The move would bring massive relief for the country as it attempts to rebuild in a post-Assad era. But Mr Al Shara’s presence at the summit also reflects Syria’s increasingly important security role in the region.

With Iran’s weakened influence, other powers are seeking to capitalise on the void in Syria and across the border in Lebanon. Mr Trump suggested last month that Damascus could handle Hezbollah, with which Israel has been at war.

Meanwhile, Nato host Turkey, which sees Israel as a threat, has been strengthening its relationship with the new Syrian government.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher unpacks the battle between foreign powers to hold sway over Syria and examines how Mr Al Shara will handle it. We hear from The National’s Turkey correspondent Lizzie Porter and Noah Bonsey, senior adviser on Syria at the International Crisis Group.

But even when ceasefires are agreed to, the violence seems to continue, prompting many to question what a ceasefire even means.

The US signed two agreements in the span of about 10 days, the first being an understanding with Iran to end the war and the other a trilateral framework with Israel and Lebanon to stop the fighting involving Hezbollah.

In the weeks before these agreements, there had already been temporary ceasefires on both fronts. Still, parts of Lebanon remained under Israeli fire, and Iran attacked Arabian Gulf countries again over disputed shipping routes in the Strait of Hormuz.

Meanwhile in Gaza, despite a ceasefire being in place since October, Israeli strikes have killed more than 1,000 people and the military has taken control of almost 70 per cent of the strip.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher looks at the discrepancy between the words on paper and the continued violence on the ground. She speaks to Daniel Levy, president of the US Middle East Project, and Jinan Bastaki, associate professor of legal studies at New York University Abu Dhabi.

One of his first moves was to arrest the deputy oil minister for alleged embezzlement, and to seize millions of dollars in cash as part of the investigation.

Iraq’s political institutions have been plagued by allegations of bribery and kickbacks, with oil sector contracts often the targets of corruption investigations. The country has reportedly lost billions of dollars to embezzlement since the American invasion of 2003.

The new government has responded to increasing US pressure to tackle corruption. The other demand is to disarm militant groups. Mr Al Zaidi has prioritised both, but will also have to balance his relationship with Iran, Iraq’s other key ally.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher discusses the significance of Mr Al Zaidi's actions and the challenges he faces. We hear from Renad Mansour, director of the Iraq Initiative at Chatham House, and Sinan Mahmoud, The National’s Iraq correspondent.

It comes after more than 100 days of fighting, economic and political warfare, and a death toll in the thousands. The two countries will now have only 60 days to negotiate a final peace agreement.

During that time, they will each have to consider what they have gained and what they have lost as a result of this conflict.

For the US, the glaring question is whether or not this was all worth it for a nuclear agreement that does not appear to have progressed since before the war.

For Iran, the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and attacks on Gulf states could affect its relations with its neighbours in the future.

Meanwhile, Israel – which is not a party to the framework agreement – will have to balance the costs of insisting on weapons over diplomacy, and how the conflict has tested its relationship with the US.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher examines the wins and losses each side has endured and asks what comes next after the agreement takes effect. She speaks to Eric Brewer, deputy vice president of the Nuclear Materials Security Program, and Danny Citrinowitz, senior fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies think tank.

Iran's military is still firing. Its proxies are still active. Hezbollah continues to engage Israeli forces on the ground in southern Lebanon. The Houthis have re-entered the equation, threatening to blockade the Red Sea. And the Iranian regime, in a new form, is intact.

This week, US President Donald Trump made his position clear in an interview with the Financial Times. He said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will have no choice but to accept a deal with Iran. And then, in a striking public statement, said he calls the shots. Not Netanyahu.

So is this a genuine rift between the two allies, or just the latest rough patch in a relationship that has long been complicated?

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher speaks to two people who have spent decades at the centre of the US-Israel relationship: Tom Nides, US ambassador to Israel under former president Joe Biden, and Ehud Olmert, prime minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009.

Football’s global governing body had been criticised for previous picks. There had been allegations of bribery and corruption. Now, the kick-off of the “safe” tournament is only days away but the Iran conflict is casting a shadow over the US as the main host nation.

President Donald Trump and his administration have made conflicting statements about the Iranian football team’s participation, at times saying they are welcome and at other times warning it would not be safe for them to attend.

Uncertainty caused by flight disruption and increased costs may also be deterring fans from attending. Travel bans, restrictive visa regulations and anti-immigration crackdowns in the US are also serving as deterrents.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher looks at how one of the most globally unifying events is kicking off in a climate of geopolitical tension. We hear from Gregory Papanikos, president of the Athens Institute for Education and Research, and Simon Chadwick, professor of Afro-Eurasian sport at Emlyon Business School.

The board's leader, Nickolay Mladenov, also called on Israel to honour its commitments to the ceasefire, after its attacks killed at least 850 Palestinians following the truce announcement in October.

He accused both parties of inaction and warned that the deteriorating status quo of a divided Gaza risks becoming permanent.

Israel refuses to withdraw until Hamas disarms. But is this a feasible sticking point and what would it mean for Gaza’s security and governance?

In an episode of Beyond the Headlines from October 2025, host Nada AlTaher examines the security vacuum in Gaza, where Hamas is weakened and militias try to gain power. She speaks to The National’s Gaza correspondent Nagham Mohanna and Palestinian defence and security journalist Hamze Attar.

But they haven’t exactly been idle either. A new report from Conflict Armament Research (CAR) found the Houthis have been expanding their arsenal, mainly through illicit shipments of what are thought to be more advanced weapons from Iran-linked arms supply networks.

At the same time, the group has threatened to launch more attacks if the US and Israel resume their military campaign in Iran, causing fears such escalation could also choke off international shipping in the Bab Al Mandeb Strait.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher examines the risks that come with the Houthis’ expanding weaponry and the role the group could play next in, and beyond, the Iran conflict.

She speaks to Rob Hunter-Perkins, one of the CAR report's authors, and Jovan Ilijev, from the Terrorism Research and Analysis Consortium.

China is a major importer of Iranian oil and analysts say Mr Trump will try to push Beijing to decrease its purchases as a way of increasing pressure on Tehran.

China’s relationship with Iran is significant. But Beijing also has important economic partnerships in Gulf states, which Iran has routinely attacked since the conflict began. China has been treading carefully throughout the war, not aligning itself explicitly with any one side.

A week before Mr Trump’s visit, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was in Beijing, when Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called for an end to the hostilities. But the meeting also came after China vetoed a UN Security Council resolution in April to reopen the strait.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher asks where China stands in the power struggle between Tehran and Washington, and whether Beijing could play a role in defusing the conflict. She speaks to Chuchu Zhang, deputy director at the Centre for Middle Eastern Studies at Fudan University in China.

Iran is reviewing a US proposal, which reportedly sets out limits for Tehran’s nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief. Crucially, it also addresses the possibility of reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

The battle in – and for – the strait has become one of the most contentious issues in the war. This week, a US operation called Project Freedom offered a naval escort for merchant vessels through Hormuz, but Iran responded aggressively.

Mr Trump then quickly paused the operation to give talks a chance. For now, the strait remains closed as a double blockade disrupts global oil markets and turn a body of water into a tool for leverage.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher breaks down the naval tactics at play between the US and Iran and asks if a deal could reopen the strait. She speaks to Steven Wills from the Centre for Maritime Strategy at the Navy League of the United States, and to HA Hellyer, senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies. 

Municipal elections took place last week across the West Bank but in only a single neighbourhood in the strip that had been less impacted by Israel’s two-year war.

The inclusion of Gaza has been described as a mostly symbolic gesture by the Palestinian Authority to demonstrate there is political unity between the two territories.

But the enclave remains in dire shape, with masses living in tents and amid rubble. Global attention has shifted to the Iran war, stalling reconstruction efforts promised under the terms of the ceasefire. In the West Bank, Israeli settlement expansions and land-grab policies are intensifying despite condemnations from the international community.

The question is, how effective are local polls in the middle of these crises and could they serve as a litmus test for potential legislative elections, which have not been held since 2006?

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher examines the political dynamics behind these elections and asks whether they could lead to any tangible change for the Palestinian people. She speaks to Abdaljawad Omar, writer and assistant professor at Birzeit University north of Ramallah, and Hamza Hendawi, The National’s correspondent in Cairo.

The country is stuck in a tug-of-war of foreign influence between Washington and Tehran, as both seek to strengthen their hold over Iraqi politics and security. Now, Iraq's politicians are carefully trying to calculate which candidate would appease both sides.

The Iran war has added another burden to Iraq, which became the only country to be attacked by Tehran-backed militias and American warplanes.

Meanwhile, the US and Iran are cranking up the pressure on Baghdad to choose a leader who serves both their interests. Last week, Quds Force commander Brig Gen Esmail Qaani visited Iraq, while the US reportedly withheld shipments of oil revenue dollars.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher speaks to Hayder Al Shakeri, a research fellow with the Middle East and North Africa programme at Chatham House, London. They discuss Iraq’s delicate balancing act in the face of foreign interference, and options the country has to avoid being caught up in further conflict.

Even after his release, he suffers from deep emotional scars and severe fatigue, he said.

Now, he fears that an Israeli law will deal a bigger blow to the detainees he left behind. The Knesset passed a bill at the end of March that mandates the death penalty exclusively for Palestinians convicted of terrorism in military courts.

About 10,000 detainees are in Israeli prisons, many under "administrative detention", without charge or trial. This includes children. Since 1967, an estimated one million Palestinians have been incarcerated by Israel, according to human rights groups.

It’s for this reason that April 17 marks Palestinian Prisoners' Day, an annual event to raise awareness about an issue that sits at the heart of the Palestinian cause and the struggle of living under occupation.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher examines the death penalty law and what it could mean for thousands in Israeli jails. We hear from former detainee Hussein Al Zweidi, Miriam Azem, international advocacy co-ordinator at Adalah Legal Centre for Arab Minority Rights, and Knesset member Ofer Cassif, from the opposition party Hadash.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah has continued to launch attacks towards Israel since it entered the Iran war weeks ago.

The meeting is the first time the two governments have engaged in high-level talks since 1993 and is expected to set the agenda for future discussions.

Lebanese officials want an end to the Israeli strikes and financial support for reconstruction. Israel wants Hezbollah disarmed but this has already proven a near-impossible task for Lebanon’s government.

The question is, what leverage does the country have in the face of constant Israeli bombardment, crushing humanitarian and economic burdens, and a Hezbollah that still clings on to power?

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, Mohamad Ali Harisi, foreign editor of The National, hosts a live discussion on the truce talks and the human toll. He is joined by Lebanon correspondents Nada Maucourant Atallah and Nada Homsi, and Europe correspondent Sunniva Rose. He also speaks to Paul Salem, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute.

It was not the first time he has used his Truth Social platform to make alarming statements during the course of the Iran war. He has used expletives and threats, often through conflicting messages over whether the conflict is escalating or winding down.

Provocative language and dramatic effect have played a big role in the media battle, even as a fragile two-week ceasefire comes into effect. But it is not only words. The White House has shared Hollywood-style trailers promoting US military operations.

Not to be outdone, official Iranian social media accounts and officials have also relentlessly been sharing wartime propaganda of their own, including AI-generated Lego videos and cartoon memes mocking Mr Trump and other US officials. These have gone viral, as have fake images and news of the war.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher examines the high-tech propaganda and disinformation campaigns that have been conducted over the past six weeks – and explains how dangerously effective they have been. We hear from Henry Giroux, professor at McMaster University and a cultural critic, and from Darren Linvill, co-director of the Media Forensics Hub at Clemson University.

In an interview with The National, she pushed back against US President Donald Trump's suggestion of a “joint venture” with Iran to handle transit at the strategic strait and said the blockade had become “everybody's problem”.

Iran and the US agreed on Wednesday to a two-week ceasefire after 40 days of war. Negotiations are set to begin in Pakistan this weekend to reach a comprehensive deal. However, Israel has continued its attacks on Lebanon, which Ms Kallas said should be included in the truce.

In this bonus episode of Beyond the Headlines, The National's foreign editor Ali Harisi sits down with Ms Kallas to discuss the prospects of the US-Iran ceasefire and the role the EU could play in diplomacy

But parts of his speech contradicted some of his earlier statements regarding the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and America’s interest in seizing Iranian oil. His words also stood in contrast to recent reports suggesting that the Pentagon was preparing for weeks of ground operations.

At the same time, US officials are saying talks with Tehran are going well, which Iran denies. Meanwhile, mediators including Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey are pushing for a return to negotiations. The question is whether the warring parties would be willing to make concessions at this stage of the conflict.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher looks at the different scenarios the US could consider next and whether a diplomatic solution is still within reach. We hear from James Jeffrey, distinguished fellow at the Washington Institute and a former US deputy national security adviser, and Alex Vatanka, director of the Iran programme at the Middle East Institute.

Iran has responded by firing waves of missiles and drones, mostly towards its Gulf neighbours but also at Israel, where attacks have become increasingly disruptive.

While the American public are largely divided over the war, in Israel, surveys showed the majority were in favour, at least in the beginning. But weeks later, the cost is mounting. Some of the attacks have caused damage, injuries and deaths. People’s daily routines and livelihoods have been affected. Meanwhile, Lebanon has once again been drawn into conflict.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher looks at the effects of the war on Israeli society and the state, and asks whether public support is starting to wane. She speaks to The National’s Jerusalem correspondent Thomas Helm, Tel Aviv-based political analyst Dahlia Scheindlin and Danny Citrinowicz, senior fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies.

The Iran-backed group fired missiles at Israel in early March, joining Tehran's retaliatory attacks in the war with the US and Israel that began on February 28.

Israel’s response was immediate and aggressive, extending beyond Lebanon’s southern towns and striking central Beirut. The army is pushing deeper into the country, with plans for a ground invasion that could deal a more devastating blow than the 2024 war.

Lebanon has never had good options. The US-brokered ceasefire that ended the 2024 war was violated by Israel thousands of times. The Lebanese government’s promise to disarm Hezbollah has not materialised. And the country’s south could now be on the verge of occupation.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher examines Israel’s ambitions in Lebanon and asks what it would take to prevent a full-scale invasion. She speaks to Joseph Bahout, director of the Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut, and Lebanese journalist and political commentator Khalil Harb.

The US claims to have struck 5,000 targets in Iran, hitting its navy and air force, and diminishing its missile and drone capabilities. Attacks on civilian areas and oil facilities have also been reported.

Iran continues to retaliate by targeting mostly neighbouring Gulf countries, drawing the entire region into the conflict. Meanwhile, Israel has re-engaged in war with Hezbollah in Lebanon, displacing hundreds of thousands of people.

The economic and political cost of war is mounting on all sides and could determine how the battle unfolds in the coming days, weeks, or even longer.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, guest host Ban Barkawi speaks to analysts about the military dynamics of this conflict, and the worrying parallels it shares with the Iraq war of 2003. We hear from Francesco Schiavi, Middle East analyst and non-resident fellow at the Middle East Institute Switzerland, and Adam Weinstein, deputy director of the Middle East programme at the Quincy Institute.

Many of these factions have long been exiled to the Kurdistan region of Iraq near Iran's north-western border and have felt oppressed by the regime.

The US-Israeli war has already killed many of Tehran’s top political and military leaders, presenting the opposition Kurdish groups with a window of opportunity, if they do decide to take action.

But the question is, would Washington back them and with what guarantees?

Defence secretary Pete Hegseth said Washington’s objectives are not centred on arming any particular group. But President Donald Trump said a Kurdish ground offensive would be “wonderful” without confirming whether or not the US would support it.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, guest host Ban Barkawi looks at the possibility and risks of Iranian Kurds entering the conflict. We hear from The National’s correspondent Lizzie Porter and HA Hellyer, Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies.

The forced displacement order impacts about 250,000 people in 150 villages. That’s almost 5 per cent of the country’s population.

It marks a dangerous escalation as the US-Israeli war on Iran opens new fronts in the region.

It comes after Hezbollah fired rockets towards Tel Aviv and Haifa, prompting a heavy-handed response against areas of Beirut and towns in the south. More than 70 people have been killed so far and hundreds have been injured.

In today’s update report on Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher looks at the war’s expansion in Lebanon, as well as the risks of other parties being dragged into the conflict.

US Central Command says it has severely degraded the country's air defences and destroyed hundreds of ballistic missiles, launchers and drones.

People in Iran, where the death toll is nearing 800, and across the Middle East are anxiously waiting for a resolution to the conflict. But US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the war must now take its course, without clarifying what the end goal is.

Is America’s war about the nuclear issue, the proxy project or even regime change? Some US politicians have expressed confusion over what the Trump administration’s justification is for launching this conflict alongside Israel.

In this update report for Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher looks at the US objectives in Iran and discusses the latest developments across the region.

Recent remarks from US officials suggest a limited timeframe for the war that could last a few weeks. The question is how much appetite and military might do the warring parties have?

At the same time, US President Donald Trump warned that people will soon find out how America will retaliate for an attack on the US embassy in Riyadh on Monday night, and the deaths of US military personnel. GCC countries continue to issue stern condemnations and warnings for Iranian attacks on their territories.

This all comes as Tehran came under another wave of heavy US-Israeli air strikes overnight.

In this special episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher rounds up the most recent developments in the conflict. She covers the latest statements from US officials about extent of the war, Hezbollah’s involvement and the impact on humanitarian aid in Gaza.

Tehran’s retaliation against Israel has caused casualties and serious damage to property. And missile and drone attacks on Iran’s Gulf neighbours have extended beyond US bases, also hitting airports and civilian structures, leading to injuries and deaths.

