French President Emmanuel Macron will meet Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in Paris on Tuesday to discuss the “full implementation” of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, the Elysee said.The meeting comes a month into a fragile truce between Hamas and Israel, following two years of war triggered by the Palestinian militant group’s October 7, 2023 attack against Israel.Abbas, 89, is the longtime head of the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited control over parts of the West Bank and is being considered to assume governance in Gaza under the deal.The two leaders “will discuss the next steps in the peace plan, particularly in the areas of security, governance and reconstruction”, said the French presidency.Brokered by US President Donald Trump, the October 10 ceasefire has been tested by fresh Israeli strikes and claims of Palestinian attacks on Israeli soldiers.Trump said last week he expected an International Stabilisation Force tasked with monitoring the ceasefire to be in Gaza “very soon”.The meeting also follows Macron’s decision in September to recognise a Palestinian state at a United Nations summit — a move the Palestinian Authority hailed as “historic and courageous”.During talks with Abbas, Macron is expected to discuss the need to maintain humanitarian aid access for Gaza and to address changes within the Palestinian Authority.Reforming the governing body is essential for a “democratic and sovereign Palestinian state, living in peace and security alongside Israel”, the Elysee said.Hamas’s October 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.The Israeli military’s retaliatory campaign has since killed more than 69,000 Palestinians, also mostly civilians, according to Gaza’s health ministry.The ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations, does not specify the number of fighters killed within this total.

Iraqis began voting for a new parliament on Tuesday at a pivotal time for the country and the wider region, in an election that both Iran and the United States will be closely watching.Iraq has been unusually stable in recent years, as the nation tries to move past decades of war and repression under slain dictator Saddam Hussein and since the US-led invasion that toppled him.But even now, the country of 46 million people suffers from poor infrastructure, failing public services and endemic corruption.Many have lost hope that elections can bring meaningful change to their daily lives and see the vote as a sham that only benefits political elites and regional powers.Polling stations opened at 7:00 am local time (0400 GMT) and close at 6:00 pm (1500 GMT), with preliminary results expected within 24 hours of closing.Just minutes after the polls opened, several senior politicians cast their votes at the luxurious al-Rasheed hotel in the capital, Baghdad.Despite the scepticism, more than 7,740 candidates, nearly a third of them women, are running for the 329-seat parliament.Only 75 independents are standing under an electoral law that many believe favours larger parties.More than 21 million people are eligible to vote, but there are fears turnout could drop below the 41 percent registered in 2021 — the lowest since voting began.”Every four years, the same thing happens. We don’t see young faces or new energies” capable of “making a change,” said university student Al-Hassan Yassin.- Sectarian politics -Over the years since US-led forces ousted Saddam Hussein, a Sunni, Iraq’s long-oppressed Shiite majority still dominates, with most parties retaining ties to neighbouring Iran.By convention in post-invasion Iraq, a Shiite Muslim holds the powerful post of prime minister and a Sunni that of parliament speaker, while the largely ceremonial presidency goes to a Kurd. No new names have recently emerged, with the same Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish politicians remaining at the forefront.Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, who hopes for a second term after serving under the banner of stability and reconstruction, is likely to score a significant win.Sudani rose to power in 2022 by the Coordination Framework, a ruling alliance of Shiite parties and factions all linked to Iran.He has highlighted his success in keeping Iraq relatively unscathed by the turmoil engulfing the Middle East. But securing a big bloc does not guarantee him a second term: the next prime minister will be voted in by whichever coalition can secure enough allies to become the largest bloc.Although they run separately, Shiite parties within the Coordination Framework are expected to reunite after elections and pick the next premier.- Where’s Sadr? -The ballot is marked by the absence of influential Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr, who urged his followers to boycott what he called a “flawed election”.In 2021, Sadr secured the largest bloc before withdrawing from parliament following a dispute with Shiite parties that did not support his bid to form a government, and instead came together to form a larger alliance.The rift culminated in deadly fighting in Baghdad.Sunni parties are running 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 fierce.Iraq, which has long been a fertile land for proxy wars, is a close ally of Iran and the United States.It has long sought to maintain a balance between the two foes, and even more so now that the Middle East is undergoing an avalanche of change, with new alliances forming and old powers weakening.Even as its influence wanes, Iran hopes to preserve its power in Iraq — the only close ally that stayed out of Israel’s crosshairs after the heavy losses its other allies have incurred in Lebanon, Yemen and Gaza since 2023.Early last year, pro-Iran factions listed as terrorist groups by Washington yielded to internal and US pressure and stopped targeting American forces in Iraq after months of attacks over the Gaza war.Iraq has been under pressure from the United States to disarm the pro-Iran groups.The US, which holds much sway in Iraq and has forces deployed there, has recently appointed Mark Savaya as its special envoy.Savaya has called to free Iraq from Iran and its proxies’ interference, which he described as “malign”.