Iraq’s Yazidis mark New Year still haunted by Daesh horrors

Girls walk out of a building as Iraqi Yazidis gather for a ceremony marking the Yazidi New Year at the Temple of Lalish in a valley near the Kurdish city of Dohuk, Apr. 18, 2023. (AFP)
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Updated 19 April 2023
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Iraq’s Yazidis mark New Year still haunted by Daesh horrors

  • Hundreds came to Lalish to mark the Yazidi New Year — which to the faithful commemorates the creation of the universe
  • When Daesh invaded Iraq in August 2014, one of their targets was Sinjar, the Yazidis’ historic home on the Nineveh Plain

LALISH, Iraq: One by one, members of Iraq’s minority Yazidi community light oil lamps to mark their New Year at a sacred shrine, but for Omar Sinan the celebration cannot erase the atrocities of extremist rule.
In 2014, the Daesh group swept across swathes of Iraq, carrying out horrific violence against the Kurdish-speaking community whose non-Muslim faith the extremists considered heretical.
Daesh massacred thousands of men and abducted thousands of women and girls as sex slaves.
Tuesday night as the sun set over the Lalish stone shrine in northern Iraq, Yazidis began lighting oil lamps, 365 of them, one for each day of the year.
Hundreds came to mark the Yazidi New Year — which to the faithful commemorates the creation of the universe by angels and celebrates nature and fertility.
Six years after Iraq declared victory over Daesh, the Yazidis came to Lalish barefoot and dressed in white.
The men wore embroidered vests over their shirts while women donned traditional head coverings, featuring gold coins.
“Before, this was a time for celebration and our joy was immense. But today... we cannot forget what we have been through,” said Sinan, attending the celebration with his children.
The Yazidis follow an ancient religion that emerged in Iran more than 4,000 years ago and is rooted in Zoroastrianism. Over time it incorporated elements of Islam and Christianity.
The community was persecuted for years, including under Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
When Daesh invaded Iraq in August 2014, one of their targets was Sinjar, the Yazidis’ historic home on the Nineveh Plain, in a remote corner of the country’s north.
“Ever since the genocide, there is sadness in our hearts. It won’t go away,” said Sinan, a 37-year-old mathematics teacher.
“This sadness will live in us for eternity.”
During the New Year celebration, Yazidis pay their respects at the graves of relatives, and those who can afford it slaughter a sheep and offer some of the meat to the poor.
Iraq’s federal government in Baghdad has dedicated the first Wednesday of April as a holiday for the Yazidi community.
Before Daesh marched into their villages in 2014, there were 550,000 Yazidis nationwide out of a worldwide total of 1.5 million, including in neighboring countries and the diaspora.
But after the massacres and the abductions, nearly 100,000 fled abroad, according to the United Nations. Most went to Europe, Australia and Canada to try to build new lives.
Arabic-language teacher Faleh Jomaa, 60, was among those who decided to stay in Iraq with his wife and three children, unlike his four brothers and their families who emigrated to Germany.
“The Yazidi community has suffered 74 genocides over time but it rises again each time, like plants from the depth of the Earth,” he said.
In January, Germany’s parliament recognized the 2014 massacre of Yazidi by Daesh as a “genocide,” following similar moves by parliaments in Australia, Belgium and the Netherlands.
On Tuesday, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shia Al-Sudani said “political and security measures” have yet to be adopted to allow displaced Yazidis to return to Sinjar.
In March, his government allocated $38.5 million to rebuild Sinjar and villages in the Nineveh Plain.
According to the UN migration agency, IOM, more than 200,000 Yazidis who survived Daesh brutality are still displaced living in and outside camps across Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region.
“The needs of displaced persons and returnees in Sinjar remain high,” the IOM said in a report in January, noting a “lack of adequate shelter and basic services... including running water, electricity, health care and education.”
Daesh extremists “destroyed around 80 percent of public infrastructure and 70 percent of civilian homes in Sinjar City and surrounding areas,” it added.
Khawla Abdou, who fled with her husband and eight daughters to Germany, chose to return home this year to mark the New Year in Lalish.
“We came to pray to God on this sacred day so that he could free our daughters who are still held by the enemy,” the 67-year-old said.
“May God hear our prayers and free our daughters. We cannot forget them and we will never forget what happened in Sinjar.”
According to the IOM, more than 2,700 Yazidis are still missing, some held by extremists.


