Iraq’s prime minister warned Saturday that if the war between Israel and Hamas spreads to other countries in the region it will affect the flow of oil to international markets. Mohammed Shia al-Sudani was apparently referring to Iran-backed militias that have started launching attacks against U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria and have warned they will step in if Hamas is threatened. Al-Sudani told an international summit held in Egypt that Baghdad rejects the emptying of the Gaza Strip because “the Palestinians have no other place but their land.”
The Associated Press has the story:
Iraq’s Prime Minister warns of effect on oil if Mideast conflict spreads
Newslooks- CAIRO
Iraq’s prime minister warned Saturday that if the war between Israel and Hamas spreads to other countries in the region it will affect the flow of oil to international markets.
Mohammed Shia al-Sudani was apparently referring to Iran-backed militias that have started launching attacks against U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria and have warned they will step in if Hamas is threatened.
Al-Sudani told an international summit held in Egypt that Baghdad rejects the emptying of the Gaza Strip because “the Palestinians have no other place but their land.”
He called for an immediate cease-fire and an exchange of prisoners to end the current conflict.
Al-Sudani said that the situation would not have reached this point had U.N. Security Council resolutions been respected, an apparent reference to Israel’s settlement policies in the West Bank.
Al-Sudani warned that the current conflict “will impact global security, escalate regional conflict, jeopardize energy supplies, exacerbate economic crises, and invite further conflicts.”
PAKISTAN LEADER SPEAKS WITH PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar spoke with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas by phone to discuss the “latest situation resulting from the ongoing brutalities of Israeli occupation forces against innocent Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank,” a Pakistani government statement said Saturday.
Kakar expressed Pakistan’s strong condemnation of the Israeli strikes on Gaza, the statement added. Kakar described the Israeli strikes on Gaza “as deplorable and willful acts of Israeli aggression against innocent Palestinians.” Both leaders emphasized the need for the international community “to urge Israel to immediately halt the bloodshed,” it added.
The two sides agreed on the necessity of lifting the blockade on Gaza to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid and medical assistance to affected people. Pakistan dispatched its first batch of assistance to Palestinian people on a plane that landed in Egypt on Friday.