US President Donald Trump has vowed to continue with Operation Epic Fury until all Washington’s objectives are met. Meanwhile, the region remains on edge as it braces for more exchange of fire.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher looks at the increasingly shrinking options Iran now has, after testing its Gulf allies beyond their limits, and asks what comes next for Tehran’s regime.

She speaks to Hamidreza Azizi, an Iran expert at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs in Berlin, and Hasan Al Hasan, senior fellow for Middle East policy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

The disorganised handover of the camp from the Syrian Democratic Forces to government authorities created a power vacuum that allowed for thousands of residents to escape.

Those remaining were moved to a new camp in Aleppo with better conditions. Some of them are children who have never known a life outside Al Hol. The hope is they will eventually be reintegrated into society.

But there is a fear that those with hardline ideologies could be recruited by ISIS, which just declared war against President Ahmad Al Shara and his government.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher asks, 'what happens next after the closure of Al Hol and can an ISIS resurgence in Syria be contained?' We hear from The National’s correspondent Nada Maucourant Atallah and Alexander McKeever, an independent researcher based in Damascus.

Officials said good progress was made at the latest round of negotiations in Geneva on Tuesday but added that a lot of work lies ahead.

Only a day later, the White House warned Tehran it would be “wise” to make a deal. The US has boosted its military deployment in the Middle East, signalling its readiness to attack at a moment's notice.

Iran’s nuclear programme was set back by US strikes on its atomic infrastructure last year. Tehran is determined to preserve its enrichment capability, while Washington wants to see it dismantled.

But there are signs that talks and heightened tension are no longer about the nuclear programme alone, and that President Donald Trump may be pursuing more seismic changes, including regime change in Iran.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher speaks to Alex Vatanka, director of the Iran programme at the Middle East Institute, and asks him how the latest US-Iran showdown could play out.

The measures have been designed to make it easier for settlers to acquire Palestinian land in areas that until now had been under the Palestinian Authority’s administration.

Critics have described the move as de facto annexation of the territory that would crush any prospect of Palestinian statehood.

In a joint statement, Arab and Islamic countries condemned the measures, calling them illegal actions. But this is not the first time. Last July, the same countries rebuked an annexation motion by the Knesset.

An Israeli takeover of the occupied West Bank has long been considered a red line in the region and beyond, as it would deal a final blow to the two-state solution. And yet, since the war in Gaza, Israel has accelerated its land-grab practices there, pushing forward with settlement expansion.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher looks at the chain of events that brought the West Bank to this tipping point and asks: is there enough international will and pressure to push back against Israel’s latest decision? 

But this status quo has been challenged by the past two years of wars and serious breaches of international law.

Bodies such as the UN are also facing an uphill battle. Secretary General Antonio Guterres has warned that it is at risk of financial collapse by July after its primary contributor, the US, slashed payments to its agencies and refused to pay its debts.

At the same time violent conflicts, many of them in the Middle East, have led to alarming levels of death and destruction among civilians, often with complete impunity for perpetrators. If the mechanisms built to protect humanity are proving ineffective, what is the alternative?

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher looks at the circumstances that have brought the rules-based order to the brink and the reforms needed to restore it. She speaks to Saul Takahashi, visiting professor of legal studies at NYU Abu Dhabi, and to Stuart Casey-Maslen, the lead author of a new report examining International Humanitarian Law violations.

Residents likened it to a property advert rather than a plan to rehabilitate what they have lost in the war. They told The National they fear they could be pushed out of the enclave while construction takes place, and cities in the north where they once lived in would disappear.

Mr Kushner's presentation during the World Economic Forum in Davos stood in contrast to the reality on the ground where 60 million tonnes of rubble cover the strip and people live in tents. Israel has continued attacking Gaza since the ceasefire began in October, and restricts the entry of aid and construction equipment.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, guest host Ban Barkawi speaks to analysts Hamze Attar and Raja Khalidi about what this blueprint of a “new Gaza” could mean for a population who feel they have been stripped of their agency.

But in that short time – and with each side still accusing the other of attacks – the landscape has already changed.

Areas that were under SDF control, mostly in the north-east, are now in possession of the government. The Kurdish-led group was previously backed by the US in the fight against ISIS during the Syrian civil war, but that support had been fading as Washington gravitated closer to Mr Al Shara, even before the latest developments.

Now many questions remain about what happens to resources in north-eastern Syria, how the new power dynamics will shape regional geopolitics, and what happens to ISIS members who had been detained in SDF facilities.

Host Nada AlTaher speaks to The National’s deputy foreign editor Aveen Karim to break down what led to the clashes and what comes next.

What started as demonstrations over worsening economic conditions has spiralled into an uprising across the country, putting the government under immense pressure.

US President Donald Trump threatened to attack Iran if more protesters were killed, and reassured Iranians that help was “on its way”. Days later he softened his tone, saying that the killing had stopped, leaving plenty of room for doubt over what he does next.

Amid the tensions, there have been attempts by the Iranian regime to downplay the protests as riots orchestrated by America and Israel. On the other hand, there have also been efforts to use the unrest as a reason for US military action.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher follows the latest developments in the demonstrations and the arguably opportunistic moves to exploit them. She speaks to The National’s correspondent Lizzie Porter and to Sanam Vakil, Mena director at Chatham House, and asks, what options lie ahead for an Iranian government on the brink?

For Venezuelans who felt oppressed by Maduro’s regime, the raid brought the prospect of hope for a better future. But for others, it was a worrying signal of American interventionism and a breach of sovereignty.

In the region, this all feels eerily familiar. It is difficult to shake off the memories of the Iraq invasion in 2003, or the military intervention in Libya in 2011. The aftermath in each case led to years of instability and violence that are still taking their toll today.

But beyond the trauma, there is a real sense that the events of the past week could have a ripple effect, as Trump indicates Iran could be next. In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher speaks to Brian Katulis, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute and host of Taking the Edge Off the Middle East podcast.

It came after two American soldiers and an interpreter were killed in Palmyra by a member of the Syrian security forces who may have had links with ISIS. At the time, US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth said the retaliatory attack was not the start of war but rather “a declaration of vengeance”.

But why is violent extremism resurfacing again? And why now?

ISIS was defeated in Syria in 2019, but a volatile security situation following the downfall of former president Bashar Al Assad has presented challenges to the government in Damascus.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher examines the renewed militant threat in the country and asks whether the US could escalate its campaign. We hear from Aymenn Al-Tamimi, a researcher and historian in Syria, and William Roebuck, executive vice president of the Arab Gulf States Institute and former deputy special envoy to the global coalition to defeat ISIS.

The US has taken a new interest in Syria. Lebanon is discussing the logistics of disarming Hezbollah. Europe has overwhelmingly recognised Palestinian statehood.

But behind the news there is always the fine print: Why now, who stands to benefit and at whose expense? Throughout the year on Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher has tackled the most powerful stories from the region in an effort to examine what lies behind them.

In the last episode of 2025, she looks back at some of the most significant insights and conversations she has hosted on the podcast and reflects on how matters might evolve in the new year.

The Southern Transitional Council (STC), which holds three seats in the eight-member Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), has long pushed for southern independence. In recent days, its forces have fought battles in Al Mahra and Hadramawt and now claim control over the entire south.

STC leaders are also openly suggesting that Sanaa, the Houthi-controlled capital, could be the next target. But the PLC has warned that the STC’s actions undermine security and stability at a time when the country remains deeply fractured.

In this week's episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher is joined by The National's Foreign Editor Mohamad Ali Harisi to examine the current power struggle in Yemen, what’s driven these developments and where the country may be heading next.

The uncertainty has left Gazans anxious that the ceasefire could collapse – as the last truce did in March.

The initial part of the agreement included the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian detainees and a stop to the fighting. Now these terms have mostly been met, Israel, Hamas and the mediators cannot seem to agree on how to tackle the next steps.

Phase two is supposed to focus on a peacekeeping force and a governing committee, as well as reconstruction in the enclave. But so far there has been much disagreement over which countries will take part in the force and what their mandate will be. Meanwhile, an impasse remains over Israel's withdrawal from Gaza and the disarmament of Hamas.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher looks at the obstacles that must be overcome to reach the second stage of the ceasefire and what it would take to move the process forward. She speaks to Max Rodenbeck, Israel-Palestine director at International Crisis Group, and to The National’s UK bureau chief Damien McElroy.

In the end, it took less than two weeks last December for an insurgency of rebel groups led by Hayat Tahrir Al Sham to take control of Damascus. It was a euphoric moment for Syrians opposed to the Assad regime.

The HTS leader quickly traded his fatigues for a suit, and his nom de guerre for his new title as President Ahmad Al Shara. He was widely accepted by the international community, most notably the US. But even as sanctions were eased and reconstruction pledges rolled in, the honeymoon phase was ending.

Sectarian violence, revenge killings, economic despair and devastated infrastructure posed challenges for the transitional government. As Mr Al Shara looks to the West for legitimacy and the region for economic support, the pressure is also mounting on him internally to reunite the fragmented country.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher is joined by Rahaf Aldoughli, assistant professor at Lancaster University, and Charles Lister, director of the Syria Programme at the Middle East Institute. They discuss how Mr Al Shara has fared over the past year and whether Syria is better off today.

Settler attacks in the occupied West Bank hit a record high in October, the worst monthly toll since record-keeping began almost two decades ago.  The violence is happening with impunity and under the protection of the army, according to evidence collected by rights groups and testimonies from Palestinians.

The question is: why are authorities only now taking an interest? Is new pressure from Washington pushing them to take a stronger stand against settler attacks?

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher examines Israel’s reaction to settler violence. She speaks to Kobi Michael from the Misgav Institute and to political analyst Ori Goldberg.

Its army claims to be attacking Hezbollah, accusing the group of re-arming. But civilian infrastructure, agricultural land and even construction equipment in southern border towns have been destroyed in the attacks.

At least 100 civilians have been killed over the past year. Just this week, 13 people died in an attack on Ain Al Hilweh, Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp.

Residents have been unable to rebuild their lives. Their homes lie in rubble. Their means of income have dried up. And any hope of reconstruction comes at a huge risk: more Israeli strikes.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher speaks to urban planner Isabela Serhan from The Beirut Urban Lab, senior Lebanon analyst at Crisis Group David Wood and The National’s Beirut correspondent Nada Maucourant Atallah. They discuss the heavy price paid by Lebanese communities in the south and the pressure mounting on the government to respond to the Israeli aggression.

Their rivals, the Sudanese armed forces, control the capital Khartoum, as well as the northern, eastern and central areas of the country. The fear now is that Sudan could be divided, as the fighting rages on for a third year.

Amid the violence, it is the civilians who suffer most. Mass atrocities have been reported that may amount to war crimes. Famine has been declared in parts of the country, while millions have been displaced by the conflict.

This episode of Beyond the Headlines documents the humanitarian crisis in the aftermath of the RSF taking control of El Fasher, as civilians seek safety. We hear from Shashwat Saraf, Sudan country director for the Norwegian Refugee Council, and ask The National’s Editor-in-Chief Mina Al-Oraibi what a diplomatic end to the conflict could look like.

Political factions are competing for power, both in parliament and through armed groups, many backed by Iran. Candidates have been accused of making empty promises, of corruption and even of vote-buying.

Many Iraqis are planning to boycott the elections altogether because they say they are fed up with a system that deprives them of basic services and economic opportunities while the state profits.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher discusses the challenges facing Iraq in the November 11 election and what it will mean for millions who have waited too long for democratic change. She speaks to The National’s deputy foreign editor Aveen Karim and Renad Mansour, director of the Iraq Initiative at Chatham House.

How does the superpower rivalry between the US and China dictate international relations more broadly? And what does it mean for the future of trade, security and development?

Lynn Kuok, Lee Kuan Yew chair in South-East Asia Studies at the Brookings Institution, analyses the state of global relations almost a year into the second Donald Trump presidency.

This episode is a collaboration between Beyond the Headlines and Radio Davos, a podcast from the World Economic Forum that looks at how the world is confronting its biggest challenges. It was recorded at the forum's Annual Meetings of the Global Future Councils and Cybersecurity in Dubai on October 15.

, analyses the state of global relations almost a year into the second Donald Trump presidency.

This episode is a collaboration between Beyond the Headlines and Radio Davos, a podcast from the World Economic Forum that looks at how the world is confronting its biggest challenges. It was recorded at the forum's Annual Meetings of the Global Future Councils and Cybersecurity in Dubai on October 15.

Until recently, that line had been completely invisible for Palestinians. The Israeli military has since begun to place large concrete blocks to demarcate the line, but confusion still reigns and there have been incidents of Israeli soldiers firing at people crossing the boundary or approaching the area. The line is supposed to be a temporary measure, but it is the subject of fear among Gazans and raises questions about its purpose.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, guest host Ban Barkawi speaks to Palestinian political analyst Khalil Sayegh and Francesco Schiavi, Middle East analyst and non-resident fellow at the Middle East Institute Switzerland.

“It's not easy to build peace. It's much easier to stop a war,” says Martin Griffiths, executive director of Mediation Group International.

The former under secretary general for humanitarian affairs at the UN speaks to The National’s editor-in-chief Mina Al-Oraibi in this special episode of Beyond the Headlines.

They discuss the instrumental role of mediation, not only to resolve conflicts in the Middle East, but to ensure peace will follow. Mr Griffiths draws insights from his decades-long career in the humanitarian field to reflect on current events in the region. He talks about the diplomacy model set by Gulf countries and about opportunities to reform a UN in crisis.

A viral video this week showed a mob violently chasing Palestinian olive pickers in an occupied West Bank town north-east of Ramallah. A masked man is seen striking a woman with a club in the field, knocking her to the ground. In another town, farmers trying to harvest their groves were met by gunfire from Israeli soldiers, who are known to offer protection to settlers.

These incidents are not new but the UN has documented a 13 per cent increase in settler attacks this year compared to the same period last year. In addition to violence and vandalism, farmers are now also facing the threat of Israeli annexation.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher speaks to Ajith Sunghay, head of the UN's Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and Abbas Milhem, executive director of the Palestinian Farmers' Union. They discuss the recent rise in assaults and the impact of Israel's land grab policies on Palestinian agriculture.

Back in June, a leak forced Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to admit Israel was “activating” Palestinian militias. These factions have been accused of looting aid and causing chaos. Now, with a security vacuum in the wake of a weakened Hamas, the question is: who will fill it?

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher looks at the rise of militias in the enclave and their collision course with Hamas. She speaks to The National’s Gaza correspondent Nagham Mohanna, and Palestinian defence and security journalist, Hamze Attar. They discuss the repercussions of the clashes for Palestinians in a post-war Gaza and what this means for Hamas’s future. 

They welcomed the news of a deal to pause the fighting and release Israeli hostages held by Hamas. The agreement has not yet been signed and it is only the first phase of a peace plan set out by US President Donald Trump. After two years of war, the deal would bring much relief to the enclave.

But there is also scepticism. Israel broke the previous ceasefire in March and Palestinians are fearful that could happen again.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher is joined by The National’s correspondent in Cairo, Hamza Hendawi. They discuss the terms of the agreement, what is missing and what will happen next? 

The toll taken is often measured in scale and impact, in mass destruction and collective suffering. But this big picture is made up of a mosaic of individual human stories.

Yahya is a young content creator who is making 99 video memories. Some are uplifting, others bittersweet. Abeer is a university lecturer who had to stop teaching; she could no longer bear to see her students suffering.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, Gazans share their experiences as Israel’s war enters its third year – they tell of lives, possessions and property lost, but also describe the enduring power of the human spirit.

After two years of failed ceasefire talks, it is the only prospect within reach now that could bring some respite to Palestinians enduring Israel’s relentless war. But it also leaves much to the imagination.

The 20-point list promises a “deradicalised, terror-free” strip without Hamas rule, restoration of aid through the UN and the Red Crescent, and the gradual withdrawal of troops. But other than the release of the hostages, there are no clear timelines for the rest of the plan. It is also unclear how Gaza would not be annexed, as the proposal states, while a security parameter remains in place indefinitely.

While the plan is not perfect, it has received support from Israel as well as western and Arab countries. It is also the closest point to a ceasefire since Israel broke the last one in March.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher speaks to Palestinian Nakba survivor Antoine Raffoul, and to Amr Hamzawy, director of the Carnegie Middle East Programme. They discuss the fine print of Mr Trump’s plan and whether it’s time to end the bloodshed in Gaza, whatever the cost may be.

Editor's note: Beyond the Headlines has been nominated for a Signal Listener's Choice Award in the news and politics category. Please vote for us here. Voting closes on October 9.

Follow the link to vote for Beyond the Headlines: https://vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting?utm_campaign=signal4_finalists_finalistnotification_092325&utm_medium=email&utm_source=cio#/2025/[…]litics

French President Emmanuel Macron made his country’s declaration on Monday at the French-Saudi summit at UNGA to revive the long defunct two-state solution. The same position was declared by the UK a day earlier. Both are permanent UN Security Council members.

It has come full circle within the halls of the United Nations, where almost 80 years ago the General Assembly decided it would divide historic Palestine and create the state of Israel. Ever since, Palestine has been striving for its place in the world.

This could be the long-awaited catalyst for Palestinian self-determination, but with Israel’s continuing war on Gaza and its vow to annex the occupied West Bank, how can statehood become a reality?

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, guest host Ban Barkawi follows the journey of Palestine at the UN from division to recognition, and asks whether that will change anything. She speaks to Riyad Mansour, permanent observer of Palestine to the United Nations, and to Saul Takahashi, visiting professor in legal studies at NYU Abu Dhabi.

