The Trauma Helpline Taking Calls from Gaza During Conflict and Beyond

Palestinian artist Etaf al-Najili paints Al-Aqsa Mosque's Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, on a remaining wall section of a damaged building in Gaza City, on May 24, 2021. (Getty Images)
Palestinian artist Etaf al-Najili paints Al-Aqsa Mosque's Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, on a remaining wall section of a damaged building in Gaza City, on May 24, 2021. (Getty Images)
TT

The Trauma Helpline Taking Calls from Gaza During Conflict and Beyond

Palestinian artist Etaf al-Najili paints Al-Aqsa Mosque's Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, on a remaining wall section of a damaged building in Gaza City, on May 24, 2021. (Getty Images)
Palestinian artist Etaf al-Najili paints Al-Aqsa Mosque's Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, on a remaining wall section of a damaged building in Gaza City, on May 24, 2021. (Getty Images)

The distressed caller was on the line from Gaza when an explosion drowned out his voice and the line suddenly went dead.

For counselors at the Sawa 121 (One-to-One) Palestinian helpline in Ramallah, it is a grimly familiar end to calls in times of conflict, most recently during the 11-day hostilities between Israel and Hamas in May.

"You don't know if they're still alive or not," Sawa co-founder Ohaila Shomar told Reuters at her call center office in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank.

"This is the most difficult thing. We keep thinking about them and what happened to them."

Sawa - "Together" in Arabic - fielded around 37,000 calls during the May violence, twice its usual workload, with concerns such as safety, missing children and unexploded bombs added to the helpline's usual pleas for help with domestic abuse, child protection and mental health problems.

Some callers were seeking shelter during Israeli airstrikes or used Sawa's free line to pass messages to their family because they had no phone credit, counselors said.

An Egyptian-brokered truce on May 21 ended the fighting which saw 253 Palestinians killed by Israeli airstrikes and 13 people in Israel killed by Palestinian rockets and missiles, medical officials said.

Jalal Khader, director of Sawa in Ramallah, said that although the fighting has stopped, the real support work is only just beginning after four wars between Israel and Gaza militants since 2008.

"It's as if the trauma and crises that they went through during the previous wars came back again because they're living the same crisis that they've lived through before," said Khader.

Relying on funding from humanitarian organizations including Médecins du Monde Switzerland and the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), Sawa will continue to provide emergency post-war support for another six months.

Staff are limited to answering the phones for a maximum of 20 hours a week to prevent counselor burnout, but Sawa official Noor Nazzal said the gratitude of callers made a difficult job worthwhile.

"When we leave and hear the feedback that they give us – how much you gave me relief, how much you reassured me and gave me hope for life, this gives us the motivation to offer something even better and continue with our work," she said.



ISIS Women in Syria’s Al-Hol, Roj Camps: Uncertain Fates Ahead

One of the main streets in Al-Hol camp (Asharq Al-Awsat)
One of the main streets in Al-Hol camp (Asharq Al-Awsat)
TT

