ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The legislative body of the Arab League approved an Iraqi proposal to file a lawsuit against “the Zionist occupation army,” the Iraqi parliament’s media office announced on Sunday.
The Arab Parliament “unanimously approved a request submitted by Deputy Ahmed al-Jubouri, vice president of the Arab Parliament and member of the Iraqi Council of Representatives, to form a parliamentary team to go to the International Criminal Court in The Hague,” read the statement.
The Iraqi proposal suggested that the Arab Parliament bring a lawsuit “against the Zionist occupation army for committing genocide and Zionist violations against the Palestinian people,” the statement added.
Earlier this month, the acting speaker of the Iraqi parliament, Mohsen al-Mandalawi, called to form an international team of legislators to visit Gaza and Lebanon.
During the 149th session of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Geneva, Mandalawi warned the international community “of the dangers of the conflict in the Middle East escalating into a full-scale war with greater impact on global security and peace.”
An advisor to Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani has said that Baghdad is at the “forefront” of Arab countries defending against Israeli aggression in Gaza and Lebanon.
“Iraq will remain at the forefront of countries defending the rights of Arab peoples and will continue to work to strengthen Arab solidarity in the face of aggression,” Hashem al-Karawi told state media earlier this month.
Violence has been raging in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, when Palestinian Hamas militants launched an all-out incursion into southern Israel, killing over 1,170 people, according to Israel.
Israel responded with a large-scale ongoing offensive in Gaza, killing at least 42,924 people, mostly civilians, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
Israel turned to its northern neighbor Lebanon on October 1 to remove pro-Iran Hezbollah fighters from southern Lebanon and to allow displaced Israelis to return to their homes.
Since the start of the conflict, Israeli bombardments have killed 2,653 people and injured 12,360 others in Lebanon, according to data compiled by the Lebanese health ministry.
Nearly a quarter of the population, 1.2 million people, have been displaced, Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said earlier this month.
Iraq has said it is committed to providing humanitarian aid to Lebanon, and as the conflict has continued more than 13,000 Lebanese refugees have arrived in the country.