The Global Sumud Flotilla is not the first humanitarian mission to attempt to break Israel’s sea blockade of the strip, but it is the largest to date. It follows unsuccessful attempts by individual boats earlier this year and countless others over the past almost 20 years.

Activists say they are taking action to open a humanitarian corridor and deliver aid to Gaza where UN experts have determined Israel is committing genocide and deliberately imposing a famine.

Almost every flotilla since the start has been blocked by Israeli authorities, which intercept the vessels and detain their crews. In the case of the Mavi Marmara in 2010, the ship was attacked and 10 people on it were killed. But does Israel have a right to stop the boats, with or without force?

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, guest host Ban Barkawi follows the flotilla’s journey and looks at what international law says about Israel's siege and the efforts to break it. She speaks to Jinan Bastaki, associate professor of legal studies at NYU Abu Dhabi, and Carsie Blanton, an activist sailing with the convoy.

Arab leaders immediately expressed solidarity with their Gulf neighbour and condemned what they said was a breach of Qatar's sovereignty. In the coming days they will meet at an emergency regional summit to discuss the attack. But analysts say a military response is not an option.

Qatar has been a major mediator in Gaza ceasefire talks, but it is also a strategic US ally and home to the biggest American military base in the region. US President Donald Trump said he was not “thrilled” about the strike but has yet to take any action against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

But what fallout could this have for Qatar and the Gulf states, and how will it test their relationship with western allies?

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher speaks to Hasan AlHasan, senior fellow for Middle East policy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, and Hussein Ibish, resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington and a columnist for The National.

It was the first time that Israel attacked a Gulf state, sending shock waves across the region. But the timing was also critical. Mediators had been in Doha to advance Gaza ceasefire talks, while people in the enclave came under new displacement orders.

Five Hamas members and a Qatari security officer were killed, but Israel’s main target, Khalil Al Haya, survived, according to the group.

In this special episode of Beyond the Headlines, Mina Al-Oraibi, editor-in-chief of The National, joins host Nada AlTaher to examine the fallout of the strike.

The Iran-backed group has already fired back with missiles toward Israel. It has been doing this periodically since the start of the war in Gaza, in what it says is solidarity with Palestine. These attacks have mostly caused only superficial damage, but it has also been attacking Red Sea shipping, disrupting global trade.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu boasted of delivering a severe blow to the Houthi leadership in the assassination strike but experts say it is the group’s military figures, not politicians, that have real influence on the ground.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher compares the Israeli army's operations in Yemen to its attacks on Hezbollah and Hamas. She speaks to Baraa Shiban, associate fellow with the Royal United Services Institute, Jovan Ilijev from the Terrorism Research and Analysis Consortium (TRAC), and Elisabeth Kendall, president of Girton College at Cambridge University.

The latest push from Washington came with economic incentives as Mr Barrack proposed the US becomes a “substitute” to Iranian influence. The Lebanese government agreed to disarm non-state groups this month but it wants guarantees that Israel will withdraw militarily from the country. Israel says it will not de-escalate until the disarmament process begins.

This puts Lebanon in a difficult position. On the one hand it wants US financial support and for the Israeli attacks to end. On the other, it must convince a defiant Hezbollah and its sponsor Iran to lay down weapons. Without a strategic plan, the consequences could be grave for the country and the wider region.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher speaks to The National’s foreign editor, Mohamad Ali Harisi, and Nicholas Blanford, an Atlantic Council analyst in Beirut. They discuss the challenges of disarming Hezbollah and whether the US and Israel would hold up their end of the bargain.

Now, he says it’s time to end the war. He strongly opposes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans to reoccupy Gaza and is on a mission to topple him at next year’s legislative elections.

Almost two years since Israel began its offensive in response to the October 7 attack by Hamas, tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed and swathes of the strip have been reduced to rubble.

Mr Olmert says the military campaign in Gaza no longer has any attainable goals, while large numbers of Israelis are calling for a ceasefire and a deal to release the hostages.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher speaks to Mr Olmert about the current government’s policies and what needs to happen to achieve a sustainable solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

But in the middle of all this, there’s another crisis: cash. 

Banks have closed because of the war. ATMs have been destroyed. No new notes have been injected into the strip since 2023, with Israel suspending the Palestinian Monetary Authority from making any cash transfers to Gaza. The same old notes have been circulating in the strip, becoming so worn out that even vendors are rejecting them.

Instead, informal cash merchants are selling people physical banknotes in exchange for digital transfers, but with commission fees of about 50 per cent.

Meanwhile, the cost of even the most basic food staples, like flour and sugar, have skyrocketed to extortionate prices, further depleting the value of the currency. 

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher looks at the extreme difficulties of accessing money in the enclave and the compounded suffering caused by cash shortages.

The images from Kabul’s airport are still etched in global memory, as crowds of desperate Afghans clung to departing planes as the US backed government collapsed and the Taliban took full control.

Since then, the country is going through a deepening economic crisis and the end of an active conflict. All of this has been worsened by US aid cuts ordered by President Trump’s administration.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher explores what Afghanistan looks like today and examines the impact of America’s policies on its people. She speaks to CNN’s International Correspondent Isobel Yeung who was in Afghanistan recently to investigate this, and Sulaiman bin Shah, the former deputy minister of commerce who is currently in Kabul.

What began as speculation this week quickly became official policy after a 10-hour security cabinet meeting, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gained approval to take full control of northern Gaza.

The plan includes displacing up to a million people and reshaping governance in the strip under an as yet undefined “civilian authority”.

Mr Netanyahu claims this move will restore Israel’s security and free Gazans from Hamas rule. But critics, including top military officials and former security leaders, warn this could destroy prospects for a ceasefire, worsen the humanitarian catastrophe and endanger remaining hostages.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher speaks to two Israeli figures on opposite sides of the debate: Yossi Kuperwasser, head of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security think tank and former head of the research division in the Israeli military intelligence; and Ami Ayalon, a former commander of the Israeli Navy and former director of the Israel security agency Shin Bet. One defends reoccupation as a necessary strategy, the other calls it a dangerous step that could cost Israel its identity, security and future.

Fifteen countries issued a joint declaration during a UN conference this week led by France and Saudi Arabia, to push for a two-state solution. Nations including Canada and the UK are expected to make their endorsement official at the UN General Assembly in September.

The US - Israel’s strongest ally - remains the exception, and even moved to impose sanctions against Palestinian Authority officials, partly for their role in pursuing legal cases against Israel.

But what does it actually mean to recognise Palestine? The gesture is viewed as largely symbolic but, in practice, could it be the catalyst to end decades of Israeli occupation and illegal settlement expansion?

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher speaks to former ICJ lawyer Ardi Imseis, a professor of law at Queen's University in Canada. They discuss why recognition even matters amid the ongoing war in Gaza, and how it can lead to Palestinian self-determination.

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Mariana Foudalian is one of them. She lost her sister Gaia in the disaster but says she still has not had the chance to grieve as nobody has been held accountable even after all these years.

The investigation into the blast has faced an uphill battle because of the institutional corruption that has long plagued Lebanon.

Political interference by officials implicated in the explosion has forced the lead investigator to suspend his work more than once. So what has changed since then?

After decades of political turbulence, a new reform-minded government lead by Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has brought a ray of hope. The inquiry into the explosion has been reopened and the judge in charge of it has been reinstated.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines host Nada AlTaher follows the developments since the explosion and looks at the climate of corruption and negligence that has delayed justice for so long.

Editor’s Note: We want to hear from you! Help us improve our podcasts by taking our two-minute listener survey. Click here.

Editor’s Note: We want to hear from you! Help us improve our podcasts by taking our two-minute listener survey. Click here.

Editor’s Note: We want to hear from you! Help us improve our podcasts by taking our two-minute listener survey. Click here.

This episode is the second of a four-part investigation into the 2020 Beirut port explosion that follows events before, during and after the incident.

Editor’s Note: We want to hear from you! Help us improve our podcasts by taking our two-minute listener survey. Click here.

This week, to mark the fifth anniversary of the Beirut explosion, Beyond the Headlines is revisiting a mini-series published in 2021, a year after the incident. It’s a four-part investigation that follows the events before, during and after that fateful day.

So how did the dangerous material end up in Beirut’s port in the first place? It starts with a ship and its Russian captain, Boris Prokoshev. In the first episode of the series, Prokoshev speaks about the ill-fated voyage from the start, how a detour brought him and his crew to Beirut, and how they got stuck there.

Editor’s Note: We want to hear from you! Help us improve our podcasts by taking our two-minute listener survey. Click here.

And in the past week, the number of deaths has accelerated, causing alarm about a looming full-scale famine in the strip. More than 100 NGOs have warned of mass starvation, and a coalition of mostly European states issued strong words condemning Israel's aid policy.

Israel insists there is no famine in Gaza, and blames Hamas for food shortages. Yet haunting images and videos show emaciated children crying for food as their parents stare at them helplessly. Journalists who have covered the war since the start say they are too exhausted to work any more and that people are collapsing on the streets.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher speaks to experts about the irreversible impact of famine spreading in Gaza and how aid is being exploited for political gain. We hear from Michael Fakhri, the UN special rapporteur on the right to food, and Alex DeWaal, executive director of the World Peace Foundation.

President Ahmad Al Shara's government deployed general security forces to the area, ostensibly to restore order. What followed were deadly confrontations and dozens of soldiers were killed. But residents of the Druze-majority city say the government's response was brutal. Populous neighbourhoods came under heavy shelling, forcing people to flee, and civilians were killed in the crossfire.

From across the border, Israel intervened with strikes on key government sites including the Ministry of Defence headquarters in Damascus. It stepped in to defend the Druze, Israeli officials said.

The violence killed hundreds of people before a ceasefire was announced on Wednesday. But what is at the root of the tension between this Druze minority and the new leadership in Syria? And why is Israel imposing itself on the conflict?

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher digs deep into the many complex layers that brought bloodshed to Sweida this week. She speaks to Syria experts and academics Rahaf Aldoughli and Joshua Landis, and we also hear from a Druze fighter involved in the conflict.

Jake Pace Lawrie contributed reporting to this episode.

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In the case of Gaza, where Israel continues to pursue a 20-month military offensive, the sacrifices will be difficult to quantify.

US President Donald Trump had been confident that a ceasefire would be reached this week as Israel and Hamas negotiate through mediators in Doha. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited and left the White House without a deal being reached.

It’s not the first time such talk talks have dragged on, but the collapse of the previous truce brings caution in its wake. Between the lines of any potential agreement are conditions that could be catastrophic for Gaza. What would aid distribution look like after the war ends? Will the entire population be “concentrated” into camps, as Israel's defence minister stated? Is reconstruction an option at all at this point? Will the strip be militarily occupied? Meanwhile, what impact will all this have on the West Bank?

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher discusses the painstaking efforts to end the war in Gaza and how a ceasefire could impact security, aid and governance in the enclave. She speaks to Tahani Mustafa, senior Palestine analyst at the International Crisis Group, and Michael Milshtein, head of the Palestinian Studies Forum at the Moshe Dayan Center at Tel Aviv University.

Editor’s Note: We want to hear from you! Help us improve our podcasts by taking our 2-minute listener survey. Click here.

He signed an executive order on Monday to waive or review penalties, some of which have been in place for decades. The move comes as a relief for struggling Syrians after almost 14 years of a brutal civil war that has devastated their economy.

For their transitional leader Ahmad Al Shara, it’s a milestone that could give him the legitimacy that he and his Hayat Tahrir Al Sham-led government so desperately seek. But it also brings him new and complicated challenges.

“President Trump wants Syria to succeed – but not at the expense of US interests,” the White House said, while establishing ties with Israel would be a priority. The question is, what pressures could this impose on the new Damascus government?

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, guest host Ban Barkawi looks at US interests in Syria and the fine line Mr Al Shara will have to walk to keep his people and the West happy. She speaks to Jihan Abdalla, The National’s senior correspondent in Washington, and Omar Dahi, director at Security in Context.

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Even after almost 21 months of war in Gaza and its spillover into neighbouring countries, the latest escalation set a dangerous precedent that could provoke more cycles of warfare and destabilise the Middle East.

The question is how did we reach this boiling point? The answer goes back decades, to a time even before the 1979 revolution in Iran when the country enjoyed a more co-operative relationship with Israel under the shah.

At the same time the region was going through a transformative period against the backdrop of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and rising anti-imperialist sentiments. As events unfolded and political leaderships changed over time, so did the strategic interests that Israel shared with Iran.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher dives into the context that soured the relationship between the two countries, and the more recent events that brought about the air war.

She is joined by The National's assistant foreign editor Aveen Karim, senior fellow at UCLA Burkle Centre for International Relations Dalia Dassa Kaye, and independent Israeli analyst Ori Goldberg.

We want to hear from you! Help us improve our podcasts by taking our two-minute listener survey. Click here.

It also seemed unthinkable for missiles to penetrate Israel’s Iron Dome and destroy infrastructure in cities such as Haifa and Tel Aviv.

Yet again, civilians are paying the heaviest price. More than 240 people have been killed in Iran so far. In Israel, at least 24 people have been killed in retaliatory strikes. One week on, the war shows no signs of abating, with the US hinting it might get involved, too.

A sense of unease has gripped the region, with neighbouring states fearing further escalation. A group of 20 countries including Gulf states, Jordan and Egypt has called for an end to hostilities. In a worst-case scenario, the repercussions could be catastrophic for them, too.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher looks at the consequences of the war on the Middle East and asks what will happen to the region if Tehran were to fall? She speaks to Hasan AlHasan, senior fellow for Middle East policy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, and Thomas Juneau, Middle East researcher and a professor at University of Ottawa, Canada.

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Iran's reaction is one of the key issues on the agenda today.

In this special episode of Beyond the Headlines, Geo-Economics Editor Manus Cranny asks Mina Al-Oraibi, Editor-in-Chief, and Mohamad Ali Harisi, Foreign Editor, for the inside view.

The admission came after Israeli media reported that Mr Netanyahu had authorised the arming of a militia, known as the Abu Shabab Popular Forces, in the southern Gaza Strip. The group is named after its leader, Yasser Abu Shabab.

Now, Hamas has a new rival amid its battle with Israel. Hamas fighters have retaliated at the gang and claimed to have killed dozens from its small-but-growing ranks. It is believed that there are only 300 men serving Abu Shabab but sources told The National they are armed with assault rifles and are equipped with walkie-talkies and night-vision goggles. Among them are men with criminal records and links to ISIS.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher speaks to experts about the origins of Abu Shabab, why the group is surfacing now and how Israel is backing it. She is joined by Muhammad Shehada, a visiting fellow with the European Council on Foreign Relation’s Mena programme, and Michael Milshtein, head of the Palestinian Studies Forum at the Moshe Dayan Centre for Middle Eastern and African Studies at Tel Aviv University.

Editor’s Note: We want to hear from you! Help us improve our podcasts by taking our 2-minute listener survey. Click here.

But what of the new stance itself? In late May, the EU announced it would launch a review of its relations with Israel. The move was backed by 17 of 27 states and could lead to a suspension in whole or in part of the EU-Israel agreement, the legal framework that governs their bilateral economic co-operation.

In Germany, new Chancellor Friedrich Merz questioned the future of arms sales to Israel; in France, President Emmanuel Macron has been rallying global support to recognise Palestinian statehood; and in the UK, the government issued sanctions against several illegal Israeli settlers and paused trade negotiations.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher looks at the motives and timing of Europe’s shifting position on Gaza and asks whether these measures will make any difference to the war. We hear from former German ambassador Heinrich Kreft and Hugh Lovatt, senior Mena policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations.

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Reports and videos quickly emerged showing people overrunning a hub in Rafah, the southernmost part of Gaza. At least four people died on the first day and dozens were injured, mostly by Israeli gunfire. The Israeli army said it fired warning shots in the area outside the compound.

Within two days, the foundation had temporarily paused its operations.

The organisation has been heavily criticised by the UN and other humanitarian agencies for what they say is a weaponisation of aid that breaches their principles of neutrality and impartiality. Israel says the new mechanism will stop the looting of supplies by Hamas, but critics fear it will be used discriminately to deny aid to certain people.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher looks at the efficacy and ethics of aid distribution by a party to the conflict and asks, what happens if this is the only option for Palestinians in Gaza? She speaks to UNRWA’s external relations and communications director Tamara Alrifai, international human rights lawyer Saul Takahashi and Knesset member Ofer Cassif. Editor’s Note: We want to hear from you! Help us improve our podcasts by taking our 2-minute listener survey. Click here.

The news has been accompanied by more breakthroughs: the World Bank cleared Syria’s $15.5 million debt, paid off by Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

On the ground, the interim government led by President Ahmed Al Shara, a former HTS leader, is scrambling to unify rebel factions, “eradicate” remnants of ISIS, and bring the country under one flag.

The challenges are far from over. Sectarian violence continues to plague minority communities, some Kurdish groups are demanding autonomy, and Israeli airstrikes persist along the southern border. Al Shara, once designated a terrorist by the West, is now lobbying for international legitimacy.

So what does the lifting of sanctions really mean? And can Syria be unified?

In this week’s Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher looks at the significance of the US and European decisions and the challenges faced by the Syrian leader in his efforts to unite the country.

His stops in Riyadh, Doha and Abu Dhabi were marked by the announcements of huge deals encompassing everything from defence and aviation to chips and energy.