Jordan resumes aid convoys to Palestinians in Gaza as conditions deteriorate

Updated 09 July 2025
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Jordan resumes aid convoys to Palestinians in Gaza as conditions deteriorate

  • Aid and food will be distributed in northern Gaza to ensure it reaches the most affected families
  • Initiative involved the World Food Programme and the Jordanian armed forces

LONDON: Jordan on Wednesday resumed the dispatch of relief convoys to the besieged and war-torn Gaza Strip after months of an Israeli blockade that hindered humanitarian aid from reaching the Palestinian coastal enclave.

The Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization sent 40 trucks loaded with basic food supplies into Gaza as part of Amman’s humanitarian efforts to support Palestinians. The initiative was in collaboration with the World Food Programme and the Jordanian armed forces.

The aid and food will be distributed in northern Gaza to ensure it reaches the most affected families and supports Palestinians as humanitarian and living conditions continue to deteriorate due to Israeli attacks since late 2023.

Hussein Shibli, the secretary-general of JHCO, said the resumption of convoys highlights Jordan’s commitment under King Abdullah II to support Palestinians.

Jordan collaborated with the WFP to deliver a mobile bakery that supplied thousands of loaves of bread daily to residents in northern Gaza. Shibli said that cooperation with the WFP included projects for distributing meals and clean water, because infrastructure was severely damaged during Israeli bombings.

Jordan was among the first countries to conduct airlift missions in the early days of the war, delivering relief to Gaza. More than 56,000 Palestinians have reportedly been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza, which have been described as genocide by human rights groups and several heads of state.


Palestinian Authority welcomes French president’s affirmation of recognizing statehood during UK parliament speech

Updated 09 July 2025
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Palestinian Authority welcomes French president’s affirmation of recognizing statehood during UK parliament speech

  • Emmanuel Macron said attacks in Gaza and West Bank put the prospect of Palestinian statehood at risk
  • He called for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, where Israel has been launching military campaigns since late 2023

LONDON: The Palestinian Authority welcomed on Wednesday the statements made by French President Emmanuel Macron during his state visit to the UK, in which he affirmed Paris’ position to recognize a Palestinian state as a way to ensure stability in the Middle East.

The Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates said that Macron is leading French efforts to revive the peace process with the Israeli government and contribute to implementing the two-state solution.

During his speech at the UK parliament on Tuesday, Macron said, “With Gaza in ruin and the West Bank being attacked on a daily basis, the perspective of a Palestinian state has never been put at risk as it is.

“And this is why this solution of the two states and the recognition of the State of Palestine is … the only way to build peace and stability for all in the whole region,” Macron said.

Organizers of a planned international conference sponsored by Saudi Arabia and France in mid-June had to postpone the event due to the Iranian-Israeli conflict that erupted. Several Labour lawmakers from the UK’s ruling party have called on Kier Starmer’s government to recognize a Palestinian state and to join France in this effort.

Macron also called for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, where Israel has been launching military campaigns since late 2023 following Hamas’ cross-border raids on Israeli towns.

The Palestinian Authority urged European countries that have yet to recognize Palestine to support and follow France’s position, according to Wafa news agency.


Jailed Kurdish militant leader urges PKK fighters to disarm

Updated 09 July 2025
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Jailed Kurdish militant leader urges PKK fighters to disarm

  • Abdullah Ocalan addresses supporters days before scheduled symbolic disarmament ceremony - a first concrete step in peace process with Turkiye
  • Jailed leader says peace initiative has reached stage that requires practical steps