ISIS Women in Syria’s Al-Hol, Roj Camps: Uncertain Fates Ahead

One of the main streets in Al-Hol camp (Asharq Al-Awsat)
One of the main streets in Al-Hol camp (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Over the years, Al-Hol camp has grown into a bustling city of tents, home to nearly 43,000 people, mostly women and children from Iraq and Syria. Another section hosts families from 54 different Western and Arab countries.
Situated around 45 kilometers east of Al-Hasakah Governorate in Syria’s far northeast, Al-Hol’s population has surged from just a few hundred in 2016 to over 70,000 during the ISIS era.
About 136 kilometers away lies Roj camp, seeming similar to other refugee camps at first glance. But beyond its gates are high walls, surveillance cameras, and hundreds of tents housing jihadist women, fighters’ wives, and ISIS leaders.
While some women try to leave, others still hold onto beliefs that drew them to join the terror group, turning these camps into uncertain waiting grounds.
In the market of Al-Hol camp in eastern Syria, Iraqi and Syrian women shop for groceries, fruits, and even cosmetics. Some also get their phones fixed while vendors sell everything from dresses to Valentine’s Day gifts and perfumes, once banned under ISIS.
According to the UN refugee agency, the camp hosts 43,477 people, mostly Iraqi refugees followed by Syrian displaced persons, and around 6,500 foreign migrants, with women and children forming the majority.
Threats and Killings Persist in Al-Hol Camp
Al-Hol camp is run by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and their military branch, the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG). Despite security efforts, violence continues, with attempted mass escapes being stopped by security.
The camp director reported receiving complaints of armed men threatening and robbing organizations operating at Al-Hol during the day.
The Iraqi government has brought back 1,400 families from Al-Hol camp in six groups by the end of 2023. However, many countries refuse to take back their citizens, even in humanitarian cases.
Women Search for Missing Husbands
“I've been in the camp for 6, 7, or maybe 10 years... Honestly, I can't remember. We're tired of waiting,” said Noran, a seventy-year-old Iraqi woman in Al-Hol camp. She, like many others, can’t recall when she arrived, living without much hope.
She came to Syria in mid-2016 when the borders dissolved due to the conflict. Now, she lives with her widowed daughter and granddaughter; her daughter’s husband died in battles in Deir ez-Zor.
Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Noran expressed her readiness to return to Iraq if given the chance because she’s endured enough suffering.
Raghad Rasool, another Iraqi refugee in Al-Hol camp for six years, left her hometown in 2015, unsure of her husband and four brothers’ fate. They were captured after the Baghouz battle five years ago. Raghad longs to see them again.
Rassol sat selling parsley, onions, and mint in the market to support her family of five.
At 54, wrinkles marked her face as she lamented her situation.
“There’s no safety, life is tough, and we know nothing about the prisoners. But seeing my children without a future is the hardest,” she told Asharq Al-Awsat.
Many Iraqi refugee women share Raghad’s pain, not knowing what happened to their husbands or male family members held by coalition forces and the SDF.
Azhar, 32, dressed in black with only her eyes visible, spoke in a low voice to Asharq Al-Awsat, fearing surveillance.
“My husband has been missing for five years. I don't know if he's alive or dead. I have the right to know his fate, but I fear him being taken to Iraq and tried for belonging to the organization (ISIS),” she said.
Azhar, the Iraqi refugee, recounted moving between several Syrian cities to escape ISIS until they ended up in Baghouz.
After the men surrendered, the women and children were taken to Al-Hol camp.
All my family is here, including my parents and 30 relatives with my children, the oldest being 18 and the youngest 10,” she added.
Survivors Speak Out Amidst 150 Murders in Al-Hol Camp
In a guarded section of Al-Hol camp, security forces stand watch, restricting access to only those with written permission. Known as the “safe zone,” it shelters 25 families who escaped ISIS retaliation.
Lina, 23, a displaced Syrian from Al-Safira, shares her ordeal. Married off at 12 to a Tunisian fighter 33 years her senior, she reflects on her mother’s death in childbirth and her stepmother’s pressure to marry quickly.
Moving between ISIS-held areas, Lina settled in Baghouz, where her husband died, leaving her with two children who later succumbed to illness.
“Now I'm alone, hoping for a safer place,” she told Asharq Al-Awsat.
In Al-Hol, threats from pro-ISIS groups haunted Lina, culminating in an assassination attempt that forced her into the safe zone.
Al-Hol has seen over 150 murders, with 36 in 2023 alone.
Dima, 28, from Manbij, shares her fear: “Even in the safe zone, I fear for my life as night falls.”
Her husband, once an ISIS nurse, refused their orders, leading to an assassination attempt on Dima’s life. She’s now sheltered in the safe zone, hoping for safety.


How Russia's Grab of Crimea 10 Years Ago Led to War with Ukraine and Rising Tensions with the West

In this pool photograph distributed by Russia's state agency Sputnik, Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a videoconference ceremonies to launch the construction of Unit 7 at Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant and a high-speed railway line between Moscow and Saint Petersburg, at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence, outside Moscow, on March 14, 2024. (Photo by Mikhail Metzel / POOL / AFP)
In this pool photograph distributed by Russia's state agency Sputnik, Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a videoconference ceremonies to launch the construction of Unit 7 at Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant and a high-speed railway line between Moscow and Saint Petersburg, at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence, outside Moscow, on March 14, 2024. (Photo by Mikhail Metzel / POOL / AFP)
TT

How Russia's Grab of Crimea 10 Years Ago Led to War with Ukraine and Rising Tensions with the West

In this pool photograph distributed by Russia's state agency Sputnik, Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a videoconference ceremonies to launch the construction of Unit 7 at Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant and a high-speed railway line between Moscow and Saint Petersburg, at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence, outside Moscow, on March 14, 2024. (Photo by Mikhail Metzel / POOL / AFP)
In this pool photograph distributed by Russia's state agency Sputnik, Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a videoconference ceremonies to launch the construction of Unit 7 at Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant and a high-speed railway line between Moscow and Saint Petersburg, at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence, outside Moscow, on March 14, 2024. (Photo by Mikhail Metzel / POOL / AFP)

