Iraq will not be negatively affected by the weakening of Iran's influence in the Middle East, Iraq's deputy parliament speaker said, with Baghdad looking to chart its own diplomatic path in the region and limit the power of armed groups.

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Palestine’s ambassador to Iraq on Saturday thanked the country for its humanitarian and financial support to Gaza, a week after a ceasefire with Israel came into effect and with the enclave ravaged by war.

Dozens of people celebrated today in Baghdad the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Camera: AHMED JALIL. [Restrictions: Spain, Latin America, or the U.S. Hispanic market]

Hamas fighters were out in force at the start of the ceasefire ... adding it eclipsed the damage done to Mosul in Iraq during the campaign to dislodge the Islamic State group. But ultimately, said Mekelberg, Israel's military campaign didn't "deal with ...

Under the terms of the fragile Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal , fighting will be halted in Gaza for at least six weeks. Dozens of Israeli hostages and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners will be freed, while more aid flows in .

Before their release, the hostages, four female soldiers, were led onto a stage in Gaza City, surrounded by masked, uniformed fighters.

In a rare move hours after the cease-fire took effect, one senior Hamas official said the group wants to engage the new Trump administration.

Two Iraqi border guards were killed on Friday during a clash with fighters from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Iraq's interior ministry said.

A small U.S. security firm is hiring nearly 100 U.S. special forces veterans to help run a checkpoint in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas truce, according to a company spokesperson and a recruitment email seen by Reuters,

Iraq looms as a complex test for the new Trump ... "The Iranian regime cannot afford another domino to fall after Hamas and Hezbollah and Assad," Knights said. "This is why the US needs to fight ...

Since the horrific Hamas terrorist attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, Israel has been at war in the Middle East. The conflict has stretched across borders, spanning Gaza to Lebanon to Iran. Over the course of 15 months,

America needs to rebuild itself, not Gaza. It needs to police its own streets, not Gaza streets. In his first year in office, President Trump vowed, we are “not nation-building again; we are killing terrorists.” America needs to stop nation-building in Gaza and start letting Israel kill terrorists.