ANKARA, Turkiye: The jailed leader of a Kurdish militant group renewed Wednesday a call for his fighters to lay down their arms, days before a symbolic disarmament ceremony is expected to take place as a first concrete step in a peace process with the Turkish state.
In a seven-minute video message broadcast on media close to the militants, Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, declared that the peace initiative had reached a stage that required practical steps.
“It should be considered natural for you to publicly ensure the disarmament of the relevant groups in a way that addresses the expectations of the (Turkish parliament) and its commission, dispels public doubts, and fulfills our commitments,” Ocalan said. “I believe in the power of politics and social peace, not weapons. And I call on you to put this principle into practice.”
In his video message — his first public appearance since being seen during his trial more than two decades ago — Ocalan, 76, also expressed his support for the establishment of a parliamentary committee to help oversee the peace initiative.
The PKK leader, who has been imprisoned on an island near Istanbul since 1999, first urged the PKK in February to convene a congress and formally dissolve itself. Responding to his call, the PKK announced in May that it would disband and renounce armed conflict, ending four decades of hostilities.
Ocalan’s call to end the fighting marked a pivotal step toward ending the decades-long conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives since the 1980s.
His message broadcast on Wednesday appeared to be aimed at convincing fighters who may still be hesitant about abandoning armed struggle. He delivered his message flanked by fellow inmates.
In a speech to lawmakers from his ruling party, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he expected imminent progress in the peace initiative, adding that once firmly established, the effort would benefit not only Turkiye but the broader region. Erdogan also expressed hope that the process would advance without attempts to sabotage it.
“Once the wall of terror is torn town, God willing, everything will change. More pain and tears will be prevented,” Erdogan said. “The winners of this (process) will be the whole of Turkiye — Turks, Kurds and Arabs. Then it will be our entire region.”
“We hope that this auspicious process will conclude successfully as soon as possible, without any road accidents, and without it being sabotaged by dark and corrupt circles,” he said.
In a first step toward the PKK’s disarmament process, a group of its fighters is expected later this week to lay down their arms in a symbolic ceremony to be held in Sulaymaniyah, in northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region. Aysegul Dogan, the spokeswoman for Turkiye’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party said the symbolic laying down of arms would take place on Friday.
“We consider this to be a historic moment and a historic development,” she said, adding that representatives from the party would travel to Sulaymaniyah to witness the event.
Zagros Hiwar, a PKK spokesman, said that a group of 20 to 30 fighters would descend from the mountains and destroy their weapons in front of civil society organizations and invited observers.
The PKK has long maintained bases in the mountains of northern Iraq. Turkish forces have launched offensives and airstrikes against the PKK in Iraq and have set up bases in the area.
The Iraqi government in Baghdad announced last year an official ban on the separatist group, which has long been prohibited in Turkiye.
On Tuesday, Turkiye’s intelligence chief, Ibrahim Kalin, traveled to Baghdad to discuss the peace process and other security issues with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani and other officials, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.


Israel army says launched ‘special, targeted operations’ in south Lebanon

Updated 09 July 2025
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Israel army says launched ‘special, targeted operations’ in south Lebanon

  • Israel has kept up its strikes on Lebanon, despite a November truce with Hezbollah
  • Israel's military claimed it carried out operations in Labbouneh and Jabal Blat

JERUSALEM: Israel’s military said Wednesday its troops entered southern Lebanon as part of targeted operations to dismantle infrastructure belonging to the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
“Following intelligence information and the identification of Hezbollah weapons and terrorist infrastructure in several areas of southern Lebanon, the soldiers launched special, targeted operations to dismantle them and prevent Hezbollah from reestablishing itself in the area,” an army statement said.
The military did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment on whether this was the first time Israeli troops had operated on the ground in Lebanon since a November ceasefire.
But the army shared a video captioned “footage from a targeted nighttime operation of the 9th Brigade in southern Lebanon,” showing troops walking on the ground.
AFP was unable to verify the footage, the time or location it was shot.
The army statement said the 9th Brigade was in the Labbouneh area, just over the border. Troops from the 300th Brigade operated in the Jabal Blat area further west, also within sight of the frontier.
Despite a November truce with Hezbollah, Israel has kept up its strikes on Lebanon, mainly saying it is targeting the group’s sites and operatives but also occasionally members of their Palestinian ally Hamas.
The November 27 ceasefire sought to end more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah, including two months of all-out war that left the group severely weakened.
Under the ceasefire deal, Hezbollah was to pull its fighters back north of the Litani river, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Israeli border, leaving the Lebanese army and United Nations peacekeepers as the only armed parties in the region.
Israel was required to fully withdraw its troops from the country but has kept them in five places it deems strategic.


Armenia, Azerbaijan to meet for peace talks in UAE Thursday

Updated 09 July 2025
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Armenia, Azerbaijan to meet for peace talks in UAE Thursday

  • The announcement came a day after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed hope for a swift peace deal between the Caucasus neighbors

BAKU: The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan will meet on Thursday in the United Arab Emirates for peace talks, two days after the US expressed hope for a swift deal.
Baku and Yerevan fought two wars over the disputed Karabakh region, which Azerbaijan recaptured from Armenian forces in a lightning offensive in 2023, prompting the exodus of more than 100,000 ethnic Armenians.
The arch foes agreed on the text of a comprehensive peace deal in March, but Baku has since outlined a host of demands — including amendments to Armenia’s constitution to drop its territorial claims for the Karabakh — before signing the document.
On Wednesday, the Armenian government said Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev will meet the following day in the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi, “within the framework of the peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan.”
The Azerbaijani presidency issued an identical statement.
The announcement came a day after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed hope for a swift peace deal between the Caucasus neighbors.
Aliyev and Pashinyan last met on the sidelines of the European Political Community summit in Albania in May.