But it wasn’t all business. Mr Trump’s decision to lift sanctions on Syria and meet interim president Ahmad Al Shara in Riyadh came as a surprise. The US leader also re-emphasised his desire to secure a nuclear deal with Iran and acknowledged the support of Gulf states.

Still, much was left to the imagination. How quickly could a nuclear agreement materialise? Are mediators any closer to a Gaza ceasefire? And what has become of the push for Saudi Arabia and Israel to normalise relations?

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher speaks to analysts about the significance of Mr Trump's Gulf tour, the regional partnerships and influential role of Gulf states when it comes to American foreign policy. 

Shortly after the decision, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a bold message: the troops will be there to stay.

Sources have told The National the plan will pave the way for Israel to seize the Gaza Strip and take control of aid in zones run by private security firms. The goal, Israel says, is to pressure the majority of Gazans to be pushed out of the enclave entirely.

Governments around the world, including some western allies of Israel, have opposed the plan, saying it would breach humanitarian law. UN agencies and aid groups have also strongly rejected the scheme, saying they will refuse to comply. Meanwhile, Palestinians in Gaza fear they will be forced to flee their homes again, or worse.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher explores what makes this offensive especially alarming, even in the context of a brutal 19-month war. She looks at the impact it could have on humanitarian aid systems and why it may breach international law. She speaks to Ahmed Bayram, communications adviser for NRC Middle East, and international lawyer Saul Takahashi.

They are part of his mandate to put "America first". But many of his foreign policy orders have also had a direct and immediate impact on the Middle East.

He has frozen foreign aid, hitting countries like Egypt and Jordan that rely on US assistance. He has disrupted the admission of refugees into the US. He has imposed major tariffs on trading partners, with additional levies on Syria, Israel, Iraq and other Middle East countries.

At the same time, we've seen efforts by the Trump administration and Arab countries, including Gulf states, to pursue new economic partnerships. Negotiations for a nuclear deal with Iran are also bringing a glimmer of hope.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher looks back at Mr Trump’s first 100 days in office to understand where his priorities lie in the Middle East and how his policies will shape the region. She speaks to Steven A Cook, senior fellow for Middle East and Africa studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, and to Mohamad Bazzi, director of the Hagop Kevorkian Centre for Near Eastern Studies at New York University.

His message came only a day before his death. People all over the world mourned the death of the beloved Pontiff, but perhaps no place more than in Gaza, where Palestinian Christians fear they have lost a protector of their community.

Already a dwindling minority, Christians in the strip have also been killed, injured and displaced in the war. Only about half of the 1000 or so Christians remain, with many forced to flee.

Members of the community say they are now concerned that Gaza’s Christians are at risk of disappearing.

The same fear is echoed in the West Bank and Jerusalem where followers of the faith have faced increasingly aggressive attacks and restrictions, including this past Easter. Members of the community have reported a rise in settler attacks against clergy and say Israeli policies are taking a toll on the rapidly shrinking Christian minority of Palestinians.

Host Nada AlTaher speaks to Mitri Raheb, a Palestinian pastor and founder of Dar Al-Kalima University in Bethlehem, and to Palestinian political analyst, Khalil Sayegh, himself a Christian from Gaza.

Global anger over Israel's war in Gaza had long been at boiling point, with people demanding justice for the victims of war.

But to this day, they have not been arrested. At the same time, provisional measures issued by the International Court of Justice in early 2024 obliging Israel to facilitate the entry and distribution of aid in Gaza appear to have been ignored, according to humanitarian organisations.

Without legal enforcement, the capabilities of the world's top court have come into question and the limitations of international law have became more evident.

In recent months, civil society groups and national legal coalitions have begun to take matters into their own hands. Lawyers, activists and academics at a grassroots level are trying to prosecute and document what they allege to be Israeli war crimes. Some of them have already filed appeals to their domestic law enforcement to investigate Israeli soldiers who may have committed core international crimes in Gaza.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher looks at the efforts and challenges of legal mechanisms in delivering justice to Palestinian victims, both on an international scale and in domestic courts. She speaks to former ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo, legal director and founder of the Public Interest Law Centre in the UK Paul Heron, and Israeli historian Lee Mordechai.

The conflict lasted for 15 years, as armed militias and their political sects battled for power. Alliances shifted over time and outside forces exploited the chaos for their own interests.

An estimated 150,000 people were killed in the fighting and thousands went missing. The war depleted the country's public resources and caused turmoil for years after.

But even after the war ended, the same sectarianism that fuelled the violence continued to thrive. It seeped into the country’s political institutions, into every facet of society, and it decimated the economy. Corruption and clientelism became the status quo. This led to a cycle of violence, popular uprisings and government stalemates.

On this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher marks the 50th anniversary of the outbreak of the civil war with a look back at the events that shaped it, how it changed people’s lives and the complicated legacy that scarred the country. She speaks to experts and academics and asks, how much has really changed today?

The heated tone comes after American President Donald Trump warned earlier that the US would bomb Iran and impose additional tariffs if it did not agree to a nuclear deal. Tit-for-tat warnings have sparked fears that Iran may be on the brink of weaponising its nuclear programme.

Tensions have been brewing for the past several weeks as Mr Trump hawkishly tries to strike an agreement after withdrawing from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action during his first term in office.

But the geopolitical landscape today is drastically different to what it was back then, with Iran’s assets in the region greatly weakened.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher asks whether the outcome will be conflict or resolution. She speaks to Dr Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Chatham House, and Francesco Schiavi, Middle East analyst and non-resident fellow at the Middle East Institute Switzerland.

In videos shared on social media, protesters held placards that read “stop the war”, “we refuse to die” and “the blood of our children is not cheap”.

Frustration towards Hamas has grown after a speech by the son of a Hamas leader who said: "We don’t have a white cloth to raise a flag of surrender, but only white cloths to shroud our children."

Protesters were angered by the apparent suggestion that their children are expendable. This comes after Israel shattered the ceasefire agreement on March 18, in one of the deadliest days for Palestinians. More than 400 people, including children, were killed.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher discusses the mounting pressure on Hamas and the severity of Israel’s renewed attacks. She speaks to Palestinian analyst Taghreed El-Khodary, Hisham Mhanna, spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza, and retired Israeli brigadier general and defence strategist Assaf Orion.

By Wednesday, Israeli troops resumed ground operations to retake control of a key corridor that divides northern Gaza from the south.

Palestinians in the enclave were once again plunged into a bleak reality dominated by fear, death and displacement. They had hoped that their brief respite would become permanent, as mediators tried to advance a truce agreement and hostage deal into its next phase.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the strikes were only the start and future negotiations with Hamas “will take place only under fire”. The US said it had been consulted of Israel's intention to attack.

The question is, why has the war started again. Will it ever end?

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher hears from Unicef’s Rosalia Bollen about the impact on Palestinians in Gaza. She also speaks to Taghreed El-Khodary, a Palestinian analyst, and Brian Katulis, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, about Hamas’s next moves, Israel's motives for resuming the war and where the US stands.

Thousands of Iraqi Kurds make the risky journey each year trying to reach Europe and the UK. Many are smuggled there on crowded, ill-equipped boats across dangerous seas in search of a better life.

A months-long investigation by The National traced direct links between some of the most notorious smuggler gangs operating from Kurdish towns in Iraq, and in France and the UK.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher speaks to the reporting team about what they uncovered: a teenage girl stuck in a northern French town, struggling to cross the English Channel; an infamous ringleader who has gone into hiding; and a sham car wash in Wales that pulls the strings from behind the scenes.

Sunniva Rose, Aveen Karim and Tariq Tahir recount the details of their investigation and talk about the impact of recent police raids on both smugglers and migrants.

The Egypt-led plan lays out a phased reconstruction effort that ensures Palestinians remain in Gaza. It was drawn up in response to a deeply controversial project for the strip that US President Donald Trump announced last month.

The $53 billion plan proposes establishing a technocratic committee unaffiliated with any political faction to oversee the rebuilding process and administer public services. This would mean Hamas would have to give up its authority.

But Israel and the US have rejected the Arab states’ plan, saying it fails to address the uninhabitable conditions in Gaza. Palestinians in the strip say they are worried reconstruction efforts will fail without US approval.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher speaks to The National’s correspondent in Cairo, Hamza Hendawi, and Crisis Group’s senior Palestine analyst, Tahani Mustafa, to examine the details of the resolution and the delicate matter of Palestinian political leadership.

She also speaks to Hussein Ibish, senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute and a columnist for The National. They discuss the challenges that may impede the Arab plan for Gaza if Israel and the US cannot be convinced to support it.

More than 40,000 Palestinians from the refugee camps of Jenin, Tulkarm and Nur Shams have been forced to flee their homes indefinitely after Defence Minister Israel Katz said troops would remain there for the coming year. Israeli officials have said their campaign is about combating terrorism.

But the military offensive is causing alarm after healthcare facilities came under attack in the area and violence by settlers against Palestinians intensified. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has also expressed concern about the growing threat of annexation.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher speaks to Palestinian and Israeli political and security analysts to discuss the nature of and threat posed by Israel’s objectives in the West Bank.

Under the plan, revealed this week by The National and set to be presented at an emergency summit in Riyadh on Friday, safe zones would be established while essential services are restored and temporary shelters set up. Other important details include the creation of an independent Palestinian agency that would oversee the enclave.

Since Israel’s war in Gaza escalated and the extent of the destruction drastically increased, the conversation about what will happen “the day after” has become a contentious issue. Questions over who will govern and administer day-to-day affairs remain unanswered. Another challenge will be defining the roles that Arab states will play in the transitional phase, with regional stability and security remaining a priority.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, Ghaith Al-Omari and Elizabeth Dent, senior fellows from the Washington Institute, discuss the strengths and challenges of Egypt’s proposal, and the relationship that Arab states must navigate as they negotiate with the US.

It is not the first time Mr Trump has made provocative statements about Gaza since starting his second term in office, but this may be his most controversial yet. He also claimed that Palestinians did not want to live in Gaza because it was in such a dire state, suggesting that if they had an alternative option, they would leave.

This came after earlier remarks that the enclave should be “cleaned out” and that its population should be displaced into Egypt and Jordan. But both countries, along with other Arab and western states, have strongly rejected any notion of Palestinians being pushed out of their homeland.

Despite global condemnation of Mr Trump's proposal, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has since ordered the army to prepare a plan to allow for the “voluntary” departure of Gaza’s residents.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher speaks to Amr Hamzawy, director of the Carnegie Middle East Programme, and Jordanian geopolitical analyst Amer Sabaileh. They discuss the likelihood of Mr Trump executing his plan in Gaza and the challenges it poses for Palestinian statehood, as well as for Egypt, Jordan and the wider region.

UNRWA is the main provider of humanitarian aid and other public services for Palestinians. In East Jerusalem, it runs 12 facilities that provide critical public services, including schools where more than 1,200 children are enrolled and free clinics that serve more than 70,000 people.

But the impact of the ban would extend across the West Bank as well, where the organisation offers primary healthcare services and 47,000 children go to UNRWA schools. The move would also affect its work in Gaza. During Israel's war on the enclave, up to a million people at a time have sought refuge in UNRWA shelters.

Pressure from the international community and pleas by UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini at the UN Security Council to stop the ban from being put into effect have failed so far. Israel insisted the ban would not be reversed and the US backed its “sovereign decision”, saying UNRWA is not the only provider of aid to Palestinians.

Despite the legislation, UNRWA has stated it will continue to do its work for as long as it can, but fears are growing that the ban will have far-reaching consequences.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher speaks to Tamara Alrifai, UNRWA's director of external relations and communications, about the toll this could take on Palestinians in dire need of humanitarian assistance, and how the agency will be able to carry out its work going forward.

But there’s also much anxiety over what comes next as Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS) takes charge as the de facto temporary power. Its leader Ahmed Al Shara and his newly appointed interim government have no shortage of challenges ahead. How will they dissolve all of Syria’s armed factions, run essential services and pave the way for accountability and justice?

At the same time, there are already concerns that the caretaker government may be overstepping its mandate and making institutional changes that it should not be making until a constitution is drafted and free elections are held, but this could take years.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher speaks to Mutasem Syoufi, executive director of The Day After, and Rahaf Aldoughli, a lecturer in Middle East and North African studies at the UK's Lancaster University, to examine the decisions of the interim HTS authority as it navigates the transition towards a new Syria.

Her family has blamed her death on the Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces. But the PA rejects the accusation, saying instead that she was killed by militants in the area.

About a dozen people have died so far amid clashes in the Jenin refugee camp since PA security forces began a raid there last month that they say clamps down on outlaws with outstanding arrest warrants for murder, theft and other crimes.

But on the inside, another version of events comes to light. The PA’s crackdown has stirred anger among some of the residents who say authorities are trying to crush their so-called “Palestinian resistance”. The PA has dismissed this, telling The National that they are only targeting Iran-linked militants hiding under the umbrella of legitimate resistance.

Critics of the PA have been frustrated over its inaction as the war rages on in Gaza and Israeli military and settler violence rises across the West Bank. So why is the PA cracking down on Palestinians in their darkest hour?

On Beyond the Headlines this week, host Nada AlTaher looks back at how and why the raid on Jenin began a month ago. She speaks to Palestinian political analyst Khalil Sayegh and senior Palestine analyst at Crisis Group Tahani Mustafa, about who the PA is targeting and why now. They discuss how the events in Jenin will affect the PA’s role in the West Bank and its survival in a future Palestinian state.

The geopolitical impacts of this are already starting to materialise, some concerning and others promising. The question of Palestine – unresolved for decades – has become an international priority as more countries recognise it officially as a state. In Lebanon and Syria, power dynamics are shifting after the weakening of Hezbollah and the fall of president Bashar Al Assad. At the same time, Israel is seizing territories across its border in unprecedented land grabs. And Iran’s role in the region has arrived at a critical crossroads as its proxy project begins to falter.

For the millions in the Arab world, a sense of apprehension is overshadowed only by the extreme fatigue of bearing witness to unbearable human suffering. But there’s also hope, dim as it may be, as talks inch closer to a ceasefire in Gaza.

In the last episode of Beyond the Headlines this year, host Nada AlTaher speaks to The National’s foreign editor Mohamad Ali Harisi to reflect on the most significant events in the Middle East that defined 2024 and how they might shape the region in 2025.

Now, he is suing Columbia University and its former president – and his case is not isolated. Dr Abdou is among several professors and faculty at various universities across the US who say they have faced disciplinary action for their stance on Palestine. One legal aid group focusing on cases related to Palestine activism told The National it has received nearly 3,000 requests related to the suppression of Palestinian rights advocacy on campuses across the US since October 7 last year.

On this episode of Beyond the Headlines, we are peering into a lingering remnant of anti-war protests that shook college campuses in the US and around the world last spring.

Prisoners who had been kept in the dark for decades were finally freed from notorious and brutal jails. People were reunited with loved ones who had disappeared years ago. Syrian embassies around the world raised what were once opposition flags. And officials close to Assad made their first public criticisms of his rule.

Now, the future of the country is at stake. And because of long-held international interests in Syria’s political assets – Iran in the Assad regime, Turkey in Kurdish strongholds, the US in ISIS positions. Israel on the border – all eyes are on how Hayat Tahrir Al Sham is going to handle this delicate moment in its history.

In this week’s Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher looks at what’s next in Syria after Assad, and how this will impact the Middle East as the balances of power shift, featuring views from Hussein Ibish, senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, and Kobi Michael, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies in Israel.

Syrian government forces also said they had withdrawn on Thursday from Hama, a strategic city with supply lines to loyalist coastal strongholds.

Led by the militant group Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, the rebels took only about two days to seize Aleppo. Syrian government and Russian jets carried out counterstrikes soon after, bombing the rebel-held city of Idlib in the north-west of the country.

Syria’s civil war started in 2011 after protests against President Bashar Al Assad’s rule were met with a brutal crackdown, turning into a bloody war since then. Vast areas of the country were eventually reclaimed by the government, including until last week Aleppo. Much of the north-west fell under the hold of various rebel groups, including Hayat Tahrir.

In 2020 a truce was brokered by Turkey and Russia bringing the fighting to a standstill but this fragile status quo has now been broken. The timing, the scale and the speed of the offensive have sent shockwaves across the region. With so many international actors also involved in the conflict - Russia, Iran and Turkey to name a few - many questions loom over what this rebellion means and what will happen next.

Host Nada AlTaher speaks to The National’s Turkey-based correspondent Lizzie Porter, and to Orwa Ajjoub, Syria researcher and PhD candidate at Malmo University. They discuss how the latest events could change dynamics on the ground.

Almost 4.000 people have been killed in Israel’s war in Lebanon and about 1.2 million displaced. Entire villages have been wiped off the map.

After Hamas launched its deadly October 7 attack last year, prompting a devastating military response by Israel on Gaza, Lebanon’s Hezbollah engaged in the fighting almost immediately. It began launching rockets towards Israel, igniting an exchange of fire across their shared border.

The world warned against allowing the war in Gaza to spill over into the rest of the region, but that's what happened. Israel launched a ground invasion into Lebanon in late September and carried out a devastating bombing campaign. The war seemed to have no clear end in sight – until now.

A US-brokered deal came through at the last minute on Tuesday evening, amid heavy Israeli bombardment across Beirut. It maps out the terms of a 60-day truce that is designed to become a permanent ceasefire. The question is, will it last?

In this episode of Beyond The Headlines, host Nada AlTaher examines how the terms of the agreement will translate on the ground and whether the deal could lead to a ceasefire in Gaza. We hear from The National’s foreign editor Mohamad Ali Harisi and from David Wood, senior analyst for Lebanon at the Crisis Group.

