BAGHDAD: US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Monday the United States does not intend to seize Iraqi oil, shifting away from an idea proposed by President Donald Trump that has rattled Iraq’s leaders.
Mattis’ arrived on an unannounced visit in Iraq as the battle to oust Daesh militants from western Mosul moved into its second day, and as the Pentagon considers ways to accelerate the campaign against Daesh in Iraq and Syria.
Those efforts could be complicated by Trump’s oil threat and his inclusion of Iraq in the administration’s travel ban — twin blows that have roiled the nation and spurred local lawmakers to pressure Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi to reduce cooperation with Washington.
“I think all of us here in this room, all of us in America have generally paid for our gas and oil all along, and I’m sure that we will continue to do that in the future,” Mattis told reporters traveling with him. “We’re not in Iraq to seize anybody’s oil.”
His comments may provide some reassurance to the Iraqis. But the tensions come at a critical point in the war against Daesh, with two key battles in the works: the fight to take control of west Mosul, and the start of a campaign in Syria to oust Daesh from Raqqa, the capital of its self-declared caliphate.
Al-Abadi has taken a measured approach, but the issues can roil already difficult internal politics.
Under the president’s deadline, Mattis has just a week to send Trump a strategy to accelerate the fight and defeat the Daesh group. And any plan is likely to depend on US and coalition troops working with and through the local forces in both countries.
“We’re going to make certain that we’ve got good situational awareness of what we face as we work together and fight alongside each other,” Mattis said.
His key goal during the visit is to speak about the military operations with political leaders and commanders on the ground, including his top commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend.
Asked about the tensions, Mattis said he has been assured that the travel ban — it has been stalled by a legal challenge — would not affect Iraqis who have fought alongside US forces.
The oil issue, however, may be more difficult. Trump brought it up during the campaign, and he mentioned it again late last month during a visit to the CIA.
“To the victor belong the spoils,” Trump told members of the intelligence community. He said he first argued this case for “economic reasons,” but added it made sense as a counterterrorism approach to defeating Daesh “because that’s where they made their money in the first place.”
“So we should have kept the oil,” he said. “But, OK, maybe you’ll have another chance.”
Trump, however, has also been clear that defeating Daesh is a top priority. In his inauguration address, he pledged to eradicate radical Islamic terrorism “completely from the face of the Earth.” And he talked during the campaign about greatly increasing the number of US troops in order to “knock out” Daesh.
He signed an order Jan. 28 that gives Mattis and senior military leaders 30 days to come up with a new plan to beef up the fight.
Mattis would not discuss specifics, saying he wants to gather information first. But he has been talking with military leaders about the possible options, and has largely supported the US strategy of fighting IS with and through local forces.
The military options range from putting more troops in Iraq and Syria to boosting military aid to Kurdish fighters backed by the US-led coalition.
More specifically, officials have talked about expanding efforts to train, advise and enable local Iraqi and Syrian forces, increasing intelligence and surveillance, and allowing US troops to move forward more frequently with Iraqi soldiers nearer the front lines.
The Pentagon also would like more freedom to make daily decisions about how it fights the enemy. Former and current US officials discussed the likely options on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to talk publicly.
In Syria, a possible option would be sending more US forces, including combat troops, there as the Raqqa fight heats up.
Another move would be to provide heavy weapons and vehicles to the US-backed Syrian Kurds, known as the YPG, and boost training. They have been the most effective force against Daesh in northern and eastern Syria, but the proposal is sensitive. Turkey, a key US and NATO ally, considers the group a terrorist organization.
There are more than 5,100 US forces in Iraq, and up to about 500 in Syria.
US Defense Secretary Mattis: No plan to seize Iraqi oil
US Defense Secretary Mattis: No plan to seize Iraqi oil
HRW: Israel attack on Lebanon rescuers was ‘unlawful’
- The rights group urged the United States to “immediately suspend arms sales and military assistance to Israel
Beirut: Human Rights Watch said Tuesday an Israeli strike in Lebanon that killed seven first responders was “an unlawful attack on civilians,” and urged Washington to suspend weapons sales to Israel.
