Iraqi voters turn out in numbers as region watches on
Iraqi voters turn out in numbers as region watches on/node/2622169/middle-east
Iraqi voters turn out in numbers as region watches on
An Iraqi security member votes at a polling station during special voting, two days before the polls open to the public in a parliamentary election, in Najaf, Iraq November 9, 2025. (REUTERS)
Iraqi voters turn out in numbers as region watches on
The election is taking place against the backdrop of major shifts in the region over the past two years
Updated 12 November 2025
AFP
BAGHDAD: Iraqis voted for a new parliament Tuesday, with an unexpectedly high turnout of more than 55 percent, at a pivotal time for the country and the wider region.
Iraq, which has long been vulnerable to proxy wars and is closely watched by Iran and the United States, has recently regained a sense of stability.
But, even as it tries to move past two decades of war since a US-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein, the country of 46 million suffers from poor infrastructure and public services, mismanagement and corruption.
Iraq’s electoral commission said more than 12 million people took part out of 21 million eligible voters, despite influential Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr calling on his supporters to boycott the vote.
The unexpected turnout is a sharp jump from the record low of 41 percent in 2021, belying a sense of apathy and skepticism.
Preliminary results are expected within 24 hours of polls closing, but Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, who hopes for a second term, is expected to secure a large bloc but fall short of a majority.
Many voters told reporters that the elections wouldn’t bring meaningful change to their daily lives and said that the vote was a sham that only benefits political elites and regional powers.
No new leadership contenders have recently emerged, with the same Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish politicians remaining at the forefront.
- Failed boycott? -
Political analyst Hamzeh Hadad said the higher turnout, even if still lower than before 2021 “is a positive step for Iraq” and shows that Sadr’s “influence is really limited to his followers.”
“It means no political leader can hold back democratic elections in Iraq,” he added.
The ballot this year was marked by the absence of Sadr who retains a devoted following of millions among Iraq’s majority Shiite population.
In 2021, Sadr secured the largest bloc before withdrawing from parliament following a dispute with Shiite parties which culminated in deadly fighting in Baghdad.
IN the years since US-led forces ousted Saddam Hussein, a Sunni, Iraq’s long-oppressed Shiite majority has dominated, with most parties retaining ties to neighboring Iran.
By convention in post-invasion Iraq, a Shiite Arab holds the powerful post of prime minister and a Sunni Arab that of parliament speaker, while the largely ceremonial presidency goes to a Kurd.
Sudani is likely to win but, with no single party or list expected to achieve an outright majority, must win over a coalition that can secure enough allies to become the largest bloc.
Sudani rose to power in 2022 with the backing of the Coordination Framework, a ruling alliance of Shiite parties and factions all linked to Iran.
Although they run separately, Shiite parties within the Coordination Framework are expected to reunite after elections and likely pick the next premier.
Sudani has touted his success in keeping Iraq relatively unscathed by the turmoil engulfing the Middle East.
Sunni parties contested separately, with the former speaker Mohammed Al-Halbussi expected to do well.
In the autonomous Kurdistan region, the rivalry between the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan remains.
- Delicate balance -
On the ground however, Iraqis said they cast their votes hoping for a change.
“We have unemployment and people are tired, we need progress,” said Ali Abed, 57, in the northern city of Mosul.
But the next prime minister has also another difficult task.
He will have to maintain the delicate balance between Iraq’s allies, Iran and the US, even more so now that the Middle East is undergoing seismic changes, with new alliances forming and old powers weakening.
Even as its influence wanes elsewhere, Iran hopes to preserve its power in Iraq — the only close ally that stayed out of Israel’s crosshairs after the heavy losses Iran’s other allies have incurred in Lebanon, Yemen and Gaza since 2023.
Tehran has meanwhile focused on other interests in Iraq — challenging the US with powerful Tehran-backed armed groups, and keeping the Iraqi market open to products from its crippled economy.
Washington, which still wields influence in Iraq and has forces deployed there, conversely hopes to break Iran’s grip, and has been pressuring Baghdad to disarm the pro-Iran groups.