Many Palestinians in Gaza say they are not optimistic about the new US administration and worry the situation might take a turn for the worse after Mr Trump is inaugurated. Their concerns are rooted in decisions he made during his first term as president when he moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and cut more than $200 million in funding to the UN refugee agency UNRWA.

He also revealed his Peace to Prosperity plan to resolve the Israel-Palestine conflict in 2020. But it was strongly rejected by Palestinians, not only because it was drawn up without their input, but also because it revoked important rights that Palestinians have been asking for and allowed for illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank to be incorporated into Israel.

But the political landscape in the Middle East today is drastically different from four years ago and Mr Trump has a lot of new factors to consider. At the same time, he is viewed as a transactional leader and a dealmaker who may be more capable of ending the war.

This week on Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher speaks to Dalal Iriqat, associate professor of diplomacy at the Arab American University Palestine, and to Ghaith Al-Omari, senior fellow at the Washington Institute, about what a Trump presidency could mean for Palestinians in the short and long term. They discuss how his policies might change in his second term and whether there can be any prospect for peace and security in Palestine, Israel and the region.

This came in response to Iran launching its attack on Israel on October 1. With its response, the fear that Israel would hit back at Iran’s nuclear or oil centres has been put to rest, at least for now.

Israel’s strikes nevertheless prompted criticism from Arab states, including the GCC. The UAE strongly condemned them and expressed deep concern over the repercussions for security and stability in the region. Saudi Arabia called them a “violation of sovereignty” and international law, urging all parties to exercise maximum restraint.

Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, has recently been on tour across the Middle East. He said that he received guarantees from regional neighbours that neither their soil nor air spaces would be used to allow any attacks on Iran.

But Tehran has vowed to respond again. A continuous cycle of strikes poses a serious risk to the region and the world at large, potentially dragging the US and Arab states into a conflict that none of them wants.

On this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher speaks to The National’s military affairs reporter Robert Tollast about the effect of Israel’s strikes on Iran. She also talks with Dr Hasan Alhasan from the International Institute for Strategic Studies to investigate Iran’s relationship with its Arab neighbours amid regional escalations.

The move would make it almost impossible for UNRWA to operate in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. It would hinder the agency’s financial operations and break aid supply chains into the enclave, where the north has already been starved, bombed and besieged for about a month. More than 43,100 have been killed in Gaza since the war began.

This isn’t the first time that UNRWA, and the UN more broadly, have come under attack from Israel, politically or physically. The war in Gaza has been the deadliest for UN workers, killing more than 220 staff members from the agency. UNRWA funding was cut by western states after Israel accused some of its members of being involved in the October 7 attacks on southern Israel, which killed about 1,200 people and led to the start of the war. Although most have since reinstated their funding, the US – the largest donor – has yet to overturn its suspension.

The ban deals a blow to the 75-year-old organisation, which serves six million Palestinian refugees across the region. World leaders have warned that the consequences could be serious. Legal experts say the Knesset’s decision may be breaching international law.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher looks at the effect of the UNRWA ban on Palestinians in Gaza, and examines the legal consequences it could have on Israel and its standing at the UN. We hear from Chris Gunness, former director of communications and advocacy at UNRWA, and international human rights lawyer Saul Takahashi.

In back-to-back attacks on Beit Lahia and the nearby Jabalia refugee camp last Friday and Saturday, more than 100 people were killed in a single day. Limited aid is entering the area and more eviction orders have been issued to families in the north. But where will they go? And if they stay, what will be their fate? UN officials and other rights groups have warned that Israel is forcing Gaza residents to choose between leaving or starving.

The latest onslaught follows the killing last week of Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader and one of the men identified as most-wanted by Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it marked the beginning of the end of the war. But Palestinians in Gaza say those words carry little weight as they endure some of the most intense days of violence yet.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher speaks to Tahani Mustafa, senior Palestine analyst at Crisis Group, and Avi Melamed, a former Israeli intelligence official and founder of Inside the Middle East Institute. She asks them about Israel’s strategy in the north of the strip and what its end-goal is, now that it has eliminated Hamas’ top leadership. We also hear from Ziad Mousa, a UN worker in Gaza city, who describes the dire situation there.

If any authority has the power to influence Israel's actions, it is the US – its strongest ally and main source of military aid.

The death toll in Gaza has passed 42,400, with thousands more bodies thought to be buried under rubble and tens of thousands dying from indirect causes. In Lebanon, where densely populated neighbourhoods are being hit by air strikes, at least 2,300 have been killed and 1.2 million displaced.

Earlier this year, the International Court of Justice determined that it was plausible that Israel may be committing genocide. Investigators and human rights groups, including Amnesty International, have warned the US that it may be complicit in war crimes because of Israel’s unlawful use of American weapons.

In a rare development this week, a leaked document revealed US officials warning the Israeli government that future weapons shipments could be affected if the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is not addressed within 30 days. But with little having changed in the past year, and as Israel appears to defy any limits imposed on it, the question remains: will the US truly enforce any red lines?

On this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher speaks to Hala Rharrit, a former US diplomat who resigned in protest against Washington’s handling of the war. She also speaks to Mark Schwartz, a defence researcher at the RAND Corporation, to examine the White House's support for Israel. And we hear from Alex Vatanka, the founding director of the Iran programme at the Middle East Institute, on the prospects of an Israeli retaliation against Tehran.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah has launched a series of rocket attacks towards Israel, which for the most part have been intercepted. At the same time, the war in Gaza is continuing as Israel devastates the north of the enclave.

The other major escalation was Iran directly striking Israel with ballistic missiles for the second time since April. Israel has now vowed to strike back. But when and how?

Until now, Iran has relied on its proxy groups in the Middle East. At first, it was unthinkable that any major world power would want to get involved in a war of that scale. Neither the US nor Iran seemed to want to venture to that point of no return. However, tensions have escalated.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher looks at the potential consequences of these recent escalations. We hear from Paul Salem, vice president for International Engagement at the Middle East Institute, and Dr Sanam Vakil, Middle East and North Africa programme director at Chatham House. They analyse how Israel could respond and the geopolitical risks the warring sides may or may not consider.

Beyond The Headlines has been nominated in this year's Signal Awards in the News & Politics category. Click here to vote for the podcast.

People all around the world erupted in protests against the war, demanding a ceasefire and later an arms embargo to Israel. But negotiations between the warring parties failed and failed again. UN Security Council resolutions also failed, with the US using its veto power to reject almost every one.

Despite strong warnings from the international community, the war has spilt over across the region. So-called “axis of resistance” groups periodically launch attacks on Israel. Israel has assassinated key Hamas and Hezbollah figures, each time heightening tensions both in the region and around the world.

And now, almost exactly one year after October 7, Israel has expanded its war into Lebanon, hitting the heart of Beirut for the first time in recent history. It has also struck Yemen and Syria. Its air bombing campaign in Lebanon killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and soon afterwards it began a ground invasion into the country’s south. Iran has since launched a barrage of missiles and drones towards Israel, as both continue to threaten one another with more retaliation.

As the situation in the Middle East escalates, where are we today and where do we go from here? In the third and final episode of our series covering one year of war since October 7, host Nada AlTaher looks at the fading attempts to end the war. She also picks at old wounds to understand why, decades later, all efforts for a diplomatic solution to establish a Palestinian state have failed. She speaks to Palestinian ambassador to the UK Husam Zomlot, and to political analysts, and asks the difficult question: what future prospects for peace can there be, if it’s not already too late?

The scenes were violent, bloody, barbaric. People were running for their lives as chaos, panic and fear took over. The fighters infiltrated several Israeli towns near the border, entering homes and taking families captive. By the time the Israeli military intervened, it was too late. About 1,200 people were killed and at least 250 taken as hostages into Gaza.

As the scenes unfolded in Israel, they did so on screens around the world. In those moments one question loomed: How will Israel retaliate?

It has been a year since the war in Gaza began. It has been a year of bombs, destruction, pain and bloodshed. So far, more than 41,500 Palestinians have been killed and 96,000 injured, with thousands more still missing under rubble.

This is the first episode in a Beyond the Headlines limited series covering the October 7 attack and consequent war. In this episode, host Nada AlTaher speaks to Palestinian, Israeli and American political experts, in addition to The National’s Gaza correspondents, to unpack what happened on that fateful day.

They also look at the dire conditions in Gaza before October 7, where 17 years of siege and four previous wars had brought the strip to the brink. And they discuss the ideology and motivations behind Hamas’s decision to conduct its deadly attack, knowing full well Israel would retaliate and that Gazans would pay the heaviest price.

What nobody expected is that it would happen again, the very next day. A second wave of explosions went off at the same time of day – in this case walkie-talkies and other electronic devices were detonated.

Hezbollah blamed Israel for the attacks, but Israel has not publicly claimed them yet. It wouldn’t be the first time Israel has conducted a deadly operation on Lebanese soil. In January it was accused of killing Hamas’s Saleh Al-Arouri in a drone strike on Beirut. In July, it assassinated Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukr.

This attack is the latest in a series of escalations of the war in Gaza despite repeated warnings by the international community to contain the fighting before it gets out of hand. But how can a large-scale operation of this nature not make a bad situation worse?

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher speaks to The National’s Beirut correspondent Nada Homsi, who has been reporting on the story on the ground, and discusses the implications of this attack for the future of Lebanon and the region.

Eleven months of war in the strip have devastated lives, homes, hospitals and infrastructure. Education has been virtually erased for hundreds of thousands of pupils. The classrooms in which they once learnt and played are now being used as shelters for displaced families, turning them into spaces they fear.

About 186 schools have been severely damaged or completely destroyed. More than 92 per cent have sustained some damage, with a third of UN-run schools having been directly hit. Children have been without education for 12 months and they’re now about to miss a second year.

More than 10,000 pupils and at least 400 teachers have been killed since October last year, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Education. Higher education has not been spared either, with all of Gaza’s universities destroyed or damaged. But it’s not just about the sheer scale of it. Many of Gaza’s intellectuals and academics have been killed. Notable educational landmarks have been completely erased as well.

Human rights groups are calling it scholasticide or educide - the complete wipeout of education.

On this week’s Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher hears from Asma Mustafa, a teacher in Gaza who is providing informal schooling to displaced children. She also speaks to Randa Ghazy, Mena media manager at Save the Children, about the long-term consequences of Gaza’s decimated education sector.

Last Sunday, Lebanon’s Hezbollah launched 320 drones and rockets towards Israel in response to the assassination of its commander Fouad Shukr. This was the group’s biggest escalation since the Israel-Gaza war began. Shortly before, Israel had launched a pre-emptive attack on Lebanon’s south, killing at least three.

This all happened against the backdrop of yet another ceasefire proposal that the US was strongly advocating for. But once again, it fell apart. Hamas rejected it, saying it was skewed too heavily in Israel’s favour and contradicted a version the group had agreed to in July. Meanwhile, Hezbollah said it had delayed its retaliatory attack to give this round of ceasefire talks a chance.

With the death toll of Palestinians in Gaza exceeding 40,600 and the war approaching its one-year mark, the prospects for a ceasefire are diminishing.

This week on Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher looks at how events on the ground could be sabotaging a ceasefire deal. She speaks to The National’s correspondents Nada Atallah and Hamza Hendawi and asks if talks still hold any weight.

Now, another variable poses a grave risk to Gaza’s children: polio. The first case was confirmed after a 10-month-old baby tested positive for the virus in mid-August. At least two others are suspected to have been infected.

Poliovirus can be extremely dangerous, affecting nerve function and causing irreversible paralysis. Since the war began last October, inoculations have fallen in Gaza, leaving thousands of children unvaccinated. Doctors and aid workers have been warning for months that the catastrophic humanitarian conditions in the enclave would fuel the spread of disease. Now, 25 years after the virus was eradicated in Palestine, unheeded warnings are proving true.

The World Health Organisation, along with the UN children’s fund, Unicef and other aid groups, has called for a ceasefire or at least a pause in the fighting to be able to administer at least 1.2 million vaccines.

But will it happen?

On Beyond the Headlines this week, host Nada AlTaher discusses the gravity of Gaza’s looming polio outbreak with Dr Zaher Sahloul, president of the medical NGO MedGlobal, and speaks to Unicef’s Jonathan Crickx about vaccine co-ordination efforts.

A UN report on the ill-treatment of detainees was published at the end of July, detailing patterns of abuse. Within a week, a report titled Welcome to Hell was released by leading Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, containing testimonies from 55 released Palestinians. Widespread use of violence including sexual assault, tactics that may amount to torture, and accounts of humiliation and degradation is described.

The Israel Prison Service rejects all of these allegations.

In this week’s episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher delves into the experiences of two former Palestinian detainees who share their harrowing accounts of life in Israeli detention centres. The episode also features insights from Shai Parnes, representative for B’Tselem.

Only weeks before the Games started, the far right gained huge momentum in a tense parliamentary election in France, reigniting xenophobic sentiment and anti-immigrant rhetoric. The country has been the subject of criticism over its hardline policies for some time. Last year, it introduced a contested immigration bill, parts of which were deemed unconstitutional. And now, even though it says it has hosted the “first gender-equal” Olympics in the history of the event, some of its own Muslim athletes were forced to remove their hijab merely to compete.

Researchers say these policies have bred a mainstream culture of racism, so much so that more ethnic minorities of North African origins and French Muslims are opting to emigrate.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, against the backdrop of the Olympics host Fethi Benaissa looks at the contrast between France’s multi-ethnic fabric and rising xenophobia. He asks what the tipping point will be for those who want to leave their country amid a growing racial divide.

Meanwhile, foreign governments have issued travel warnings about Lebanon, and airlines have periodically paused flights to and from the country. The cost of flight tickets has soared as people rush to get out. Lebanon’s battered economy must prepare for more burdens as tensions rise, and people are trying to gauge just how serious the situation will become.

In this week’s episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher assesses the impact on day-to-day life and politics in Lebanon as Hezbollah and Israel exchange threats that grow more serious each day.

She speaks to The National’s Beirut correspondent Nada Atallah and Michael Young, columnist for The National and senior editor at the Carnegie Middle East Centre in Beirut.

Mr Haniyeh was on a trip to Iran for the inauguration of president Masoud Pezeshkian when he was killed, provoking vows of punishment against Israel by the country’s supreme leader, although Israel has yet to claim the attack. The strike in Lebanon came days after a rocket hit a football field in Majdal Shams in the Israeli occupied Golan Heights, killing 12 children, for which Israel and Hezbollah blamed each other.

In the aftermath of a deadly week, we look at what happens when two major players in the so-called “Axis of Resistance” are attacked and how these escalations will affect ceasefire talks in Gaza. In this episode, host Nada AlTaher speaks to MENA programme director at Crisis Group Joost Hiltermann and Palestinian analyst Taghreed El-Khodary.

For months the international community has been cautioning against further spillovers from the war in Gaza. The Houthis have been routinely launching drone strikes at southern Israel and attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea. At the same time, Israel is engaged in cross-border attacks with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and has also locked its targets on Syria.

But this latest attack on Hodeidah is the first time Israel has hit Yemen directly, marking an unprecedented escalation between the two sides.

In this week’s Beyond the Headlines, Nada AlTaher hosts a discussion with Abdul Ghani Al-Iryani, senior researcher at the Sana'a Centre for Strategic Studies, and Kobi Michael, a senior research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, and asks, will the latest attacks provoke a full-scale war in the region?

But it’s part of a much wider story. Earlier this week, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made the most direct statements yet that he’s willing to reinstate ties with Syria’s Bashar Al Assad. This shift in tone would mark a breakthrough since Ankara and Damuscus severed diplomatic ties following Syria’s 2011 uprisings and subsequent civil war.

Today more than 3 million Syrians who fled the violence and crackdowns at home reside in Turkey. But growing discontent and xenophobic sentiments toward them, alongside the possibility of normalised relations with Assad, have led to fears that refugees might have to return to a divided and dangerous Syria.

For insight into what’s going on and what may happen next, host Nada AlTaher speaks to The National’s Istanbul correspondent Lizzie Porter, Senior Researcher at TRENDS Research and Advisory Serhat Cubukcuoglu and Syria analyst Sam Heller.

During this year's Hajj season, which took place in mid-June, temperatures soared sometimes to almost 52°C in Makkah, leading to over 1,300 deaths.

Many Arab countries are experiencing extreme heat this year. In Egypt, daily life has become uncomfortable and has also strained the country's power grid, leading to occasional blackouts. In Lebanon, many people are struggling to cope with limited access to electricity and cooling. And in Iraq, the government has taken an unprecedented step of cutting working hours to help citizens deal with the extreme temperatures.

In this episode of Beyond The Headlines, host Ismaeel Naar looks at how life in some Arab countries has been affected because of the heat crisis.

Israel has said it will not stop the war until it eradicates Hamas, but it is also struggling internally as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fights for power – and what his army can realistically achieve on the ground as pressure mounts for him to stick to the rules of military combat and international humanitarian law.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden outlined a ceasefire plan to move from a limited exchange of hostages for detainees to broader discussions about a permanent end to the war. The plan includes ending hostilities, releasing hostages and reconstructing Gaza in the long term.

Mr Biden has acknowledged this transition will be challenging, as a point of contention is that Mr Netanyahu wants the hostages released first before a ceasefire begins and Hamas wants the opposite.

In this week’s Beyond The Headlines, host Nada AlTaher looks into the dynamics that influence the prospects of ending the war, why previous attempts at negotiation have failed and how much internal and external pressures can influence Israel.