A decade ago, President Vladimir Putin seized Crimea from Ukraine, a bold land grab that set the stage for Russia to invade its neighbor in 2022.
The quick and bloodless seizure of the diamond-shaped peninsula, home to Russia's Black Sea fleet and a popular vacation site, touched off a wave of patriotism and sent Putin's popularity soaring. “Crimea is ours!” became a popular slogan in Russia.
Now that Putin has been anointed to another six-year term as president, he is determined to extend his gains in Ukraine amid Russia's battlefield successes and waning Western support for Kyiv.
Putin has been vague about his goals in Ukraine as the fighting grinds into a third year at the expense of many lives on both sides, but some of his top lieutenants still talk of capturing Kyiv and cutting Ukraine’s access to the Black Sea.
The largest conflict in Europe since World War II has sent tensions between Moscow and the West soaring to levels rarely seen during even the chilliest moments of the Cold War.
When he seized Crimea in 2014, Putin said he persuaded Western leaders to back down by reminding them of Moscow’s nuclear capabilities. It's a warning he has issued often, notably after the start of his full-scale invasion; in last month's state-of-the-nation address, when he declared the West risks nuclear war if it deepens its involvement in Ukraine; and again on Wednesday, when he said he would use that arsenal if Russia's sovereignty is threatened.
Analyst Tatiana Stanovaya says Putin feels more confident than ever amid “the Kremlin’s growing faith in Russia’s military advantage in the war with Ukraine and a sense of the weakness and fragmentation of the West.”
The senior fellow at Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center noted that Putin’s speech last month “created an extremely chilling impression of an unraveling spiral of escalation.”
The 71-year-old Kremlin leader has cast the war in Ukraine as a life-or-death battle against the West, with Moscow ready to protect its gains at any cost. His obsession with Ukraine was clear in an interview with US conservative commentator Tucker Carlson, with Putin delivering a long lecture that sought to prove his claim that the bulk of its territory historically belonged to Russia.
He made that argument 10 years ago when he said Moscow needed to protect Russian speakers in Crimea and reclaim its territory.
When Ukraine’s Kremlin-friendly president was ousted in 2014 by mass protests that Moscow called a US-instigated coup, Putin responded by sending troops to overrun Crimea and calling a plebiscite on joining Russia, which the West dismissed as illegal.
Russia then annexed Crimea on March 18, 2014, although the move was only recognized internationally by countries such as North Korea and Sudan.
Weeks later, Moscow-backed separatists launched an uprising in eastern Ukraine, battling Kyiv’s forces. The Kremlin denied supporting the rebellion with troops and weapons despite abundant evidence to the contrary, including a Dutch court’s finding that a Russia-supplied air defense system downed a Malaysia Airlines passenger jet over eastern Ukraine in July 2014, killing all 298 people aboard.
Russian hard-liners later criticized Putin for failing to capture all of Ukraine that year, arguing it was easily possible at a time when the government in Kyiv was in disarray and its military in shambles.
Putin instead backed the separatists and opted for a peace deal for eastern Ukraine that he hoped would allow Moscow to establish control over its neighbor. The 2015 Minsk agreement brokered by France and Germany, following painful defeats suffered by Ukrainian forces, obliged Kyiv to offer the separatist regions broad autonomy, including permission to form their own police force.
Had it been fully implemented, the agreement would have allowed Moscow to use the separatist areas to dictate Kyiv’s policies and prevent it from ever joining NATO. Many Ukrainians saw the deal as a betrayal of its national interests.
Russia viewed the election of political novice Volodymyr Zelenskyy as president in 2019 as a chance to revive the anemic Minsk deal. But Zelenskyy stood his ground, leaving the agreement stalled and Putin increasingly exasperated.
When Putin announced his “special military operation” in Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, he hoped the country would fall as quickly and easily as Crimea. But the attempt to capture Kyiv collapsed amid stiff Ukrainian resistance, forcing Russian troops to withdraw from the outskirts of the capital.
More defeats followed in fall 2022, when Russian troops retreated from large parts of eastern and southern Ukraine under a swift counteroffensive by Kyiv.
Fortunes changed last year when another Ukrainian counteroffensive failed to cut Russia's land corridor to Crimea. Kyiv’s forces suffered heavy casualties when they made botched attempts to break through multilayered Russian defenses.
As Western support for Ukraine dwindled amid political infighting in the US and Kyiv ran short of weapons and ammunition, Russian troops intensified pressure along the over 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, relying on hundreds of thousands of volunteer soldiers and the newly supplied weapons that replaced early losses.
After capturing the key eastern stronghold of Avdiivka last month, Russia has pushed deeper into the Donetsk region as Zelenskyy pleads with the West for more weapons.
Testifying before the US Senate last week, CIA Director William Burns emphasized the urgency of US military aid, saying: "It’s our assessment that with supplemental assistance, Ukraine can hold its own on the front lines through 2024 and into early 2025.”
Without it, he said, “Ukraine is likely to lose ground — and probably significant ground — in 2024,” adding, “you're going to see more Avdiivkas.”
The dithering Western support has put Ukraine in an increasingly precarious position, analysts say.
“Russia is gaining momentum in its assault on Ukraine amid stalled Western aid, making the coming months critical to the direction of conflict,” said Ben Barry, a senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, in an analysis. “In a worst-case scenario, parts of Kyiv’s front line could be at risk of collapse.”
Putin demurred when asked how deep into Ukraine he would like to forge, but he repeatedly stated that the line of contact should be pushed long enough to protect Russian territory from long-range weapons in Ukraine's arsenal. Some members of his entourage are less reticent, laying out plans for new land grabs.
Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia’s Security Council who has sought to curry Putin’s favor with regular hawkish statements, mentioned Kyiv and the Black Sea port of Odesa.
“Ukraine is Russia,” he bluntly declared recently, ruling out any talks with Zelenskyy’s government and suggesting a “peace formula” that would see Kyiv's surrender and Moscow's annexation of the entire country.
Russian defense analysts are divided over Moscow’s ability to pursue such ambitious goals.
Sergei Poletaev, a Moscow-based military expert, said the Russian army has opted for a strategy of draining Ukraine resources with attacks along the front line in the hope of achieving a point when Kyiv’s defenses would collapse.
“What matters is the damage inflicted to the enemy, making the enemy weaken faster,” he said.
Others say Russia's attacks seeking to exhaust Ukraine's military are costly for Moscow, too.
Russian and Ukrainian forces are locked in a stalemate that gives Moscow little chance of a breakthrough, said Ruslan Pukhov, head of the Center for the Analysis of Strategies and Technologies think tank.
“The Ukrainian defense is quite strong, and it doesn’t allow Russian troops to achieve anything more substantial than tactical gains,” he said.
Such a positional war of attrition "could be waged for years,” Pukhov added, with both parties waiting for the other to “face internal changes resulting in a policy shift.”


