Middle East Matters

Hamas announced this week that it had dissolved the de facto government, saying it was ready to hand over power to a group of technocrats appointed by Donald Trump's Board of Peace. Israel dismissed the move as a stunt. But with the Israeli military continuing to bomb Gaza despite the ostensible ceasefire, while controlling more than 60 per cent of the territory, and with the technocratic committee still outside the enclave, who is really in charge?

In this edition of Middle East Matters, Nadia Massih is pleased to welcome our Jerusalem correspondent Noga Tarnopolsky as well as Amberin Zaman, chief correspondent for Al Monitor, a Washington-based independent news organisation that covers the Middle East and North Africa. Zaman argues that Israel's apparent recognition of the Armenian genocide is less a principled historical reckoning than a "nakedly cynical" strategy shaped by the Gaza war, tensions with Turkey and shifting regional alliances.

More Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries are competing in the 2026 World Cup than at any previous tournament, much to the delight of fans from Morocco to Jordan. But as always with sports, politics is never far from the pitch. Iran, of course, springs to mind. Never before has a country hosted a World Cup while at war with one of the competing nations.

The reopening of the Strait of Hormuz is at the heart of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by the United States and Iran. Under the terms of the deal, the US will immediately lift its blockade of Iranian ports. The Islamic Republic, for its part, will reopen the Strait of Hormuz and charge no toll for commercial vessels for a period of 60 days. However, the presence of sea mines in the vital waterway could be a cause for concern. Our correspondent Reza Sayah reports from the Strait of Hormuz.

After weeks of US President Donald Trump insisting that a deal with Iran is just around the corner, violence has flared up again. Part of the challenge for Trump is that he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu no longer have the same priorities. Washington wants an out from a war that's roiling oil markets and is increasingly unpopular at home. But Netanyahu faces elections by the end of October and has a criminal investigation hanging over him. His political survival is once again at the heart of his geo-strategic calculations. We take a closer look and get expert analysis in this edition.