It came only days after global leaders urged Israel to adhere to a ruling by the International Court of Justice ordering it to halt its military operations in the city.

This incident has prompted an international outcry and widespread condemnation. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was a “tragic mishap” that would be investigated.

In related developments this week, three European countries - Spain, Norway and Ireland - formally recognised the state of Palestine, in a symbolic move meant to show a way out of the war in the Middle East.

In this week’s Beyond The Headlines, host Nada AlTaher looks at May 26, why Rafah has become the main focus of military operations in Gaza, and the reaction in Israel to the ICJ order and the moves to recognise Palestine.

But that’s not exactly what happened in Iran after a helicopter crash killed President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian on Sunday.

Raisi, a 63-year-old ultraconservative cleric, had once been seen as a potential successor to current supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei, after being groomed for the presidency for years. He won in the 2021 elections but with a record-low turnout.

In this week’s Beyond The Headlines, host Nada AlTaher looks into who’s currently in charge of Iran, who will be the successor of Raisi, and what impact could have on the foreign policy of the country.

Hundreds of thousands of people have already been forced to flee Rafah amid warnings of a humanitarian catastrophe if a full-scale assault goes ahead.

So how has the world responded? Last week, the US suspended a shipment of bombs to Israel due to concerns about civilian casualties (although this week, the White House informed Congress of its intention to send a $1 billion arms package). Meanwhile, Arab foreign ministers met in Bahrain for the 33rd annual Arab League summit to formulate an action plan to end the conflict.

This week on Beyond The Headlines, host Nada AlTaher looks at international and regional reaction to the intensification of military operations in Rafah, and the diplomatic options available to Arab countries to put an end to this conflict.

There have been different responses, from massive support on social media to swift actions from some college administration in the US who requested police help to clear encampments, leading to the arrest of hundreds of students and staff members.

Similar protests took place at major universities in the UK, Canada, Australia and across Europe.

So where is this movement heading? What are the responses of faculty administrators? And which universities have agreed to student demands?

In this week’s Beyond The Headlines, host Tom Watkins, The National’s Washington bureau chief, looks into all of this with the co-director of the Centre for Palestine studies at Columbia University, Nadia Abu El-Haj, and The National’s senior US correspondent Willy Lowry.

On the same day, and after negotiations over the weekend, Hamas announced its acceptance of the ceasefire deal, brokered by the Egyptians and the Qataris, prompting celebrations across Gaza, after seven months of war. Israel, however, said it could not agree to the proposal, but was willing to negotiate.

In this week’s Beyond The Headlines, host Nada AlTaher talks to Israeli political analyst Gershon Baskin and Kobi Michael, senior research fellow at The Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, about the Israeli incursion into Rafah and the prospects for a ceasefire.

That's the number of people who have suffered horrific burns, blast injuries, lacerations and crushed bones. A small number have managed to leave the under-siege strip for medical treatment.

The UAE is one of a small number of countries taking patients in and treating them at its hospitals for free. To date, it has operated 16 flights on commercial airliners refitted with hospital beds and medical equipment. About 1,000 injured Gazans, plus another 1,000 cancer patients, have been flown to the Emirati capital.

This week on Beyond the Headlines, Nada AlTaher, who was on board a recent medical flight, speaks to the people behind this extraordinary humanitarian effort - and hears from the Gazan patients who want to return home to war-torn strip - despite the dangers.

Even before October 7, electricity only came on for an average of four to six hours a day and nearly 98 per cent of water was undrinkable. Transportation options were always limited and housing was a challenge in one of the most densely populated cities in the world.

Now, after more than six months of war, around 50 to 70 percent of housing has been destroyed. The cost of damage between October and January alone is estimated by the World Bank at $18.5 billion.

In this week’s Beyond The Headlines, host Nada AlTaher explores whether life in Gaza can ever go back to any kind of normality, looking at the path to rebuilding the strip and the mammoth task at hand. She speaks to Rami Al Azzeh, economist with the Assistance to the Palestinian People Unit at UNCTAD, and Amira Aker, a postdoctoral fellow at Canada’s Universite Laval who specialises in epidemiology and environmental health.

As the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group continue their deadly power struggle, civilians bear the brunt of the violence and instability gripping the nation.

The humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate. More than 8.5 million people have been displaced, with many seeking refuge in neighbouring Egypt, Chad and South Sudan. Around 18 million of Sudan's 48 million people are acutely food insecure, and less than 5 per cent of the population can afford a full meal.

In this week's episode of Beyond The Headlines, host Nada AlTaher looks at the military battle for control of Sudan – and the civilians paying the price.

Israel's continuous bombardment of Gaza for six months now since the October 7 attack by Hamas has propelled numerous activists to the forefront, utilising social media to shed light on the harrowing realities of the suffering.

Recent developments such as Instagram's restrictions on political content, which has not yet been implemented in some parts of the Middle East, and algorithms prioritising specific content for public safety, have sparked concerns about stifling news organisations that provide around-the-clock coverage.

In this week’s Beyond The Headlines, Thoraya Abdullahi looks at the role of social media in the current conflict, speaking to digital consultant at Financial Times Strategies Ben Whitelaw and social media influencer Rahma Zein.

Hours later, more than 50 people were killed by Israeli air strikes on the Palestinian enclave, bringing the death toll to more than 32,000 people – over 80 per cent of them women and children.

Washington's criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza has grown sharper recently. The US abstained from Monday's Security Council vote, allowing it to pass. In reaction, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled a planned trip to the US capital.

So, what is the significance of this UN resolution? How binding is it? Who can make sure it takes effect? And is this a pivotal moment in the Israel-Gaza war, as it approaches its seventh month?

In this week’s Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher considers all of this as she speaks to former US ambassador to Yemen Gerald Feierstein, who also served as a diplomat in several other countries in the region, and The National’s UN correspondent Adla Massoud.

Meanwhile, during his visit to the Middle East, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said his country had submitted a draft resolution to the UN Security Council calling for an “immediate ceasefire linked to the release of hostages” in Gaza.

However, Israeli Prime Minister Bejamin Netanyahu has said he remains committed to an incursion into the southern Gaza city of Rafah, despite clear objections from US President Joe Biden.

In this week’s Beyond the Headlines, host Nada Altaher examines the prospects for a ceasefire, the details of any proposals, and the stumbling blocks in place.

In most Muslim households across the world, families would usually stock up on ingredients and food supplies to accommodate the month of fasting from sunrise to sunset for almost 30 days. But traditional Ramadan customs and rituals in Gaza are now overshadowed by the struggle for survival.

In this week’s episode of Beyond The Headlines, days before Ramadan begins, host Nada AlTaher speaks to Gazans who will observe the month of fasting in makeshift tents, and Steve Sosebee, founder of HEAL Palestine, discusses the humanitarian crisis and the lack of access to food and shelter there.  

Tensions are high as Israeli officials say they will launch a ground offensive before Ramadan if the hostages held by Hamas aren’t released. This means the lives of half of Gaza's 2.3 million residents, seeking refuge now in Rafah, close to the border, hang in the balance. The US and many leading nations have warned Israel against the offensive, fearing that a deepening humanitarian catastrophe that would follow could exacerbate Gaza’s death toll.

But now, every action from Israel in Rafah will reverberate across borders. Especially in Egypt. The country’s foremost concern revolves around the possibility of Palestinians being forced under Israeli assault to attempt to breach the border with Northern Sinai. This would present broader complications for Egypt's security and regional stability.

On this week’s episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Enas Refaei looks at how Egypt navigates a complex landscape, balancing humanitarian concerns with geopolitical realities.

Two years after the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war, it has become certain that the impact of this conflict extends far beyond its borders. The shockwaves of the war have been felt in many countries, not just in Europe. It has also disrupted global trade, particularly in energy and food markets, affecting prices and supply chains worldwide.

In this week’s Beyond The Headlines, host Damien McElroy delves deeper into the geopolitical and the military implications of this crisis. On the sidelines of Munich Security Conference, he sat down with Ambassador Kurt Volker, who was a special US representative for Ukraine and former ambassador to Nato, and Gallup’s Ilana Ron-Levey, who talked about global public opinion of the war.

In the decades since, Iran has become a major player in the region, either through direct involvement in conflicts or through supporting or forging alliances with militant groups in Lebanon, Iraq and other countries.

And to this day, Iran-linked or supported groups remain influential players – in the Israel-Gaza war, for example, helping to widen the conflict to other Arab countries.

In this week’s episode of Beyond the Headlines, on the 45th anniversary of those seismic events, host Nada AlTaher reflects on the 1979 Iranian Revolution, exploring the complex legacy it left, and looking at its influence on today’s geopolitical tensions.

The strikes are in response to a deadly drone attack on American troops at a base in Jordan on January 28.

These attacks have increased the tensions between the US and Iran-backed militias that started in October 2023 when Tehran-linked groups in Iraq launched drone attacks on a US base there. These militias and others like them have been responsible for at least 180 attacks on US targets since October 18.

In this week’s episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher looks at the recent US air strikes, the impact of this intervention, and where this is all this heading.

Meanwhile, another UN organisation took a hit, with the largest humanitarian entity operating in Gaza, UNRWA, seeing nine countries either withdrawing or planning on withdrawing their funding. This is expected to affect two million Palestinians who rely on the organisation for assistance.   Things further escalated when three US soldiers at a small military base on the Jordan-Syrian borders were killed in a drone strike that US President Joe Biden blamed on Iran-backed militants. A day later, the Syrian defence ministry said several Iranian advisers were killed in Damascus by Israel.

In this week’s episode of Beyond The Headlines, host Nada AlTaher looks at how all these issues tie in together, what each means for the region and the world, and what are their implications.

Israel has called up about 360,000 reservists and tens of thousands of soldiers have been sent to fight inside Gaza, where more than 25,000 Palestinians have been killed in three months.

Israel says that the city of Gaza is now completely encircled, with many Gaza residents now living in tents near the Rafah border.

This week on Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher analyses Israel’s military moves.

The 54th edition of the World Economic Forum took place while many countries in the Middle East are grappling with geopolitical tensions, from the Israel and Gaza conflict to Sudan. The annual meeting is also happening while the world is still adapting to the rapid advancements in generative AI.

So, as Davos closes, what happened there this year and - what does it tell us about the direction the world is heading?

In this week’s episode of Beyond The Headlines, host Enas Refaei in Davos dissects the annual event with The National’s Editor-in-Chief Mina Al-Oraibi and CNN’s Richard Quest.

The US and Britain launched overnight strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, these attacks being carried out from the air and sea in response to the Iran-backed militia's attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, affecting commercial shipping.

The mission was a response to the rebel group’s nearly 30 attacks on shipping lanes in the Red Sea since November.

This week on Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher looks at how the Red Sea has become a battlefield and what impact that has had on global trade.

Wars may continue to rage in Gaza, Ukraine, Syria, Sudan, Myanmar and elsewhere, driving millions of people deeper into poverty and displacement. Though there is some hope that in at least some of these conflicts, there remains space in which to find political solutions.

But 2024 is set to be a year of high stakes in the West, too. Next summer will see parliamentary elections in the EU, and by the year’s end the US presidential election and a British general election. In fact, it could be the first time in more than 30 years that citizens of the English-speaking world’s two nuclear powers – Britain and America – pick their leaders in the same calendar year.

On this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Sulaiman Hakemy discusses what elections and war will mean for the western world’s political outlook in 2024.

But as the UN climate summit in Dubai enters in final days, much work is still to be done to help keep global temperature rises to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

Heads of state and government, ministers, captains of industry, decision makers, experts, and advocates from more than 190 countries make up some of the 90,000 participants at Expo City Dubai.

Every corner of the site is full of energy, discussions and panels on diverse topics, from policy commitments and climate finance to innovations and global. 

On this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Sarah Forster delves into the latest developments in climate action and global initiatives at Cop28.

This often-fraught relationship has been affected by many factors, including the Arab-Israeli conflict, regional power dynamics and US military interventions.

With the current war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, US President Joe Biden faces domestic and global calls to pressure one of its most important allies to agree to a ceasefire with the militant group.  Mr Biden's administration has not been open to the option - despite the growing civilian death toll - something governments in the Middle East have repeatedly called for.

This week on Beyond the Headlines, host Ismaeel Naar is joined by Brian Katulis, vice president of policy at the Middle East Institute, to explain how Israel’s war on Gaza affected the US’s position in the region.

In the days after the October 7 Hamas attacks, Mr Biden visited Israel and expressed his staunch support for the country.

But as civilian casualties rise in Gaza, the Biden administration has begun to call for temporary pauses in hostilities and for more humanitarian aid to be allowed into the enclave, although it has, so far, rejected calls for a ceasefire.

Thousands of protesters held a rally in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza earlier this week amid a background of rising public anger towards policymakers.

In this episode of Beyond The Headlines, host Thomas Watkins, The National’s Washington bureau chief, examines the Gaza conflict from the US perspective.

Israel retaliated through a relentless bombing of Gaza and its people, saying Hamas militants were its only targets. However, the civilian death toll has passed 10,000.

A mass attack by Israeli armoured divisions was predicted as a response. However, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government appears to be preparing for a long war. Officials say it could last from four to six months, but analysts say it could stretch for a year.

On this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Thomas Harding looks at how effective the Israeli offensive has been against Hamas so far.

But civilians are still paying the highest cost of this war. More than 9,000 people have been killed in Gaza, including more than 3,600 children, since October 7, which has seen an attack from Hamas that killed more than 1,400 in Israel.

People in Gaza are facing non-stop bombardment. Those who have lived through war after war are saying this is the worst they’ve ever seen.

This week on Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher takes a closer look at the condition of hospitals in Gaza by speaking to one of the doctors on the front line. We also explore how Gaza reached this point and what is expected of Hamas with the war entering its second phase.

Families have packed emergency bags in case they need to suddenly be evacuated. People have begun stockpiling medicine and water. In Tyre, the urban soundscape is occasionally interrupted by the sound of bombardment coming from the frontier. And elsewhere in southern Lebanon, which shares a border with Israel, some towns are deserted.

The border has been the site of a so far contained conflict between the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Israel – with nevertheless dozens of fatalities - in a splinter of the broader Israel-Gaza war.

On this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada Homsi from The National’s Beirut bureau asks how Lebanon’s Hezbollah is involved in the current conflict - and where it could go from here.

The location is the Rafah Crossing, where for days lorries laden with aid have queued to enter the Palestinian territory from Egypt. On the other side of the crossing, Palestinians and dual nationals trapped in Gaza wait under Israeli rocket fire in the hope of being able to leave.

But Egypt finds itself in an impossible situation – should it offer civilians from Gaza a safe route out of the territory and welcome them as refugees? Or should it keep its border closed and leave 2.3 million people at the mercy of Israel’s retaliation for Hamas’s attack on October 7.

In this week’s Beyond the Headlines, host Ismaeel Naar talks to The National’s Cairo correspondent, Hamza Hendawi, about the predicament facing Egypt.

Ambulances and lorries full of humanitarian supplies are currently queuing on the Egyptian border with Gaza, waiting for a ceasefire to allow them in.

This is happening while hundreds of thousands of families have been internally displaced from northern Gaza to the south of the strip after an Israeli evacuation order. They are still struggling with the continued bombardment of airstrikes and often have nowhere to stay.

In this episode of Beyond The Headlines, host Nada AlTaher looks at the humanitarian crisis gripping Gaza. 

Leaders in western countries have backed Israel and said that the country has ‘’the right to defend itself’’ as it goes after Hamas with a bombing campaign in densely populated Gaza.

This week on Beyond the Headlines, host Ismaeel Naar speaks to officials and analysts about the Israeli response and what have been described as “failures” of the government ahead of the Hamas attack. They also discuss the subsequent diplomatic efforts since the attack on the morning of October 7 – and what could come next.

Take this week Conservative conference in Manchester, with the governing party presenting themselves as agents of change – despite having been in power for 13 years and counting. Expect more salesmanship next week when pretenders Labour, who are well ahead in the polls, gather in Liverpool.  

In this week’s episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Damien McElroy explores whether Prime Minister Rishi Sunak can turn his party’s fortunes around, examines how the Conservatives are facing the issues of the world - and discusses the policies anticipated towards the Middle East.

Such a deal would mean the expansion of the Abraham Accords, which were signed three years ago with the US as a broker, and normalised relations between Israel and the UAE and Bahrain. Morocco and Sudan have since joined.

The past few weeks have witnessed high-level visits to Riyadh by members of the Biden administration to discuss the matter; Saudi Arabia’sappointment of its first envoy to Palestine; and Israel's tourism minister landing in Saudi Arabia for a UN event, becoming the first Israeli minister to lead an official delegation there.

In this week’s Beyond The Headlines, host Ismaeel Naar looks at the recent moves towards the normalisation of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel, and asks what could this mean for the region and the Palestinians?

2023 has been marked by a series of apparently natural disasters. But just how natural were they? And how much did humanity contribute to them – via climate change?

On this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Phil Green explores the influence of climate change on a year of catastrophes, how the Middle East is directly affected - and what can be done?

But when two dams which hadn’t been maintained since 2002 break; when authorities tell thousands of people to stay at home instead of evacuating them the night that Derna was swept into the sea; then you start to wonder, how much more could have been done to prevent the deaths of 11,000 people?

Entire neighbourhoods gone. Families killed in their own homes. Bodies turning up after the waves had brought them back to land. Search and rescue teams telling whomever has remained alive to quiet down so they can try and listen for a faint sound coming from under the rubble.

The scene was apocalyptic.