Ghassan Salame to Asharq Al-Awsat: US Remains World’s Superpower, but its Ability to Rein in Rivals Is Waning

Ghassan Salame. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Ghassan Salame. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
TT

Ghassan Salame to Asharq Al-Awsat: US Remains World’s Superpower, but its Ability to Rein in Rivals Is Waning

Ghassan Salame. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Ghassan Salame. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Veteran Lebanese diplomat Ghassan Salame published a new book covering world developments and crises in the 21st century. Published in French by Fayard, “The Temptation of Mars” provides Salame’s reading of world events, backing it up with his decades of academic, political and diplomatic experience and his wide global network of relations.

Asharq Al-Awsat sat down with Salame to discuss the book, whose, title, he explained, refers to Greek and Roman mythology and implies that several countries, even small ones, have succumbed to the temptation of power and wars.

“The conclusion I reached is that events that have taken place since 1990 cannot be summarized in one term,” he said. “Many have tried, such as Francis Fukuyama, who spoke of ‘the end of history’ and Samuel Huntington described it as the ‘clash of civilizations.’ But these descriptions are not enough.”

“After much examination and thought, I found that the period stretching from 1990 until 2024 can in fact be divided into two contradictory periods. The first, I called ‘the phase of wishes’, extends from 1990 to 2006, and the second, ‘the phase of disappointment’, extends from 2006 until this day,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“I based my assessment on six standards: The spread of democracy, globalization, the technological revolution, culture, absence of a basis to resort to force and finally, nuclear power.” The comprehensive review found that the first third of the century was filled with positive elements, but not so much in the second part.

Explaining the “basis to resort to force”, he said the 1991 war on Kuwait was waged with the backing of 12 United Nations Security Council resolutions that allowed 65 countries to take part in the liberation of the country.

George Bush Sr. was asked at the time why he wouldn’t forge ahead towards Baghdad, to which he replied that the resolutions give him the right to restore the sovereignty of Kuwait, not destroy the sovereignty of Iraq, continued Salame.

“The war waged by George W. Bush against Iraq in 2003 was completely different. It was not based on any legal foundation, went ahead without a UN resolution, did not lead to the formation of a large international coalition and its objectives were oscillating. At first, the goal was to destroy the alleged weapons of mass destruction. It was then followed with the goal of eliminating a dangerous dictator and spreading democracy. In the end, it failed in creating a stable political entity,” he added.

“I believe that the ‘original sin’ in the American-British attack on Iraq was that it paved the way for similar practices in other countries. We have seen Russia use the same excuse to attack Georgia in 2008. President Vladimir Putin used it again to attack Ukraine in 2014 and again in 2022,” he noted.

“We have seen other countries, such as Iran, Türkiye and Israel, not hesitate in using force. Even small countries like Rwanda are carrying out military operations in several African countries without any legal basis,” he remarked.

On the nuclear level, Salame cited the 1995 indefinite extension of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and several countries, led by the United States and Russia, agreed to decrease their nuclear arsenal. They cooperated together to tackle the fallout from the Chernobyl disaster to ensure that it never happens again.

Even more, four former US secretaries of state, including George Shultz and Henry Kissinger, called for a world without nuclear weapons, added Salame.

“But what do we have today? Britain is spending billions to modernize its nuclear weapons. France is doing the same. China wants to double is nuclear warheads from 1,500 to 3,000 before 2030. Putin, meanwhile, isn’t backing down from his threat to use nuclear arms,” he stated.