Why Gaza aid curbs are deepening children’s health crisis despite ceasefire
Humanitarian aid deliveries are still restricted, leaving thousands of children without sufficient food, medicine, and basic shelter
International agencies warn that without urgent, unrestricted aid, child mortality and long-term health crises will escalate sharply
Updated 5 sec ago
Sherouk Zakaria
DUBAI: Two months into Gaza’s fragile ceasefire, children in the besieged enclave continue to bear the brunt of a deepening humanitarian crisis, with aid agencies warning that Israel’s continued restrictions on relief supplies are exposing the population to malnutrition and disease.
Despite the Oct. 10 ceasefire, humanitarian groups say convoys carrying much-needed aid remain stuck at border crossings. Meanwhile, thousands of families displaced by two years of war are now enduring heavy rains in overcrowded shelters, heightening the risk of disease.
For displaced children, limited access to medical care and vaccinations could have long-term, irreversible consequences. Without timely medical intervention and proper nutrition, healthcare workers warn that children are far more vulnerable to illness and death.
Caption
The UK-based charity Medical Aid for Palestinians has reported a rise in cases of child malnutrition, with medical facilities facing “critical shortages” of supplies needed to treat postwar health complications.
“While the number of severely malnourished patients has decreased compared with the peak of the famine, cases are still regularly presenting to hospital emergency departments and medical points,” Rohan Talbot, MAP’s director of advocacy and campaigns, told Arab News.
In November, the organization’s nutrition cluster identified 575 children with acute malnutrition, including 128 with severe malnutrition, out of 7,930 children screened. The highest rates were in Gaza City, where almost 10 percent of children screened were malnourished.
“We have also seen birth defects attributed to poor nutrition in mothers and lack of access to proper food and medical care,” said Talbot, warning that malnutrition could have long-term effects on children, leaving them at risk of stunting, poor development, and recurrent infections.
A nurse examines a malnourished child at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on July 25, 2025. (REUTERS)
A man carries the body of Palestinian baby Zainab Abu Haleeb, who died due to malnutrition, according to health officials, at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on July 26, 2025. (REUTERS)
Last week, MAP reported that three of Gaza’s largest hospitals — Al-Shifa, Nasser and the Patient’s Friends Benevolent Society — remain overwhelmed with critically injured and malnourished patients.
Staff are unable to provide adequate care or carry out surgeries postponed during the war, with some patients dying as a result.
Medical supplies have not “meaningfully increased” since the ceasefire began, leaving a collapsed healthcare system with little capacity to recover, the organization said.
According to the UN, only half of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are currently partially operational, and not a single hospital in the enclave is fully functional.
The Patient’s Friends Benevolent Society Hospital, the main pediatric facility in northern Gaza, has reported critical shortages of essential drugs, medical supplies, cleaning materials, and sterilization equipment.
On Nov. 14, the hospital — already damaged in the fighting — was flooded by heavy rain, trapping children and their families on the ground floor.
“Medical intervention was not enough to save the lives of children, so we lost a large number of them in the intensive care unit,” Dr. Majd Awadallah, the hospital’s medical director, said in a statement.
“These problems are unsolvable without opening the crossings and allowing the unconditional entry of essential materials, especially medicines. How can a hospital operate in surgical and maternity cases without cleaning materials?”
INNUMBERS
• 600 Aid trucks expected to enter Gaza daily under ceasefire deal.
• 145 Actual average number of aid trucks entering Gaza per day.
(Source: Gaza’s Government Media Office)
On Monday, the UN Relief and Works Agency accused Israel of blocking around 6,000 aid trucks carrying food, medicine, tents and blankets — enough to sustain the enclave for three months.
The organization warned that 1.5 million people urgently need shelter after heavy rains in November flooded displacement camps and damaged at least 13,000 tents.
Israel’s military operation in Gaza, triggered by the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack, has displaced about 2.1 million Palestinians — roughly 95 percent of the population — and destroyed nearly 78 percent of the enclave’s 250,000 buildings, according to UN figures.
Most of the displaced now live in makeshift tents, some erected over the rubble of their former homes, without proper sanitation, clean water, insulation or sewage systems, contributing to the spread of infectious diseases.
The World Health Organization has reported a rise in cases of Guillain-Barre Syndrome, acute watery diarrhea, and acute jaundice syndrome, the latter of which can be linked to hepatitis A.
