Iraq’s influential religious leader, Muqtada al-Sadr, has reiterated his demand to close the US embassy in the country’s capital, Baghdad. He said this on Tuesday after dozens of civilians were killed in an Israeli attack on a refugee camp in Gaza, Palestine.

Israeli forces bombed a refugee camp in Rafah city in southern Gaza last Sunday night. The tents of that camp were burnt. Local health officials said at least 45 people were killed in the attack.

Muqtada al-Sadr posted a statement on X (formerly Twitter) in response to the attack. He criticized the attack and said, “Washington is brazenly supporting the genocide going on in Gaza.”

In the statement, he also said, “I reiterate my demand for the expulsion of the US ambassador from Baghdad and the closure of the US embassy in Baghdad through a diplomatic strategy without bloodshed.”

Muqtada al-Sadr is an influential Shia religious leader in Iraq. He once led the militia. Later left arms and joined politics. He has been known as anti-American since the beginning. After 2003, Muqtada al-Sadr’s forces took up arms against US forces in Iraq.

Muqtada al-Sadr has considerable influence among Iraqi Shiites. He has millions of followers. Therefore, this religious leader has an important influence on the national politics of the country.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs criticized the casualties in the attack on the shelter camp in Gaza, saying that Israel “continues criminal activities to continue its occupation” in Gaza. Along with this, the international community has been called upon to take steps to stop these and impose sanctions on Israel.