The US also wants to increase its nuclear arsenal. Even ministers in a small country such as Israel have threatened to drop a nuclear bomb on Gaza, he noted to Asharq Al-Awsat.

What used to be a red line when it came to nuclear weapons has been gradually chipped away over the past ten years, he said.

Several poles

Commenting on the debate about whether the world is still unipolar, bipolar, multipolar, or even non-polar, Salame said there are several sources of power and power hubs, but they are unbalanced. Some countries have started to make the shift towards become a pole, such as China and India, but the US still has a wide margin ahead of them. On paper, it is the greatest and top pole, but it is not the only one.

Salame stressed that the US has vast financial and military means, but its decision-making is severely unfocused, reflecting inner turmoil.

Moreover, the US does not want to become involved in long wars, which is increasing pressure on its decision-making power that is in turn, leading to pressure from the public. So, it has turned to military withdrawals as a means to appease the public, such as what happened in Afghanistan and Iraq. The United States’ points of weakness are overshadowing its financial superiority in the world order, said Salame.

China, the US’ main rival, has achieved a leap forward in its military might in the past 30 years. It has increased its nuclear warheads and developed its weapons, but they remain inferior to western capabilities. India has doubled its military budget four times in the past 20 years. In Europe, Germany and Italy are also aiming to increase their military budget. “We mustn’t forget North Korea that is spending big on bolstering its forces,” he added.

“So, we have several players aspiring to have influence on the world order, while the US is no longer capable of imposing its views except in certain cases,” stated Salame.

“We must be aware of Washington’s problems with its allies. As for its rivals, the issues are clear: It fears the rise of China and is doing everything it can to reign it in and prevent it from emerging as a global power.” Salame also noted that the map of arms sales was changing. South Korea is selling weapons to Poland and North Korea is selling to Russia. The numbers are massive. South Korea has topped France as a weapons exporter. Türkiye is now exporting drones to 50 countries around the world and Iran is sending drones to Russia.

So, the global arms market is rapidly changing. “I can conclude that the post-Cold War phase is not over yet. The phase has not yet formed a stable and permanent reality, but as it stands, the US will remain the top superpower in the world, while its ability to rein in its allies and contain its rivals wanes,” stressed Salame.


Implications of Sudanese Army Regaining National Radio Control

Sudanese Army Commander Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and army leaders sharing the Iftar with citizens in Omdurman (Sudanese Army)
Sudanese Army Commander Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and army leaders sharing the Iftar with citizens in Omdurman (Sudanese Army)
TT

Implications of Sudanese Army Regaining National Radio Control

Sudanese Army Commander Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and army leaders sharing the Iftar with citizens in Omdurman (Sudanese Army)
Sudanese Army Commander Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and army leaders sharing the Iftar with citizens in Omdurman (Sudanese Army)

Sudanese Army Commander Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan visited the Corps of Engineers Command in Khartoum, for the first time he had arrived in the center of the capital since his “ousting” from the army headquarters in August.

Al-Burhan’s tour followed the army’s announcement, on Tuesday, that it had regained control over the headquarters of the national radio and television, which had been under the grip of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for nearly a year.

On Wednesday, official platforms affiliated with the Sudanese army published photos and videos of Al-Burhan touring, on Tuesday, the Omdurman area, accompanied by citizens who expressed “overwhelming joy” at the army regaining control of the radio building.”

The RSF controlled large areas of Omdurman, including the southern and western neighborhoods, old Omdurman, the radio and television headquarters, as well as other areas, while the army was present in the north of the city, including the military zone and the Wadi Sidna military airport, in addition to the Corps of Engineers Command.

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Political Analyst Mohammad Latif said: “The armed forces’ regaining the national radio preoccupied public opinion,” noting that there are those who disparaged the achievement on the geographical level, as they pointed to the large areas controlled by the RSF, while others saw it as a great victory as the national radio and television have their moral value and symbolism, in addition to their strategic and important location in Omdurman.

For his part, military expert and retired engineer Lieutenant Colonel Al-Tayeb Al-Malkabi, considered the developments in Omdurman “an important tactical progress, which links the area between the Wadi Sidna military region in the north and the Corps of Engineers command in the south,” stressing that “army bases and camps had become isolated islands with no land communication between them.”

However, Al-Malkabi noted that the army regaining the national radio does not have a “military and field importance,” but is only “a moral victory for the Islamist cadres participating in the war.”

He added: “It is just a strategic emotional battle, with no material impact, because it does not block the road between Mohandiseen and Wadi Sedna.”


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)
TT

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.


Key Hamas Figure Hadi Mustafa: Latest Target in Israeli Assassinations

A source attributed the success of Israeli operations to assassinate key figures to constant surveillance of Lebanese airspace
A source attributed the success of Israeli operations to assassinate key figures to constant surveillance of Lebanese airspace
TT

Key Hamas Figure Hadi Mustafa: Latest Target in Israeli Assassinations

A source attributed the success of Israeli operations to assassinate key figures to constant surveillance of Lebanese airspace
A source attributed the success of Israeli operations to assassinate key figures to constant surveillance of Lebanese airspace

The recent killing of Hadi Ali Mohammed Mustafa, a key member of Hamas' military wing abroad, is part of a series of targeted assassinations of the movement’s leaders in Lebanon.

