Shafaq News – Baghdad

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s appearance at Monday’s Sharm El-Sheikh Peace Summit divided Iraq’s Shiite political blocs.

Muqtada al-Sadr, leader of the Patriotic Shiite Movement, condemned the move on X as a “stain of shame,” faulting allied Shiite parties for enabling al-Sudani to attend a summit that, he claimed, could include Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—whom he branded “the filthy one.”

He warned that joining such a forum signals a drift toward normalization with Israel and rejected any endorsement of the two-state solution, which Iraq’s Law on Normalization explicitly bans.

Meanwhile, the State of Law Coalition, headed by former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, urged caution, with MP Ammar al-Shibli noting to Shafaq News that Iraq must remain diplomatically engaged in matters of regional security. He argued that the summit’s agenda centers on Gaza, affirming that Baghdad cannot afford to step away from international dialogue, even when Israeli delegations are present.

Al-Shibli pointed out that Iraq has previously attended multilateral events alongside Israeli representatives, adding that the country “has no option to exclude any delegation invited to such global meetings.”

Al-Sudani arrived in Egypt earlier today for the summit, co-chaired by US President Donald Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, with over 20 countries—including the UK, France, Italy, Turkiye, Jordan, and Spain—gathering to address Gaza’s future following the recent ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

The Egyptian Presidency confirmed that Saudi Arabia is participating with a delegation led by Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, alongside Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. However, Netanyahu later announced he would be unable to attend due to what he described as time constraints ahead of the upcoming holiday.