On this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher talks about Storm Daniel, its impacts on the city of Derna and the gigantic task ahead for authorities and rescue workers to sort through the rubble and identify the dead.

As rescue crews search for the missing, the nation is grappling with the aftermath of the biggest natural disaster to hit the country in 120 years.

This week on Beyond the Headlines, host Phil Green looks at what happened when the earthquake struck Morocco and the longer-term impact it will have on the North African country.

Dr Al Neyadi has joined a very select group of people, becoming one of only 270 people from 21 different countries to have visited the International Space Station.

His stint in orbit was a milestone for the UAE and a symbol of the country’s ambitions in the realm of science and exploration. So what does this mission mean for the UAE’s future astronauts? And what’s next for Arab space exploration? On this episode, host Sarwat Nasir dissects just what such missions mean for the UAE and what kind of legacy Dr Al-Neyadi will have.

For that reason, every year on August 28, Emirati women come together to appreciate their efforts, celebrate their work and highlight their achievements.   The Emirati Women’s Day was launched in 2015 by Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, wife of the late founding father Sheikh Zayed, and known as the Mother of the Nation. It was to bring recognition to the crucial role of women in the country.

On this special episode celebrating Emirati women, Shireena Al Nowais sat down with five of the most powerful and successful sisters in the UAE: Al Kaabi sisters and Al Jaber sisters.

He is wanted for the alleged embezzlement of hundreds of millions of dollars in Lebanese public funds, which were funnelled into real estate properties across Europe and the US.

The Salameh saga shows how a man was able to appropriate an institution for his personal gain and that of his inner circle for decades, without raising alarms among auditors, international banks or even central bank employees, until the entire system finally crumbled.

This week on Beyond the Headlines, Nada Maucourant Atallah delves into the story behind Riad Salameh's fall from grace.

After the withdrawal of US and other forces backing the government, in scenes that shocked the world, the Taliban marched into the Afghan capital Kabul pretty much unopposed.

On this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Sulaiman Hakemy looks at the dire consequences for ordinary Afghans.

Under siege by Israel, half of the 2.3 million people living in the territory are unemployed.

Leaders from the ruling Palestinian factions, Fatah and Hamas, meet in Egypt in talks that they say seek to end the divide that has been making life all the harder for people in Gaza ever since Hamas seized power there in 2007.

While these meetings do take place every now and then, the internal turmoil being seen in the occupied territories coupled with the rarity of the protests in Gaza has made us stop and think.

This week on Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher talks Gaza, the West Bank, reconciliation and everything in between.

She speaks to Lebanese who decided to leave the country - and others who decided to stay.

There is still no end in sight for this continuing war of generals between Mohamed Dagalo, known as Hemedti, who heads Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, and army chief Abdel Fattah Al Burhan.

Massive efforts are under way by the UN, US, African Union, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and many others to bring the warring sides to a table where they could agree to end the bloodshed.

About 3,000 people have been killed so far, although these figures might be massively understated as doctors continue to struggle to reach patients and victims in need, while war crimes are being widely documented.

On this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada Al Taher looks into what has become of Sudan after 100 days of war and how this conflict has impacted the region.

Pavements have radiated heat, forcing people to retreat indoors to escape the punishing rays. The sound of air conditioners has become deafening.

Europe’s latest heatwave could see it recording its hottest-ever temperatures this week. And this emergency situation could last for weeks more, according to the UN weather agency.

On this episode of Beyond The Headlines, host Victoria Pertusa looks into why summers keep getting hotter and hotter. She speaks to locals and experts to explore the factors and patterns that make heatwaves increasingly prevalent in recent years, and finds out how different communities are coping with this challenge.

Longevity, or the length and quality of human life, has become a subject of great interest and importance in recent years. Advances in healthcare, improved living conditions and technological innovations have contributed to a remarkable increase in life expectancy worldwide. However, as the global population continues to rise, what is the future of ageing and longevity.

The average lifespan has been shorter in the past because of the risk of dying at birth, in childhood, in the middle of a raging battle or being mauled to death by wild animals. However, taking out those threats, an average human has long been capable of reaching a 70th birthday.

And now, with breakthroughs in our understanding of genetics and billions of dollars being poured into life sciences research, we may find ways to extend our lives even further, maybe to even double that number, in the next few decades.

This episode of Beyond The Headlines was previously aired on June 23, 2022.

Seventeen-year-old Nahel M, from the Parisian suburb of Nanterre, was shot dead in his car at point blank range by a policeman on June 27 - and France is reeling from his death. Cars have been set on fire and shops looted by rioters. Tens of thousands of police officers have had to be mobilised to restore order.

The killing has prompted a furious debate about police reform, race and equality – with some blaming migration, others institutionalised racism. President Emmanuel Macron has been meeting with mayors and officials to explore "deeper reasons" for the riots.

On this episode of Beyond The Headlines, host Lemma Shehadi investigates how one death has exposed such division.

This week on Beyond The Headlines, host Nada AlTaher talks to a woman about her experiences at Hajj, her first time seeing the Kaaba and what lessons she took from her pilgrimage.

Out of that number, 35.3 million are classed as refugees, or people who crossed an international border to find safety under the mandate of UN agencies.

This week on Beyond The Headlines, we are commemorating World Refugee Day. We feature three people from three conflict-torn countries who have survived the pain and harsh reality of displacement to tell their story.

Neither of the two candidates made it through the voting process. Former finance minister Jihad Azour, who is backed by most of the country's Christian parties, received 59 votes. Suleiman Frangieh, supported by the Iran-backed Hezbollah party and its allies, got 51. Both fell below the required threshold.

This week on Beyond the Headlines, host Nada Homsi in Beirut explores the reasons behind the country’s political impasse.

It jolted India.

News crews rushed to the accident spot in Balasore to find mangled train coaches rammed on top of each other. So far, at least 80 bodies remain unclaimed.

But this is not the first such tragedy. India has seen many deadly train accidents before. The country’s rail network is huge, spanning more than 100,000km, but it is also old and overburdened. It carries more than 25 million passengers every day, and there is even more demand it cannot meet.

This week on Beyond the Headlines, host Suhail Akram considers what may have led to the Odisha train crash, why train derailments are such a huge problem in India, and asks what Indian railways could do to cater more safely for its millions of commuters each day.

Erdogan and Turkey. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won the run-off election on May 28, defeating Kemal Kilicdaroglu.

On this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher unpacks everything that happened over the past few weeks and asks: what comes next?

Even a week after the disaster, the survivors are left with no shelter, food or clean water to drink. Human rights activists describe their suffering as an ongoing silent genocide by Myanmar’s military junta.

This week on Beyond The Headlines, host Anjana Sankar looks at one of the most distressing stories of despair and survival coming out of Myanmar in the aftermath of the cyclone.

In that time, Half a million people have been killed, by some estimates. Three million have been left with a disability. And half of the country have been forced from their homes, including many now living in refugee camps in neighbouring countries.

The economy has collapsed and the infrastructure has been shattered - 70 per cent of the electricity system is damaged, one in three schools is in ruins and only half of hospitals are working fully. A decade of war has cost the country over a trillion dollars.

Twelve years ago, the Arab League expelled Syria. President Bashar Al Assad was accused of starting the war with a bloody crackdown on opponents of his dynastic family rule. But now, the regional body has voted to allow Syria to return.

This week on Beyond the Headlines, host James Haines Young hears from the head of the Arab League about the decision to allow Assad to return – and looks at what this means for the region and the conflict itself.

The new King served the longest apprenticeship of anyone waiting in the wings to become British ruler.  At 74, King Charles III will embark on the new reign hoping to connect with people and provide a unifying force for the public after some bitter divisions that have rocked British politics.

In this week’s Beyond the Headlines, host Damien McElroy looks at the coronation of King Charles and what we should we expect from the event - and the king himself.

Now, Anjana Sankar reports on the perilous sea crossings many Rohingya are embarking on – in another desperate attempt finally to find a safe home.

The force of the quake in the early hours of February 6 caused death and destruction across hundreds of kilometres of eastern Turkey and northern Syria.

The UN estimated that 23 million people were affected; the death toll jumped by hundreds, hour after hour.  

But as a number of experts told us in the wake of the tragedy, it’s not earthquakes that kill – it’s collapsing buildings.

This week on Beyond the Headlines, host James Haines-Young takes a closer look at the catastrophe and asks: could more have been done to make the buildings quake-proof?

This time of the year now comes with memories of the world’s first Covid lockdown in China, and later when almost 3.9 billion people around the world followed suit. But still, more than 6 million people lost their lives due to coronavirus.

So what have we learnt from the pandemic?

On this week’s episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Enas Refaei takes a look at the legacy of Covid-19 and our preparedness for another pandemic.

At the start of the war in February 2022, Western aid focused on sending either equipment the Ukrainian military already used, or items like night-vision and body-armour that could quickly be assimilated.

And for a long time there were still no tanks. But then that changed.

This week on Beyond the Headlines, host James Haines-Young takes a closer look at how and why the West suddenly agreed to send its best battle tanks to Ukraine and what this means for the war as it approaches its one year anniversary.

In this special episode of Beyond the Headlines at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, host Mustafa Alrawi is highlighting the main discussions of the forum with The National’s editor in chief Mina Al-Oraibi and CNN’s international correspondent and anchor Richard Quest.

People across China started to protest – lift the restrictions. Then the infections spread. In the first 20 days of December 2022, China may have had 250 million Covid infections alone – that’s according to a leaked memo from top health officials. Reports from hospitals show overwhelmed wards, but officials in Beijing insist that everything is under control

This is Beyond the Headlines, host James Haines-Young looks at how many cases there are in China, how the numbers exploded so fast and what this means for the rest of the world.

Coming less than a month after the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, the tournament in the once war-torn city of Basra represents another electrifying moment for football fans in the region. 

This week on Beyond the Headlines, host Robert Tollast takes a closer look at an historic moment in sport for Iraq - and what it means for the country and the region.

Amid the lingering impact of Covid-19, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caused a fresh shock to the system and its reverberations were felt across the planet. 

The unnerving combination of a European land war and the inflation it helped to export worldwide wasn’t what anyone expected as life was just beginning to move forward from the pandemic.

This week on Beyond the Headlines, as we turn the corner from 2022, host Jamie Goodwin speaks to The National’s correspondents as they look at this year’s pivotal moments and their lessons.

Mass protests in Iran after the death of a young woman in police custody brought about real hope of change, while in Israel, the re-election of Benjamin Netanyahu kick-started a journey towards what has been described as a fully right-wing government.

The Middle East held its first World Cup and the region also returned to the forefront of the global drive for carbon neutrality when Egypt’s Sharm el Sheikh hosted the UN’s climate change conference.

This week on Beyond the Headlines, host Jamie Goodwin speaks to The National’s regional correspondents as they go through the year’s biggest stories in the Middle East.

Over those years, Tunisia has seen new constitutions, changing governments, different presidents and deadlocked parliaments. All played out against a backdrop of terrorist attacks and food shortages.

While politicians promise people a better tomorrow, there have been calls for boycotts and demonstrations in the week leading up to the polls.

This week on Beyond the Headlines, host James Haines Young looks at what’s next for Tunisia as it heads back to the ballot box.

This week on Beyond the Headlines, host Suhail Akram looks at the build-up to the launch of the rover and the legacy it will leave behind for the UAE’s future space ambitions.

It is the costliest World Cup to date and Qatar is also the smallest country to host the competition by land size and population.

This week on Beyond the Headlines, host Gully Burrows takes a look at the World Cup in Qatar to find out exactly what it’s like on the ground there.

Whatever your view on Donald Trump and his mission to make America great again, there is no doubt that the former president's recent announcement that he intends to make another run for the White House in 2024 is deeply divisive.

True to form, Mr Trump heralded his possible campaign with a combination of rhetorical showmanship, bombast and mudslinging in the days leading up to the big announcement. 

He took a swipe at the newly re-elected Republican governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, a one-time ally whose success and popularity with his constituents has cast him as a potential challenger to Mr Trump.   Host Sulaiman Hakemy sits down with Hussain Ibish, The National’s US affairs columnist and senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, and The National's social media editor, Cody Combs, to talk about what is next for President Joe Biden, Mr Trump, Democrats and Republicans.

This was the stark picture painted by President and CEO of the International Rescue Committee, David Miliband in this week’s episode of Beyond the Headlines.

The National's editor in chief Mina Al-Oraibi spoke to Mr Miliband during his visit to Abu Dhabi to discuss concerns about the lack of adequate funding to support the most vulnerable in the world, in addition to the impact that the Ukraine war will have not only on Ukrainians but people around the world directly and indirectly.

As the world gathers in Egypt for the Cop27 global climate forum, it can be hard to understand exactly where we stand, what’s being done and whether it's even still possible to stop climate change.

This week on Beyond the Headlines, host James Haines Young looks at where the world is on climate action and asking what to expect from Cop27.

This week on Beyond the Headlines, host Gully Burrows asks: can Rishi Sunak restore the public’s trust in government and pull the Conservative Party together?

That was when the world learned who Malala Yousafzai is.

On this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher looks at how Malala’s story, advocacy and activism have inspired generations in her hometown of Swat in Pakistan and beyond.

This is a remarkable feat for two countries still technically at war. It might appear just an administrative achievement, an event to be noted as a quirk of geography and diplomacy. But this agreement could already have averted a war and have major consequences for the two countries - getting it wrong could cost someone millions.

This week on Beyond the Headlines, host James Haines Young looks at the significance of this week’s landmark agreement.

This week on Beyond the Headlines, host James Haines Young delves into why the world could be running out of microchips – and what it means for us all.  

This week on Beyond the Headlines, host Mina Aldroubi looks at how the death of a young Kurdish-Iranian woman from Iran’s north became the rallying cry for years of frustrations and anger at the country’s leaders.

While the UN has implemented a number of covid restrictions including limiting the size of the delegations attending, enforcing a mask mandate inside the building and requiring proof of vaccination, world leaders are back in New York, shaking hands, holding high-stakes bilateral negotiations and bringing the city to a grinding halt. The meeting has come at a crucial time – the war in Ukraine, rising energy prices, spiralling inflation, increasing food prices, climate change and global health are all high on the agenda.

The National's Willy Lowry takes us Beyond the Headlines at the United Nations General Assembly to look at the key issues and hear what's on the agenda as world leaders all meet again in person for the first time since the pandemic.

After 11 months of parliamentary elections, government formation is still help up by complete political gridlock. As violent clashes between the followers of Iraqi cleric Moqtada Al Sadr and members of militias affiliated with the Coordination Framework led by former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki escalated, 30 Iraqis lost their life. However, by Tuesday afternoon, Al Sadr had called back his followers from the streets and restated his intention to “retire from politics”. Since then, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi has threatened to resign, which would add further chaos to Iraq’s political scene.

In this week’s episode of Beyond The Headlines, The National’s Editor in Chief Mina Al-Oraibi discusses these developments and what could come next, with guests Chairman of the Iraqi Advisory Council Farhad Alaadin and Senior Foreign Reporter Mina Al Droubi.

Despite this, monkeypox was never really an international cause for concern, until this year.

This week on Beyond the Headlines, host Juman Jarallah delves into the global monkeypox outbreak and what this could mean for a world still tackling a pandemic.

Successive governments and parliaments failed to deliver on the socioeconomic demands that had driven the revolution: jobs were still scarce, prices were rising, and the basic services you expect from your government — everything from rubbish collection to transportation — weren’t working. The economy tanked; inflation rose; tens of thousands of young Tunisians hopped on rickety boats, trying to get to Italy. People’s dissatisfaction with their government grew. Protests raged on the streets in the winter of 2020 and spring of 2021. They wanted change.

Then, in July last year, President Kais Saied fired his government, shuttered parliament and essentially took full control of the country, saying it was the only way to stop the political deadlock. Now he’s asking Tunisians to vote in a referendum this Monday to ratify a new constitution — one it appears he’s written almost entirely himself.

This week on Beyond the Headlines, Erin Clare Brown investigates Tunisia’s constitutional referendum — and explains what it means not just for the country but for the wider region.

Oil and food prices have surged since the Russian invasion of Ukraine and global inflationary pressures are pushing up prices across the board. Talks with Iran on reviving a nuclear accord to limit Tehran’s enrichment of uranium have stalled. A tentative ceasefire in Yemen is holding, but major challenges remain to end the more than five-year war. Energy and security might be top of his agenda but so is the fundamental question of America’s role in the Middle East.

This week on Beyond the Headlines, host James Haines-Young talks to The National's US correspondent Willy Lowry about President Biden’s visit to the Middle East, how it was received and how it will be remembered.

Millions fled the brutal three year rule of the terror group and hundreds of thousands more fled the deverstating fighting to recapture the city. 

But five years after victory, several neighbourhoods in Mosul still lie in ruins. 

On this week's episode, host Robert Tollast asks why is it taking so long to rebuild Mosul.

On this week’s Beyond the Headlines, host Mina Aldroubi speaks to Michael Stephens, a research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, about the Nato summit’s biggest talking points.

For most of history, the average human life expectancy has been about around 70 years. Although average life expectancy has been rising for years, this is because more of us make it that far and many beyond. Fewer of us are dying at birth, in childhood, in the midst of raging battle or being mauled to death by wild animals. Take out those threats and an average human is capable of a 70th birthday.

And now, with breakthroughs in our understanding of genetics and billions of dollars being poured into life sciences research, we may find ways to extend our lives, maybe to even double that number, in the next few decades. 

On this week's Beyond the Headlines host Kelsey Warner looks at the future of ageing and longevity.