Mustafa, hailed by Hamas as a martyr, was identified by the Israeli army as a central figure in al-Qassam Brigades’s operations in Lebanon, allegedly orchestrating terrorist activities against Israeli targets worldwide.

Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee stated that Mustafa was involved in directing sabotage cells and attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets globally.

He was also noted as a leading member in the organization’s construction department, led by Samir Fendi, a close associate of Saleh al-Arouri, who was killed alongside him.

Media reports suggest Mustafa was a Hamas member responsible for logistics, originating from the Rashidieh camp.

However, a senior Hamas source in Lebanon stated Mustafa was a significant figure without an official title, debunking claims of multiple roles.

The source attributed the success of Israeli operations to assassinate key Hamas and Hezbollah figures to constant surveillance of Lebanese airspace, intercepting targets regardless of location.

Following Mustafa’s death, the Israeli army pledged continued action against Hamas terrorism wherever it operates.

Last November, Hamas announced the killing of Khalil al-Kharraz, a leader in the al-Qassam Brigades in Lebanon, and four associates in a strike on their car in southern Lebanon.

In January, Hamas announced the death of its senior political leader al-Arouri in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold. The strike also killed two Hamas military leaders, Fendi and Azzam al-Aqraa.

Last month, Israel attempted to assassinate Hamas recruiter Bassel al-Salah in Lebanon, but the mission failed.

Hamas’ role in Lebanon had been mostly non-military until recently. However, with Hezbollah’s support, they have become more involved in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, launching rockets from Lebanon into occupied Palestinian territories.


Who Is Marwan Issa, the ‘Shadow Man’, Al-Qassam Brigade’s No. 2?

Marwan Issa is seen among prisoners released in a swap for Gilad Shalit. (BBC file photo)
Marwan Issa is seen among prisoners released in a swap for Gilad Shalit. (BBC file photo)
TT

Who Is Marwan Issa, the ‘Shadow Man’, Al-Qassam Brigade’s No. 2?

Marwan Issa is seen among prisoners released in a swap for Gilad Shalit. (BBC file photo)
Marwan Issa is seen among prisoners released in a swap for Gilad Shalit. (BBC file photo)

The Israeli army and Hamas are trying to determine whether Marwan Issa, deputy head of the Al-Qassam Brigades, the Palestinian movement’s military wing, was actually killed in an air strike in the central Gaza Strip on Saturday night.

Israel’s Channel 12 said: “Three days after the unusually strong attack in the Nuseirat refugee camp, in the center of the Gaza Strip, Israel still does not know for sure whether Issa was killed.”

Hamas, which has not yet commented on the report, is facing difficulties to communicate and verify any information, in light of the massive destruction caused by the strike.

Issa is the most important figure to be targeted since the beginning of the war. He is considered the No. 3 on the Israel’s Hamas wanted list, after Muhammad al-Deif, the commander of the al-Qassam Brigades, and Yahya al-Sanwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza. Saleh Al-Arouri, the fourth on the list, was assassinated by Israel in Lebanon in January.

Marwan Abdel Karim Issa was born in 1965 in the Bureij refugee camp in Gaza. He grew up in the camp and received his education in UNRWA schools, before receiving his university education at the Islamic University. He was a distinguished athlete and excelled in playing basketball in the camp services club.

Issa belonged to the Muslim Brotherhood in his early youth, shortly before the announcement of the founding of the Hamas movement, which he later joined.

He was arrested by Israeli forces in 1987 and was released in 1993. He continued to suffer from Israeli persecution, until he was arrested in 1997 by the Palestinian security services. He was freed with the eruption of the second Al-Aqsa Intifada at the end of 2000.

He engaged in the Hamas movement and Al-Qassam Brigades, until he became a prominent military figure. He was later appointed commander of the Central Region Brigade before becoming a member of the Military Council and then secretary of the council, until he reached his current position, deputy commander of the Al-Qassam Brigades, following the assassination of Ahmed Al-Jaabari in 2012.

Issa survived numerous assassination attempts and had been fighting cancer for many years.

His health had deteriorated and persistent attempts were made before the October 7 war to take him out of the Gaza Strip in order to receive treatment.