The Israel-Lebanon border area has witnessed near-daily exchanges between the Israeli army and Hamas ally Hezbollah since the Palestinian militant group attacked southern Israel on October 7 sparking war in Gaza.
“An Israeli strike on an emergency and relief center” in the southern village of Habariyeh on March 27 “killed seven emergency and relief volunteers” and constituted an “unlawful attack on civilians that failed to take all necessary precautions,” HRW said in a statement.
“If the attack on civilians was carried out intentionally or recklessly, it should be investigated as an apparent war crime,” it added.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment when contacted by AFP.
But at the time the military said the target was “a military compound” and that the strike killed a “significant terrorist operative” from Jamaa Islamiya, a Lebanese group close to Hamas, and other “terrorists.”
HRW said in the statement that it found “no evidence of a military target at the site,” and said the Israeli strike “targeted a residential structure that housed the Emergency and Relief Corps of the Lebanese Succour Association, a non-governmental humanitarian organization.”
Jamaa Islamiya later denied it was connected to the emergency responders, and the association told AFP it had no affiliation with any Lebanese political organization.
HRW said “the Israeli military’s admission” it had targeted the center in Habariyeh indicated a “failure to take all feasible precautions to verify that the target was military and avoid loss of civilian life... making the strike unlawful.”
The rights group said those killed were volunteers, adding that 18-year-old twin brothers were among the dead.
“Family members... the Lebanese Succour Association, and the civil defense all said that the seven men were civilians and not affiliated with any armed group,” it added.
However, it noted that social media content suggested at least two of those killed “may have been supporters” of Jamaa Islamiya.
HRW said images of weapons parts found at the site included the remains of an Israeli bomb and remnants of a “guidance kit produced by the US-based Boeing Company.”
“Israeli forces used a US weapon to conduct a strike that killed seven civilian relief workers in Lebanon who were merely doing their jobs,” HRW’s Lebanon researcher, Ramzi Kaiss, said.
The rights group urged the United States to “immediately suspend arms sales and military assistance to Israel given evidence that the Israeli military is using US weapons unlawfully.”
Israeli military take control of vital Rafah crossing from Gaza into Egypt
- Israel military takes control of Rafah crossing, special forces scanning area
- Israel says vast majority of people evacuated from military area
JERUSALEM: The Israeli military took control of the vital Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt on Tuesday, pushing into the southern Gazan town after a night of air strikes and as prospects for a ceasefire deal hung in the balance.
The Palestinian militant group Hamas said late on Monday it had agreed to a ceasefire proposal from mediators seven months into the war that has pushed more than a million Gazans into the south of the enclave.
Israel said the terms did not meet its demands and launched a military operation in Rafah.
Israeli tanks and planes pounded several areas and houses in Rafah overnight, killing 20 Palestinians and wounding several others in strikes that hit at least four houses, Palestinian health officials said.
“The Israeli occupation has sentenced the residents of the Strip to death after closure of the Rafah border crossing,” said Hisham Edwan, spokesman for the Gaza Border Crossing Authority. It also condemned to death cancer patients due to the collapse of the health care system, he added.
Israel has been threatening to launch a major incursion in Rafah, which it says harbors thousands of Hamas fighters and potentially dozens of hostages. Victory is impossible without taking Rafah, it says.
Rafah crossing closed
A Gaza border authority spokesperson told Reuters the Rafah crossing, a major route for aid into the devastated enclave, was closed because of the presence of Israeli tanks. Israel’s Army Radio had earlier announced its forces were there.
The United States has been pressing Israel not to launch a military campaign in Rafah until it had drawn up a humanitarian plan for the Palestinians sheltering there, which Washington says it has yet to see.
Israel said the vast majority of people had been evacuated form the area of military operations.
