Rising Tensions Between Baghdad and Erbil: Beginning of a New Phase?

Judges from Baghdad and Erbil during a seminar on the Iraqi Constitution (Government Media file photo)
Judges from Baghdad and Erbil during a seminar on the Iraqi Constitution (Government Media file photo)
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Rising Tensions Between Baghdad and Erbil: Beginning of a New Phase?

Judges from Baghdad and Erbil during a seminar on the Iraqi Constitution (Government Media file photo)
Judges from Baghdad and Erbil during a seminar on the Iraqi Constitution (Government Media file photo)

Iraqi experts foresee escalation in tensions between Erbil’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and Baghdad following recent Federal Court decisions and the resignation of a Kurdish judge.

They note that while relations between the two capitals are heating up, political divisions within Kurdish factions may limit their ability to take decisive actions.

Previously, Erbil played a significant role in federal politics, primarily clashing with Shiite parties in Baghdad, notably Nouri al-Maliki’s Dawa Party.

However, recent disputes have shifted towards legal and constitutional matters addressed by Iraq’s top court.

Baghdad’s alleged political moves against the KRG are prompting Erbil to respond.

The recent withdrawal of Kurdish Judge Abdul Rahman Zibari from the Federal Court, supported by the party of Masoud Barzani (Kurdistan Democratic Party), seems aimed at disrupting the court’s operations.

It’s seen as an attempt to upset the ethnic and national balance among its members, according to some legal experts.

The Kurdistan Region Judiciary Council sharply criticized the Federal Court on Wednesday for its decision to annul the minority quota. This move, from the Kurdish perspective, is seen as applying constitutional pressure on Baghdad and the Federal Court.

The head of the Kurdistan Judicial Council, Judge Abdul Jabbar Aziz Hassan, on Wednesday stated that Iraq became a federal state in 2004 with the State Administration Law.

Its governance system, outlined in Article 4, is based on historical and geographical facts, separating powers between the center and the Kurdistan Region, he added in an official statement.

The 2005 constitution recognized the Kurdistan Region and its authorities, granting it powers except for those reserved for federal authorities.

Judge Hassan explained that anything not exclusively under federal authority is within the region's jurisdiction. He emphasized that regional laws take precedence over federal laws in areas of shared authority.

He criticized the Federal Court for overstepping its legal boundaries, citing its decision to cancel the minority quota in the Kurdistan Parliament election law.

Kurdistan’s judiciary believes that the division of electoral districts is solely the regional parliament's responsibility, not the Federal Court's.

KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani reaffirmed the region’s commitment to its constitutional rights, stating that they wouldn't be relinquished under any pressure or circumstances.



West Bank Palestinians Losing Hope 100 Days into Israeli Assault

Israel's military deployed tanks in Jenin in late February - AFP
Israel's military deployed tanks in Jenin in late February - AFP
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West Bank Palestinians Losing Hope 100 Days into Israeli Assault

Israel's military deployed tanks in Jenin in late February - AFP
Israel's military deployed tanks in Jenin in late February - AFP

On a torn-up road near the refugee camp where she once lived, Saja Bawaqneh said she struggled to find hope 100 days after an Israeli offensive in the occupied West Bank forced her to flee.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been displaced in the north of the territory since Israel began a major "anti-terrorist operation" dubbed "Iron Wall" on January 21.

Bawaqneh said life was tough and uncertain since she was forced to leave Jenin refugee camp -- one of three targeted by the offensive along with Tulkarem and Nur Shams.

"We try to hold on to hope, but unfortunately, reality offers none," she told AFP.

"Nothing is clear in Jenin camp even after 100 days -- we still don't know whether we will return to our homes, or whether those homes have been damaged or destroyed."

Bawaqneh said residents were banned from entering the camp and that "no one knows... what happened inside".

Israel's military in late February deployed tanks in Jenin for the first time in the West Bank since the end of the second intifada.

In early March, it said it had expanded its offensive to more areas of the city.

The Jenin camp is a known bastion of Palestinian militancy where Israeli forces have always operated.

AFP footage this week showed power lines dangling above streets blocked with barriers made of churned up earth. Wastewater pooled in the road outside Jenin Governmental Hospital.

- 'Precarious' situation -

Farha Abu al-Hija, a member of the Popular Committee for Services in Jenin camp, said families living in the vicinity of the camp were being removed by Israeli forces "on a daily basis".

"A hundred days have passed like a hundred years for the displaced people of Jenin camp," she said.

"Their situation is dire, the conditions are harsh, and they are enduring pain unlike anything they have ever known."

Medical charity Doctors Without Borders in March denounced the "extremely precarious" situation of Palestinians displaced by the military assault, saying they were going "without proper shelter, essential services, and access to healthcare".

It said the scale of forced displacement and destruction of camps "has not been seen in decades" in the West Bank.

The United Nations says about 40,000 residents have been displaced since January 21.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has said the offensive would last several months and ordered troops to stop residents from returning.

Israeli forces put up barriers at several entrances of the Jenin camp in late April, AFP footage showed.

The Israeli offensive began two days after a truce came into effect in the Gaza Strip between the Israeli military and Gaza's Hamas.

Two months later that truce collapsed and Israel resumed its offensive in Gaza, a Palestinian territory separate from the West Bank.

Since the Gaza war began in October 2023, violence has soared in the West Bank.

Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 925 Palestinians, including militants, in the territory since then, according to the Ramallah-based health ministry.

Palestinian attacks and clashes during military raids have killed at least 33 Israelis, including soldiers, over the same period, according to official figures.