US Pause on Funding UN Relief Agency for Palestinians May Become Permanent 

Trucks carrying aid to Gaza residents cross from Rafah border to Deir Al-Balah town, southern Gaza Strip, 08 March 2024. (EPA)
Trucks carrying aid to Gaza residents cross from Rafah border to Deir Al-Balah town, southern Gaza Strip, 08 March 2024. (EPA)
TT

US Pause on Funding UN Relief Agency for Palestinians May Become Permanent 

Trucks carrying aid to Gaza residents cross from Rafah border to Deir Al-Balah town, southern Gaza Strip, 08 March 2024. (EPA)
Trucks carrying aid to Gaza residents cross from Rafah border to Deir Al-Balah town, southern Gaza Strip, 08 March 2024. (EPA)

US officials are preparing for a pause on funding the main UN agency for Palestinians to become permanent due to opposition in Congress, even as the Biden administration insists the aid group's humanitarian work is indispensable.

The United States, along with more than a dozen countries, suspended its funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in January after Israel accused 12 of the agency's 13,000 employees in Gaza of participating in the deadly Oct. 7 Hamas attack.

The UN has launched an investigation into the allegations, and UNRWA fired some staff after Israel provided the agency with information on the allegations.

The United States - which is UNRWA's largest donor, providing $300-$400 million annually - said it wants to see the results of that inquiry and corrective measures taken before it will consider resuming funding.

Even if the pause is lifted, only about $300,000 - what is left of already appropriated funds - would be released to UNRWA. Anything further would require congressional approval.

Bipartisan opposition in Congress to funding UNRWA makes it unlikely the United States will resume regular donations anytime soon, even as countries such as Sweden and Canada have said they will restart their contributions.

A supplemental funding bill in the US Congress that includes military aid to Israel and Ukraine and is supported by the Biden administration, contains a provision that would block UNRWA from receiving funds if it becomes law.

US officials say they recognize "the critical role" UNRWA plays in distributing aid inside the densely-populated enclave that has been brought close to famine by Israel's assault over the past five months.

"We have to plan for the fact that Congress may make that pause permanent," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters on Tuesday.

Washington has been looking at working with humanitarian partners on the ground, such as UNICEF and the World Food Program (WFP), to continue giving aid.

But officials are aware that UNRWA is hard to replace.

"There are other organizations that are now providing some distribution of aid inside Gaza, but that is primarily the role that UNRWA is equipped to play that no one else is due to their long-standing work and their networks of distribution and their history inside Gaza," Miller said.

‘UNRWA is a front’

A few Senate Democrats, including Senator Chris Van Hollen, along with some progressive House members, have opposed an indefinite ban on funding to UNRWA.

But any new funding would need the support of at least some Republicans, who hold a majority in the House of Representatives. Many have expressed their opposition to UNRWA.

"UNRWA is a front, plain and simple," Republican lawmaker Brian Mast, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Accountability, said in a statement.

"It masquerades as a relief organization while building the infrastructure to support Hamas ... It is literally funneling American tax dollars to terrorism," Mast said.

UNRWA was established in 1949 by a UN General Assembly resolution, after the war that followed Israel's founding, when 700,000 Palestinians fled or were driven from their homes.

Today it directly employs 30,000 Palestinians, serving the civic and humanitarian needs of 5.9 million descendants of those refugees, in the Gaza Strip, West Bank and in vast camps in neighboring Arab countries.

In Gaza, UNRWA runs the enclave's schools, its primary healthcare clinics and other social services, and distributes humanitarian aid.

William Deere, director of UNRWA's Washington Representative Office, told Reuters that US support accounts for one-third of UNRWA's budget.

"That's going to be very hard to overcome," he said. "Please remember that UNRWA is more than Gaza. It’s health care and education and social services. It’s East Jerusalem, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon."

Fighters from Hamas, which administers Gaza, killed 1,200 people in the Oct. 7 attack and took 253 hostages, according to Israeli tallies, an assault that sparked one of the bloodiest wars in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israel's retaliatory military campaign on the densely populated enclave has killed more than 31,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza authorities, while infrastructure has been obliterated and hundreds of thousands are now close to famine.


US Troops Depart for Mission to Build Gaza Aid Port

US Army soldiers stand near a US flag as the USAV Wilson Wharf sails away from the pier of the Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia on March 12, 2024 during a media preview of the 7th Transportation Brigade deployment in Hampton, Virginia, on March 12, 2024. (AFP)
US Army soldiers stand near a US flag as the USAV Wilson Wharf sails away from the pier of the Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia on March 12, 2024 during a media preview of the 7th Transportation Brigade deployment in Hampton, Virginia, on March 12, 2024. (AFP)
TT

US Troops Depart for Mission to Build Gaza Aid Port

US Army soldiers stand near a US flag as the USAV Wilson Wharf sails away from the pier of the Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia on March 12, 2024 during a media preview of the 7th Transportation Brigade deployment in Hampton, Virginia, on March 12, 2024. (AFP)
US Army soldiers stand near a US flag as the USAV Wilson Wharf sails away from the pier of the Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia on March 12, 2024 during a media preview of the 7th Transportation Brigade deployment in Hampton, Virginia, on March 12, 2024. (AFP)

Four US Army vessels departed a base in Virginia on Tuesday carrying about 100 soldiers and equipment they will need to build a temporary port on Gaza's coast for urgently needed aid deliveries.

