Beyond the Headlines

In the first weeks of July, the Israeli army ordered about 80,000 residents of Gaza city, in the north of the strip, to evacuate towards the south. At the same time, residents in large areas of Khan Younis were told to leave. But where to?   For nine months, Palestinians in Gaza have had to uproot and seek shelter in increasingly dangerous so-called safe zones, where conditions are dire, services are lacking, diseases are rampant and air strikes are always a risk.   The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, now estimates that nine out of 10 people are internally displaced in the strip. That’s 1.9 million people, including many who have been displaced multiple times.   Israel’s army makes the case that “evacuations” are designed to protect civilians from hostilities, but even in war evacuations must adhere to a very strict set of rules that observers on the ground say are not being followed.   In this week’s Beyond The Headlines, host Nada AlTaher speaks to Dr Majed Jaber, who describes his harrowing evacuation experience from the European Gaza Hospital. We also hear from Hisham Mhanna, Gaza spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross, as well as former executive director of Human Rights Watch Kenneth Roth.

Hundreds of rioters were arrested at the start of July after angry mobs in Turkey vandalised cars and shops belonging to Syrian refugees. Fuelled by reports that a Syrian man had assaulted a young girl, nationalist Turks violently protested about their government’s alleged inaction towards the Syrian refugee crisis in their country. 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.

The intense heatwaves sweeping across the Middle East this summer is taking a high toll on people. Temperatures have soared to unprecedented levels, causing widespread discomfort and significant challenges in many countries that might even be unequipped to face the impacts of climate change. 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.

The eight-month war in Gaza has caused a humanitarian crisis of unprecedented scale. Over 37 thousand Palestinians have been killed in this period, and over 80 thousand have been injured in the conflict.    A robust coordination between government bodies, international institutions and NGOs is needed to provide relief to the Palestinian people left in Gaza. However, with around 60% of Gaza's buildings and 80% of commercial facilities damaged by the Israeli bombardment. So, there’s a lot to be done to provide shelter and it's been estimated it could take up to 20 years to rebuild.   In this week’s Beyond The Headlines, Nada AlTaher hosts from Jordan, after attending an emergency humanitarian conference for Gaza on the shores of the Dead Sea. She speaks to the newly-appointed Palestinian minister of relief affairs, the head of advocacy and communications for the MENA region at the Norwegian Refugee Council, and Middle East regional director for Handicap International.

Eight months into the war in Gaza, as two million people there struggle for survival and more than 36,600 have lost their lives, the fate of Israel and Hamas themselves also hangs in the balance. 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.

A series of deadly Israeli strikes launched on May 26 at a camp for displaced people in Rafah, targeting two senior Hamas members, caused a fire and killed 45 people. 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.

The sudden death of a president and his Foreign Minister could send any country into disarray and chaos. 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.

Israel’s latest attacks on the city of Rafah have intensified criticism of its war on Gaza. 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.

Over the past few weeks, many college campuses around the world have become focal points for anti-war protests, with thousands of students and faculty members showing solidarity with Palestinians. 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.

Israeli military leaflets dropped into Gaza on Monday instructed Palestinians to leave eastern Rafah before “targeted airstrikes” hit the city, forcing thousands to evacuate the area. 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.