troops entered the camp from the Awarta checkpoint and "deployed snipers on the rooftops of surrounding buildings".

In a statement on Saturday, the Israeli military said that during the "counterterrorism" operation, "terrorists placed explosives in the area in order to harm (military) soldiers, hurled explosives, molotov cocktails, and rocks and shot fireworks at the forces".

"The forces fired toward the terrorists in order to remove the threat. Hits were identified," the statement said.

Violence in the West Bank has intensified since war broke out in the Gaza Strip after Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

Since then, at least 815 Palestinians have been killed in the territory by Israeli troops or settlers, according to the Palestinian health ministry in Ramallah.

In the same period, Palestinian attacks in the West Bank have killed at least 25 Israelis, according to official Israeli figures.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since conquering it in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.