The first -- a hulking gray-painted watercraft known as a Logistics Support Vessel -- slowly churned away from the pier at Joint Base Langley-Eustis as "The Imperial March" from "Star Wars" played over its loudspeaker system.

It was followed by three smaller vessels that will also make the roughly 30-day trip to the eastern Mediterranean for the port mission -- part of US efforts to boost assistance for Gaza as Israel delays deliveries of aid by ground.

The new facility -- which will consist of an offshore platform for transshipment of aid from larger to smaller vessels and a pier to bring it ashore -- is expected to be up and running "at the 60-day mark," US Army Brigadier General Brad Hinson told journalists.

"Once we get fully mission-capable, we will be able to push up to two million meals, or two million bottles of water, ashore each day," he said.

US officials have said the effort will not involve "boots on the ground" in Gaza, but American troops will come close to the beleaguered coastal territory as they construct the pier, which has to be anchored to the shore.

Crisis in Gaza

"I'm not going to go into the specifics of who we're working with in order to anchor the pier but we will have some assistance," said Hinson, who also declined to discuss security measures.

A total of some 500 troops from the 7th Transportation Battalion (Expeditionary) will take part in the operation, he said, describing it as "the premier watercraft unit in our Army."

"They can provide sustainment support over the water in austere environments. They are trained to do this, and they've gone on many exercises to be ready to provide this capability," Hinson said.

Gaza has faced relentless bombardment by Israel since Hamas launched a cross-border attack on October 7 that resulted in about 1,160 deaths, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Israel's retaliatory operations in Hamas-controlled Gaza have killed 31,184 Palestinian, mostly women and children, according to the territory's health ministry.

The amount of aid brought into Gaza by truck has plummeted during five months of war, and Gazans are facing dire shortages of food, water and medicine.

The United States has carried out a series of airdrops to deliver aid this month, but the number of people in need of assistance in Gaza is much greater than can be fed by drops alone.


Pressure Rises on Biden, Democrats to Reject AIPAC Funds 

US President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign field office opening March 11, 2024, in Manchester, New Hampshire. (AFP)
US President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign field office opening March 11, 2024, in Manchester, New Hampshire. (AFP)
TT

Pressure Rises on Biden, Democrats to Reject AIPAC Funds 

US President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign field office opening March 11, 2024, in Manchester, New Hampshire. (AFP)
US President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign field office opening March 11, 2024, in Manchester, New Hampshire. (AFP)

A coalition of progressive groups is asking US President Joe Biden and other Democratic Party officials to not accept endorsements or contributions from a pro-Israel group and its affiliated super PACs.

The "Reject AIPAC" coalition, which includes congressional group Justice Democrats and the Democratic Socialists of America group, is directed at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and affiliated groups. AIPAC, a political action committee, and the groups have already spent millions of dollars in the 2024 US elections cycle.

The groups' campaign accompanies an increasingly organized movement within the Democratic Party protesting Biden's support of Israel. Israel's attacks on Gaza have killed over 31,000 people, according to health officials in the enclave, and created a humanitarian catastrophe. Israel is responding to the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas that killed 1,200.

Opposition to US support for Israel hit the vote for Biden in the recent Minnesota and Michigan Democratic primaries, electing more than a dozen "uncommitted" delegates there.

"The coalition has been in the works for many months to get organizations together that have recognized the destructive influence of AIPAC," Ashik Siddique, a co-chair for the Democratic Socialists of America, said.

The Reject AIPAC coalition said on Monday it was calling on the entire Democratic Party to not accept support from AIPAC, adding that the group takes millions of dollars from donors who also support Republican interests.

Asked for comment, AIPAC said in a statement that its sole criteria for evaluating candidates from both parties is their position on strengthening the US-Israel relationship.

Biden's campaign team and the Democratic National Committee did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Some of the top donors to the United Democracy Project, AIPAC's affiliated super PAC, include the Marcus Foundation, a group started by Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus, and fund manager Elliott Investment Management, according to data from nonprofit research group OpenSecrets. Both the foundation and the fund manager have contributed to Republican interests.

UDP also has donors that contribute to Democratic interests.

Biden, a former vice president and senator, has long been a top recipient of the pro-Israel lobby, receiving over $5.2 million in support over the last 34 years, the most of any Congressional recipient, according to OpenSecrets.

AIPAC raised about $24.8 million from January 2023 to January 2024, according to the Federal Election Commission. UDP has raised about $46.1 million during that period.

UDP spent $4.6 million against US Representative Dave Min, a Democrat in California, who won the Super Tuesday primary for the state's 47th Congressional District.

Now, UDP has turned its attention to a race for a US House of Representatives seat in Illinois. So far it has spent about $268,000 against activist Kina Collins in the March 19 Democratic primary race for Illinois' 7th Congressional District.