Instructed by Arabic text messages, phone calls and flyers to move to what the Israeli military called an “expanded humanitarian zone” around 20 km (12 miles) away, some Palestinian families began trundling away in chilly spring rain.
Some piled children and possessions onto donkey carts, while others left by pick-up or on foot through muddy streets.
As families dismantled tents and folded belongings, Abdullah Al-Najar said this was the fourth time he had been displaced since the fighting began seven months ago.
“God knows where we will go now. We have not decided yet.”
Truce talks in Cairo
Hamas said in a brief statement that its chief, Ismail Haniyeh, had informed Qatari and Egyptian mediators the group accepted their proposal for a ceasefire.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said later the truce proposal fell short of Israel’s demands but Israel would send a delegation to meet with negotiators to try to reach an agreement.
Qatar’s foreign ministry said its delegation will head to Cairo on Tuesday to resume indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas.
In a statement, Netanyahu’s office said his war cabinet approved continuing an operation in Rafah. Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said on social media site X that Netanyahu was jeopardizing a ceasefire by bombing Rafah.
An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the proposal that Hamas approved was a watered-down version of an Egyptian offer and included elements Israel could not accept.
“This would appear to be a ruse intended to make Israel look like the side refusing a deal,” said the Israeli official.
Another official briefed on the agreement said Hamas had agreed to the phased ceasefire and hostage release deal Israel proposed on April 27 with only minor changes that did not affect the main parts of the proposal.
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Washington would discuss the Hamas response with its allies in the coming hours, and a deal was “absolutely achievable.”
Any truce would be the first pause in fighting since a week-long ceasefire in November, during which Hamas freed around half of the hostages.
Since then, all efforts to reach a new truce have foundered over Hamas’ refusal to free more hostages without a promise of a permanent end to the conflict, and Israel’s insistence that it would discuss only a temporary pause.
More than 34,600 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict, according to Gaza health officials. The UN has said famine is imminent in the enclave.
The war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and abducting 252 others, of whom 133 are believed to remain in captivity in Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
UKMTO receives report two explosions south of Yemen’s Aden
- The Houthi militia that controls the most populous parts of Yemen and is aligned with Iran have staged attacks on ships in the waters off the country for months
Dubai: A merchant vessel passing through the Gulf of Aden off Yemen reported two explosions in “close proximity,” British maritime security agency UKMTO said Tuesday.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said the “vessel and all crew are safe,” adding that “authorities are investigating” the blasts south of Yemen’s southern port city of Aden.
UKMTO, which is run by Britain’s Royal Navy, did not provide details on the ship or the nature of attack.
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have launched dozens of drone and missile strikes against ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden since November.
The Houthis say their campaign is in solidarity with Palestinians amid the Gaza war.
On Friday, they threatened to expand operations targeting Israel-bound shipping to the Mediterranean Sea.
The United States announced an initiative in December to protect Red Sea shipping from Houthi attacks, which have prompted major firms to avoid the route that normally carries 12 percent of global trade.
Since January, the US and Britain have also launched repeated retaliatory strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.
On Monday, US military forces downed a drone launched by the Houthis over the Red Sea, the US military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement.
The drone “presented an imminent threat to US coalition forces and merchant vessels in the region,” CENTCOM said.
Palestinians seek UN General Assembly backing for full membership
- Diplomats say 193-member General Assembly likely to back Palestinian bid
- Others say move could set precedent for others, citing Kosovo and Taiwan as examples
UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations General Assembly could vote on Friday on a draft resolution that would recognize the Palestinians as qualified to become a full UN member and recommend that the UN Security Council “reconsider the matter favorably.”
It would effectively act as a global survey of how much support the Palestinians have for their bid, which was vetoed in the UN Security Council last month by the United States. An application to become a full UN member needs to be approved by the 15-member Security Council and then the General Assembly.