Hummus, bulgur wheat, meat, chicken and spices like sumac, cumin and cinnamon. Lavish dinner parties with popular dishes like Egyptian koshary, Jordanian mansaf and Iraqi tashreeb. The bigger the dish, the more generous the host. That is a deeply rooted belief in Arab culture.

Despite the Gulf countries being insulated from the rising costs of living, people in many places in the Middle East - and around the world - are struggling to regularly buy quality raw food ingredients as prices skyrocket.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Ahmed Maher speaks to people from across the Middle East to see how rising prices are pushing some of them into food poverty.

Then, on 1 June, another gunman killed two doctors and two others at an Oklahoma medical building in Tulsa. These are just some of the recent, chilling examples of how gun violence has traumatised America - they’re only the tip of the iceberg.

According to the Gun Violence Archive, the US has suffered at least 246 mass shootings in 2022. Not all of them make the news, so frequent have mass shootings become there. Many Americans have long been calling for action on gun control. So why is it so difficult to bring in reform?

On this week’s Beyond the Headlines, host Suhail Akram looks at what can realistically be done to tackle US gun deaths.

You grab a scarf and wrap it around your face as you hurry inside, but the coughing continues long after you reach safety. For those in refugee camps, even this escape is denied. Sand is buffeted against flimsy tents and belongings and residents become swiftly covered in a film of dust.

You may think this is happening to a character in an apocalypse movie, but it's becoming a regular occurrence for people in many parts of the world, and especially the Middle East. 

In spring, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and parts of Israel and Egypt experience the most frequent dust storms. Moving into summer, Iran, Syria and the Gulf will be hit by the flurry of sand and minerals. Many of these countries are sources of the dust as well as feeling the impact of it. 

In this week's Beyond the Headlines, host Taylor Heyman looks at the impact of dust storms on the Middle East and asks what can be done to mitigate them.

Mustafa Alrawi, The National’s Assistant Editor-in-Chief, and Mina Al-Oraibi, The National's Editor-in-Chief, are joined by CNN anchor Julia Chatterley in Davos to discuss the key takeaways from the WEF annual meeting.

So much has happened since the last poll, in 2018, when familiar faces were elected from parties largely made up of the same people who had fought the civil war decades earlier. 

First, the economy started to creak - and eventually collapsed. In 2019, hundreds of thousands of people across Lebanon rose up in a popular protest movement, apparently determined to change a political system that seemed to be pushing the country over a precipice.

Then, in August of 2020, a devastating explosion at Beirut’s port killed hundreds, left hundreds of thousands homeless, and caused billions of dollars’ worth of damage in a country that could ill afford to pay the bill. Many blamed the same culture of political mismanagement for the catastrophic explosion.   In this week’s episode of Beyond the Headlines, Finbar Anderson asks: will the Lebanese election be seen as a turning point for an embattled country in desperate need of change? Or was it a sideshow designed to buy the ruling elite time and a false sense of legitimacy?

He was born in September 1948, before the UAE existed as a single nation and before the discovery of oil in the Emirates.

In his lifetime he saw the rise of the nation from a collection of Bedouin and fishing villages to one of the leading and most competitive economies in the Middle East.

As the eldest son of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the Founding Father of the UAE, Sheikh Khalifa’s involvement in public life began at a very young age.

On this week's Beyond the Headlines host Faisal Salah looks back at the life of Sheikh Khalifa and hears from UAE cultural historian and columnist for The National Peter Hellyer about his legacy.

Many countries around the world have already started to relax Covid-19 restrictions. And some, like Greece, New Zealand and Japan, are preparing to drop all rules in time for summer.

So is it finally time to get back to normal? At least to the way life was before the pandemic. Or is it time to simply embrace the ‘new normal'?

This week on Beyond the Headlines, host Suhail Akram asks experts and health care professionals if the pandemic is truly over.

Among those on board were Amid Dandachi, his wife and their three children. In all, around 22 members of the extended Dandachi family were on the boat. The family are from the suburb of Qibbe, one of Tripoli’s poorest neighbourhoods. And Tripoli is one of Lebanon’s poorest cities. With Lebanon's economic crisis ongoing they hoped heading west would offer them a better future

But only an hour or two after they left land, the boat was intercepted. Lebanese naval forces demanded it turn back. The boat’s helmsman tried to make a break for it but the navy crashed into the overcrowded craft towards the bow, splitting the hull. At least six people died and approximately 30 are still missing.

On this week's Beyond The Headlines, Finbar Anderson looks at the story of a tragic shipwreck off the coast of Tripoli, and how it’s an all too familiar fate for thousands of people trying to reach a better life in Europe.

One of the group, 27-year-old Sabur Dawod Zai, escaped the 20-year conflict in Afghanistan when the Taliban returned to power in August 2021. He, like so many others, embarked on an arduous journey to avoid the harsh rule of the Taliban and found himself in Poland. So when Sabur and his friends saw a newspaper photograph depicting four people, including two children, killed in the war, they could identify with the horror. Grateful for the warm welcome they received in Poland, they just wanted to pay it back.

This week on Beyond the Headlines, host Ahmed Maher explores how Afghans in Poland, themselves displaced, have mobilised to support Ukrainians fleeing the war.

This is life in a 15-minute smart city. And this could one day be life at the Expo 2020 Dubai site, dubbed District 2020, a reimagined neighbourhood at the site of the most recent world’s fair that experts, visitors and the mega-event planners all say is a vision for the future. 

This week, as Expo draws to a close, we ask: what did we learn in the last six months about where we are heading and the choices we must make? And now, what comes next, for both the site itself and those who gathered there?

Widespread protests and counter protests by students attending local colleges and pre-universities have erupted across the southern coastal state, raising tensions in the communally sensitive region.

Female Muslim students have lobbied for days outside the gates of their colleges, demanding the administration let them attend classes wearing the hijab. 

Their protests have been met by counter-demonstrations by students linked to right-wing Hindu groups. They wear saffron scarves - a colour used by hardline nationalists - and march in the streets chanting "Jai Shri Ram", a traditional Hindu salutation that has in recent years become a war cry.

In this week's Beyond the Headlines, Nilanjana Gupta looks at why the hijab is the source of more division than ever in India. 

It is already the biggest European refugee crisis since the 1990s Balkan wars. 

The UN fears there could be 4 million people displaced in the coming weeks and months. If things continue to get worse it could be Europe’s biggest refugee crisis since World War II. 

On this week's Beyond the Headlines host Leila Gharagozlou looks at the plight of the Ukrainians whose lives have been turned upside down.

Soon after, the rest of the world was waking up to the news that Russian President Vladimir Putin had declared war on Ukraine and that an invasion was underway. For weeks Ukrainians had been hoping for the best and planning for the worst as hundreds of thousands of troops massed on the border.

Most expected that, if an invasion happened, it would be in the south-east of the country, where Ukraine has been fighting with Russian-backed separatists since 2014. Few expected attacks on the capital.

In this special episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Erin Brown asks what it felt like to be in Kyiv and under siege from Russian forces, and what the future holds for Ukrainians like Katya, who are weighing up whether to stay and fight or try and flee to safety.

Unlike in other areas of the world, where archaeological marvels focus on kings, queens and grand temples, much of the heritage work going on in the Sultanate right now focuses on how ordinary people lived. The artefacts, often dating back millennia, are some of the most well preserved in the world. They are changing long-held beliefs about how the region was first settled.

In this week's Beyond The Headlines, host Taylor Heyman looks at how discoveries from their country’s past are inspiring the next generation of Omanis and the world.

On this week's Beyond the Headlines, host Leila Gharagozlou asks what it takes to compete in the Winter Olympics, and how much more of a challenge it is when you’re from a hot, arid region.

When Facebook changed its name to Meta last year and rebranded itself as a “metaverse company”, what was once a controversial idea among tech enthusiasts came crashing into the mainstream. Now, the company and others like it are betting big that we will all be spending more and more time in the metaverse - doing everything from socialising and playing games with friends, to exercising and working remotely.  On this week's Beyond The Headlines, host Arthur Scott-Geddes asks: what is the metaverse and is it really about to replace the real world?

Right now, the UAE’s railways only transport freight… but Etihad Rail is building a passenger service that will eventually connect all seven emirates.

With trains racing at up to 200 kilometres per hour, travelling from Abu Dhabi to Dubai will then just take 50 minutes. Soon, the country will feel much smaller.

The National was given rare access to the new rail service. On this week's Beyond the Headlines you can join host Nilanjana Gupta on a journey into the future of the UAE’s transport system.

But did this ritual begin because of the secret pop aspirations of a CIA officer? The National has seen remarkable evidence that supports this suggestion. 

On this week's Beyond the Headlines host Robert Tollast looks at the strange story of the CIA and political campaign pop songs in the Philippines.

But that’s not quite how it’s worked out. 

While the country had begun to open up and life had started to return to normal, Israel, like much of the world, has been hit hard by the Omicron variant. 

On this week’s Beyond the Headlines host James Haines Young takes a look at the Covid situation in Israel - once the global leader for vaccinations and now suffering rising hospitalisations and a barrage of new cases more than six times their previously daily peak.

It was then US President Donald Trump who, in 2018, decided to ignore foreign policy experts, and his own advisers, and pulled the US out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

By many accounts Trump’s decision was underpinned by a belief that he could get better terms. But he did not get the outcome he wanted. In fact, after a year of continuing to be in compliance with the lapsed deal, Tehran quickly began enriching uranium again. With no guardrails on Iran, Trump’s decision had in effect created a possible nuclear crisis.

On this week’s Beyond the Headlines host Leila Gharagozlou looks at what negotiators in Vienna must contend with to strike a new agreement.

We’re talking about the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, the collapse of the government and the country’s future under the resurgent Taliban. Also, we talk about May’s war in Gaza, the legacy of 11 days of rockets and air strikes, and whether there is any hope for resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict.

From the fall of Afghanistan to the electoral defeat of Israel’s longest serving prime minister; from the billionaires’ space race to renewed global action on tackling climate change, 2021 has been a year of change, a year of firsts and lasts and, for many, a year of ups and downs.

In the final two episodes of 2021, we wanted to reflect on the year that was, on the biggest events that we at The National believe will come to shape how we remember this year and may well define some of 2022’s biggest moments.

Named Omicron, after the 15th letter of the Greek alphabet, it has sparked travel bans around the world. In South Africa, where the variant was first identified, it has quickly become the dominant strain. And on Monday, UK prime minister Boris Johnson announced what is believed to be the first death caused by Omicron. 

On this week's Beyond the Headlines, host Cody Combs asks: how worried should we be about Covid’s new variant?

The French leader has made something of a name for himself in the region in recent years. He staked significant political capital on cajoling Lebanon’s leaders to pass reforms to solve their dire economic crisis. He hosted a political summit in Baghdad with officials from across the region – including Iran and the Gulf – that sought to build avenues for dialogue rather than conflict. He has visited holy sites in Jerusalem, cultural sites in the Emirates and met illusive musical icon Fairuz in Lebanon. He has cut deals on energy, defence, the environment, and culture.

On this week's Beyond the Headlines, host James Haines-Young looks at Macron in the Middle East: what came out of his recent visits, why he has been so engaged in the region and what that means for French diplomacy.

On this week's Beyond the Headlines Faisal Salah looks back at the 50 years since the formation of the United Arab Emirates through the eyes of those who lived through it.

Some are chopping down trees in the forest to make fires for heat. At least 10 have already died in these freezing conditions. But the worst of the winter is still ahead of them.

But this is no ordinary case of refugees seeking asylum. Accusations from the EU are that Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko is using these people as pawns to put pressure on the bloc. Lukashenko denies this claim. 

On this week's Beyond the Headlines, we look at how thousands of people have become caught up in the crossfire of European power politics.

Hosted by James Haines-Young

Produced by Ayesha Khan and Arthur Eddyson

On this week's Beyond the Headlines, host Leila Gharagozlou looks at how water scarcity is threatening not just the environment but the political stability of the region. 

Hosted by Leila Gharagozlou Produced by Ayesha Khan and Arthur Eddyson

As the news got out, protesters flooded Khartoum and other cities, demanding his release and a return to the power-sharing agreement between a civilian political alliance, led by Hamdok, and the military, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

Then came a deadly crackdown on the mass rallies in the capital Khartoum, killing at least 12 people. But the protests have continued. 

On this week's Beyond the Headlines host Ahmed Maher looks at how Sudan’s political tensions escalated into a national crisis.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman also pledged $186 billion dollars towards cutting carbon emissions.

Over 100 countries have so far made the promise that experts say is vital for all countries if humanity is to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. Only two small nations – Bhutan and Suriname – have so far managed to achieve net zero. For larger economies, it will prove more of a challenge.

On this weeks Beyond the Headlines, James Haines-Young looks at how the Gulf is getting serious about climate change.

Hosted by James Haines-Young

Produced by Ayesha Khan and Arthur Eddyson

Unlike the popular protests in 2019, these demonstrations were not against political corruption, unemployment, taxes or the economic crisis. The anger here was against a high-profile judge, who is, so far, refusing to be intimidated.

Tarek Bitar is rocking the status quo in Lebanon. His job is to investigate the Beirut port blast. Over a year after it happened, still nobody has been held to account. Bitar has boldly called some of Lebanon’s biggest political players in for questioning. And the people out marching that day want him removed. 

In this week's Beyond the Headlines host Gareth Browne looks at how the investigation into the Beirut port explosion is opening up wounds - both old and new.

Hosted by Gareth Browne Produced by Ayesha Khan, Arthur Eddyson and James Haines-Young

Hosted by Leila Gharagozlou

Produced by Ayesha Khan, Bob Tollast, Mina Al Droubi and Arthur Eddyson

Hosted by Kelsey Warner

Produced by Ayesha Khan and Arthur Eddyson

In this week's Beyond the Headlines, host Sulaiman Hakemy speaks to some of those who left Afghanistan and asks: what comes next?

Hosted by Sulaiman Hakemy

Produced by Taylor Heyman, Ayesha Khan and Arthur Eddyson

In September, photos of these determined women in service uniforms made a splash in media outlets, in the latest display of just how far Saudi women have come since the ban on driving was lifted two years ago and the floodgates of opportunity opened.

Announced in 2016, Vision 2030 aims to transform the kingdom’s social and economic model and open it up to the world. But it was really in 2019 that major and long-awaited changes to guardianship laws took place.

Women were able to take more ownership of their careers, finances, education and marital status.Legal, social and economic reform overcame traditions that had resisted change for many years.

On this week's Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher marks Saudi National Day by speaking to the women who were once spectators but have become leaders and trailblazers of social change.

But in Lebanon, the mix of fuel shortages, economic inflation, power cuts and the Covid-19 pandemic means the country's education system may not be able to handle the influx of pupils, potentially leaving thousands of children without proper schooling.

On this week's Beyond the Headlines, host Finbar Anderson examines the effects of Lebanon’s crises on the country’s education system.

With the final evacuations planes now departed, many people vulnerable to Taliban revenge have been left behind, despite assurances from the US and other governments, and have been forced into hiding.

On this week's Beyond the Headlines, host Gareth Browne looks at the inadequate evacuation of Afghanistan and speaks to those who have been abandoned to the most uncertain of fates.

Hosted by James Haines-Young Produced by Arthur Scott-Geddes, Arthur Eddyson and Ayesha Khan

Why did the Afghan army collapse? Did president Ashraf Ghani have to flee? Is this a betrayal by the US administration? And what about the safety of Afghans, particularly women, under Taliban rule? These are some of the many questions people in the country are asking, but there are no easy answers.

This week on Beyond the Headlines, host Sulaiman Hakemy examines what happened in the crucial hours before Kabul fell to the Taliban, and what’s next for the country.

The new president, Ebrahim Raisi is said to be handpicked by the supreme leader Ali Khamenei, the man who controls Iran's religious ideology and political ideology. Mr Raisi is a hard-line cleric who won his election amid accusations of corruption and historically low voter turnout.

The new president had vowed in his campaign to continue the nuclear talks in Vienna, in an effort to get US sanctions removed and help relieve some of Iran’s economic pain. He also tempered his usually hard-line rhetoric around Iran’s domestic policy. But, now, a week since President Raisi was inaugurated, Iranians are already seeing a change.

This week on Beyond the Headlines, host Leila Gharagozlou talks to an expert on Iran’s political space and an Iranian reporter about the future of one of the world’s most closed off countries, Iran.

Bystanders living in the neighbourhood around the port come to their windows and onto their balconies. They watch the blaze as it grows and grows. Others are completely unaware of what’s happening down at the port. Like Sarah Copland, an Australian UN employee who’s feeding her 2-year-old son Isaac his supper next to the big glass windows of the family’s dining room in a quiet Beirut neighbourhood less than a kilometre away from the fire.

This is Zero Hour. It’s the story of what happens when a city blows up, told by the people who were there. This episode includes accounts that some listeners may find upsetting.

The National’s Finbar Anderson was one of the thousands injured in the blast – hit by flying shards of glass in his own living room. In The Blast podcast he has traced the events of how that tragic day came to pass.

In Episode 1 Finbar speaks to Boris Prokoshev, the captain of the ship that first brought the ammonium nitrate into Beirut port. Boris tells us his story of how he, The Rhosus and its cargo made the journey to Beirut and why they all got stuck there.

On this week’s Beyond the Headlines, host Ayesha Khan looks at the Saudis who put their lives on hold to volunteer at Hajj.

On this week's Beyond the Headlines, host Suhail Akram asks whether Iraq’s power problem has any end in sight.