(7 Oct 2024)
IRAQ SOLIDARITY PROTEST
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
LENGTH: 1:05
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Baghdad, Iraq – 6 October 2024
1. Various of people gathered in Tahrir Square in Baghdad
2. Various of people waving Iraqi, Lebanese and Palestinian flags
3. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Abdul-Ilah Mashaan, participant:
"After the barbaric attacks that were committed by the Zionists against our people in Lebanon and Gaza, we at the National Direction Party demand an immediate and firm intervention by the United Nations to stop these attacks on civilians."
4. Various of people waving flags
5. Security forces at rally
6. Rally held to show solidarity with the Lebanese and Palestinian people
STORYLINE:
Iraqis in Baghdad rallied on Sunday to show solidarity with the Lebanese and Palestinian people as Middle East violence spirals, one year since the Gaza war began.
Israel is now at war with Hamas in Gaza and its ally Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Israel has intensified its bombardment of northern Gaza and southern Lebanon in a widening war with Iran-allied militant groups across the region.
Participants at the Baghdad rally in Baghdad waved Iraqi, Lebanese and Palestinian flags, demanding an end to fighting.
A year after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, Israel has opened a new front in Lebanon against Hezbollah, which has traded fire with Israel since the war in Gaza began.
When Hamas launched its attack on Oct. 7, 2023, it called on the Arab world to join it in a concerted campaign against Israel.
While the fighting has indeed spread, Hamas and its allies have paid a heavy price.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive was initially centered on the Gaza Strip.
But the focus has shifted in recent weeks to Lebanon, where airstrikes have given way to a fast-expanding ground incursion against Hezbollah militants.
Hamas-led militants blew holes in Israel’s security fence and stormed into nearby army bases and farming communities in a surprise attack one year ago, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting another 250.
They are still holding around 100 captives inside Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be dead.
The ensuing war in Gaza has been the longest, deadliest and most destructive in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Gaza health authorities say nearly 42,000 people have been killed by the devastating Israeli offensive— roughly 2% of the territory’s entire population.
Although they do not give a breakdown between civilians and combatants, more than half of the dead have been women and children.
The damage and displacement in Gaza have reached unseen levels.
Despite Israel’s overwhelming force, Hamas units have repeatedly regrouped to stage guerrilla-style ambushes from areas where Israel has withdrawn.
Across the Middle East, bitter enemies are witnessing the limits of force and deterrence.
Israel’s deepening invasion of Lebanon and repeated strikes on Hezbollah have failed to halt the rockets and missiles.
Hundreds more Israeli airstrikes across large parts of Lebanon since mid-September have killed more than 1,400 people, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. Over 2,000 people have been killed and more than 9,500 wounded in Lebanon since the fighting began nearly a year ago.
The fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has displaced tens of thousands of Israelis and over 1.2 million Lebanese.
Israel promises to keep pounding Hezbollah until its residents can return to homes near the Lebanese border.
Hezbollah says it will keep firing rockets into Israel until there is a cease-fire in Gaza.
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