Diplomats say the 193-member General Assembly is likely to back the Palestinian bid. But changes could still be made to the draft after some diplomats raised concerns with the current text, seen by Reuters, that also grants additional rights and privileges — short of full membership — to the Palestinians.
Some diplomats say this could set a precedent for other situations, citing Kosovo and Taiwan as examples.
Israel’s UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan on Monday denounced the current draft General Assembly resolution, saying it would give the Palestinians the de facto status and rights of a state and goes against the founding UN Charter.
“If it is approved, I expect the United States to completely stop funding the UN and its institutions, in accordance with American law,” said Erdan, adding that adoption by the General Assembly would not change anything on the ground.
US CONCERNS
Under US law, Washington cannot fund any UN organization that grants full membership to any group that does not have the “internationally recognized attributes” of statehood. The US halted funding in 2011 for the UN cultural agency (UNESCO)after the Palestinians became a full member.
“It remains the US view that the path toward statehood for the Palestinian people is through direct negotiations,” said Nate Evans, spokesperson for the US mission to the UN
“We are aware of the resolution and reiterate our concerns with any effort to extend certain benefits to entities when there are unresolved questions as to whether the Palestinians currently meet the criteria under the Charter,” he said.
The Palestinians are currently a non-member observer state, a de facto recognition of statehood that was granted by the UN General Assembly in 2012. The Palestinian mission to the UN in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment on its push for action in the General Assembly.
The Palestinian push for full UN membership comes seven months into a war between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and as Israel is expanding settlements in the occupied West Bank, which the UN considers to be illegal. The United Nations has long endorsed a vision of two states living side by side within secure and recognized borders.
Palestinians want a state in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip, all territory captured by Israel in 1967.
Palestinians seek UN General Assembly backing for full membership
- Diplomats say the 193-member General Assembly is likely to back the Palestinian bid
UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations General Assembly could vote on Friday on a draft resolution that would recognize the Palestinians as qualified to become a full UN member and recommend that the UN Security Council “reconsider the matter favorably.”
It would effectively act as a global survey of how much support the Palestinians have for their bid, which was vetoed in the UN Security Council last month by the United States. An application to become a full UN member needs to be approved by the 15-member Security Council and then the General Assembly.
Diplomats say the 193-member General Assembly is likely to back the Palestinian bid. But changes could still be made to the draft after some diplomats raised concerns with the current text, seen by Reuters, that also grants additional rights and privileges — short of full membership — to the Palestinians.
Some diplomats say this could set a precedent for other situations, citing Kosovo and Taiwan as examples.
Israel’s UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan on Monday denounced the current draft General Assembly resolution, saying it would give the Palestinians the de facto status and rights of a state and goes against the founding UN Charter.
“If it is approved, I expect the United States to completely stop funding the UN and its institutions, in accordance with American law,” said Erdan, adding that adoption by the General Assembly would not change anything on the ground.
US CONCERNS
Under US law, Washington cannot fund any UN organization that grants full membership to any group that does not have the “internationally recognized attributes” of statehood. The US halted funding in 2011 for the UN cultural agency (UNESCO)after the Palestinians became a full member.
“It remains the US view that the path toward statehood for the Palestinian people is through direct negotiations,” said Nate Evans, spokesperson for the US mission to the UN
“We are aware of the resolution and reiterate our concerns with any effort to extend certain benefits to entities when there are unresolved questions as to whether the Palestinians currently meet the criteria under the Charter,” he said.
The Palestinians are currently a non-member observer state, a de facto recognition of statehood that was granted by the UN General Assembly in 2012. The Palestinian mission to the UN in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment on its push for action in the General Assembly.
The Palestinian push for full UN membership comes seven months into a war between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and as Israel is expanding settlements in the occupied West Bank, which the UN considers to be illegal. The United Nations has long endorsed a vision of two states living side by side within secure and recognized borders. Palestinians want a state in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip, all territory captured by Israel in 1967.