Though more aid has been reaching the devastated enclave since the ceasefire, humanitarian organizations warn this is insufficient to meet the population’s needs.
Under the US-brokered truce, at least 600 aid trucks were expected to enter Gaza daily. However, Gaza’s Government Media Office said the enclave has received an average of just 145 trucks a day since the agreement began.
Of the aid that has entered Gaza, only 5 percent of the trucks contained medical supplies, according to the UN.
“The strain on Palestinians’ lives is only deepening,” said Talbot. “Even the most basic materials needed for shelter continue to be blocked by Israeli authorities.”
Though food availability has slightly improved due to the entry of humanitarian and commercial trucks, aid organizations still report limited quantities and less diverse food in markets.
The World Food Programme said food consumption remained below pre-conflict levels by mid-October, as meat, eggs, vegetables, and fruits remain unaffordable for many families. Talbot said the food shortages are affecting patient recovery and overall public health.
“Local food production has been severely disrupted, and humanitarian access remains extremely constrained by Israeli restrictions, with a severe lack of properly nutritious food entering Gaza,” he said.
The war has eroded purchasing power, leaving 95 percent of the population entirely dependent on aid, UNRWA said, urging Israel to facilitate rapid at-scale and unimpeded humanitarian access.
Although the ceasefire was intended to bring relief, near-daily Israeli strikes have killed 347 Palestinians, including at least 67 children, and injured 889 others, pushing Gaza’s death toll to more than 70,000, according to the Ministry of Health.
Gaza’s Government Media Office has documented 535 Israeli violations since the ceasefire began, while satellite imagery shows more than 1,500 buildings have been destroyed during this period.
In a statement last week, rights monitor Amnesty International accused Israel of continuing to commit genocide in Gaza by severely restricting the entry of aid and blocking the restoration of services essential for civilian survival.
Agnes Callamard, the organization’s secretary-general, said the ceasefire creates “a dangerous illusion that life in Gaza is returning to normal,” warning that the lack of proper food, water and shelter could lead to “slow death” of Palestinians in Gaza.
This includes blocking equipment needed to repair life-sustaining infrastructure and to remove unexploded ordnance, contaminated rubble and sewage — all of which pose serious and potentially irreversible public health and environmental risks, she said.
Israel denies accusations it is deliberately obstructing aid, and accuses Hamas of stealing humanitarian assistance.
COGAT, the Israeli military arm that oversees humanitarian matters, insists that “hundreds of trucks” enter Gaza daily.
In a Nov. 30 statement, the unit said it “approved 100,000 pallet requests submitted by organizations, of winter-related items, shelter equipment, and sanitation supplies.”
“These supplies are ready and waiting for weeks for immediate coordination by the relevant organizations so they can enter Gaza,” the statement read.
Israel and Hamas have continued to trade accusations of ceasefire violations as the first phase nears completion.
Under this initial phase, Israel was required to withdraw its troops behind a temporary boundary known as the yellow line, while Hamas was to release all living and deceased hostages.
The next stage of the Trump 20‑point Gaza peace plan, endorsed by the UN Security Council on Nov. 18, faces major obstacles, including Hamas disarmament, Israel’s full withdrawal from Gaza, governance of the enclave, and international security arrangements.
Despite these obstacles, aid agencies are continuing live-saving work, stepping up efforts to provide essential health services, distribute clean water, support trauma and emergency responses, and offer mental health support.
On Nov. 21, the WHO, UNRWA, and the UN children’s fund UNICEF, announced the completion of the first round of vaccinations, which immunized more than 13,700 children against measles, polio, mumps and rubella, hepatitis B, tuberculosis, rotavirus and pneumonia.
The agencies are now preparing for rounds two and three after 1.6 million syringes procured by UNICEF entered Gaza in mid-November.
The UN also distributed food parcels to more than 264,000 families in the same month.
However, aid workers say that these efforts represent only a fraction of what is needed to mitigate the worsening humanitarian crisis and help the population recover.
“A ceasefire must mean more than this; it must bring an end to Palestinians’ suffering and allow them to regain their dignity and safety,” said Talbot.
“Without a flood of aid and assistance, we will see more avoidable deaths and deprivation.”
