Beyond the Headlines

In the past month, Israel has bombed Palestine, Yemen, Syria and Lebanon, but its attack on Hamas officials in Qatar this week was most unexpected. And it hit a nerve. 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.

Israel’s attack on Hamas leaders in Doha on Tuesday drew widespread condemnation from the international community. Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani described it as “state terrorism”. 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 Israeli army's killing of several Houthi government officials, including the prime minister, marks another serious escalation in the region. Until now, the army had mostly attacked infrastructure in Yemen, hitting power plants and ports, but the latest strike was different. The Houthis have pledged to retaliate. 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.

US envoys Tom Barrack and Morgan Ortagus were in Lebanon this week to restate a key demand: Hezbollah must disarm. 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.

Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert supported the war in Gaza when it began, but soon changed his mind. He advocated a limited military operation rather than a full-scale offensive. 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.

Israel has imposed a strict blockade on Gaza since March leaving 2.2 million Palestinians in the strip with practically nothing. Food, medicine and water are extremely scarce with only trickles of aid entering every now and then. There’s barely anything to buy in the market.  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.

Four years after the Taliban’s return to power, Afghanistan remains in the shadow of that chaotic August day in 2021 when US troops finally withdrew, ending two decades of war. 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.

Nearly two decades after Israel withdrew from Gaza, dismantling settlements and military posts under Ariel Sharon’s leadership, the Israeli government has now approved a plan to take over the Palestinian enclave again, following 22 months of its war there. 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.

A growing number of countries in the West have said they could soon recognise Palestinian statehood as Israel becomes increasingly isolated over its war in Gaza. 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. Editor’s Note: We want to hear from you! Help us improve our podcasts by taking our two-minute listener survey. Click here.

Five years have passed since the Beirut port explosion – and still the families of the more than 220 victims killed in the blast await justice. 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.

In the aftermath of the blast, residents took to the streets to sweep the shards of glass and piles of rubble. Meanwhile, politicians bickered and resigned. Judges were appointed to investigate the blast but one year on, had yet to publish their case. In this series finale of our 2020 Beirut port blast investigation we hear how people feel about their politicians, their country and their lives a year later. Editor’s Note: We want to hear from you! Help us improve our podcasts by taking our two-minute listener survey. Click here.

Ghassan Hassrouty was working with his colleagues at the port’s grain silos. Sarah Copland, an Australian UN employee, was feeding her son Isaac, 2. And then, it’s zero hour, the moment the blast tore through the city on August 4, 2020. This episode is the third of a four-part investigation into the 2020 Beirut port explosion. It tells that story through witness accounts of people who were there. Editor’s Note: We want to hear from you! Help us improve our podcasts by taking our two-minute listener survey. Click here.

After the cargo was moved to a warehouse at the port, it sat there for years. This episode connects the dots to understand why the chemical, commonly used in fertilisers and explosives, was neglected for so long. We hear from officials and workers at the port, and we try to establish who knew about the ammonium nitrate all this time, and whose responsibility it was to make sure it was safe. 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.

In the summer of 2020, Lebanon had already been experiencing some of its worst days, due to a deepening financial crisis and the global pandemic. On August 4, things took a much darker turn. Hundreds of tonnes of ammonium nitrate detonated at the Beirut port, ripping through the capital and wreaking havoc. More than 200 people were killed and thousands injured. It destroyed homes, overwhelmed the city and shattered livelihoods. 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.

Hunger has killed more than 110 people so far in Gaza over the past 20 months of war. 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.

The city of Sweida in southern Syria became a battleground this week after a series of retaliatory attacks between Druze militiamen and Bedouin tribes escalated. 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. Editor’s Note: We want to hear from you! Help us improve our podcasts by taking our 2-minute listener survey. Click here.

The toll of war is often measured in figures: the number of people killed, injured or displaced. But how do we calculate the cost of ending a war? 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.

During a visit to the Gulf in May, US President Donald Trump made a surprise announcement that he would revoke sanctions on Syria. This week, he kept that promise. 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. Editor’s Note: We want to hear from you! Help us improve our podcasts by taking our 2-minute listener survey. Click here.

After 12 days of war between Israel and Iran, a ceasefire has brought a sense of cautious relief to the region. 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.

Up until last week, it seemed unthinkable for a UN member state to strike a nuclear site. But Israel did just that when it launched its attack on Iran, hitting military and atomic sites, and killing key figures of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. 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. Editor’s Note: We want to hear from you! Help us improve our podcasts by taking our 2-minute listener survey. Click here.