Beyond the Headlines

Mar 27 2025 419 ep. 20 mins 275
Beyond the Headlines Podcast artwork

Dive deeper into the week’s biggest stories from the Middle East and around the world with The National’s foreign desk. Nuances are often missed in day-to-day headlines. We go Beyond the Headlines by bringing together the voices of experts and those living the news to provide a clearer picture of the region’s shifting political and social landscape.

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Where is Israel's renewed war on Gaza heading?

Mar 27 2025 23 mins  
Hundreds of people have taken part in protests in Gaza this week, in a rare act of dissent towards Hamas. Demonstrators called for an end to the group's rule of the enclave and the war with Israel. 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 Hama

Is there still hope for Gaza’s shattered ceasefire?

Mar 20 2025 16 mins  
Israel unilaterally ended the ceasefire in Gaza, with bombs raining down on the strip this week, killing more than 400 people within hours. Many children were reportedly among the dead. 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

Are UK crackdowns deterring Iraqi Kurdish smugglers?

Mar 13 2025 24 mins  
The UK's National Crime Agency has been intensifying its campaign to crack down on people smugglers operating in the Iraqi Kurdish region. 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 tra

What challenges stand in the way of the Arab plan for Gaza?

Mar 06 2025 24 mins  
A resolution adopted by Arab states to rebuild Gaza has been met with praise across the region after 15 months of a brutal war that has battered the strip, but a difficult path lies ahead. 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

How serious is the threat of annexation of the West Bank?

Feb 27 2025 23 mins  
Israel’s army deployed tanks in the West Bank for the first time in 20 years this week, bulldozing streets, destroying infrastructure and conducting mass arrests in the process. 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

Can Egypt’s proposal for the reconstruction of Gaza succeed?

Feb 20 2025 18 mins  
After President Trump stated that the US would “take over” Gaza, Egypt has come up with a counter-proposal for reconstruction of the war-ravaged territory that would not displace Gazans into neighbouring countries. 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 essentia

How Rafic Hariri’s assassination shaped the next 20 years in Lebanon

Feb 13 2025 20 mins  
On February 14, 2005, a massive explosion ripped through the heart of downtown Beirut, killing the former Lebanese prime minister Rafic Hariri and 21 others. In a targeted attack, a bomb had detonated just as his motorcade drove near the St George Hotel, along Beirut's seafront. The killing of one of Lebanon's dominant political figures sent shockwaves across the country. Ten

Can Trump really force Palestinians out of Gaza?

Feb 06 2025 21 mins  
During a media conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House this week, US President Donald Trump said his country would take ownership of Gaza and turn it into the “Riviera of the Middle East”. 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 controvers

The gravity of Israel’s ban on UNRWA

Jan 30 2025 19 mins  
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, was this week ordered to stop its operations in occupied East Jerusalem, three months after Israel’s parliament voted to ban it. 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

Why is Israel raiding Jenin after the ceasefire in Gaza?

Jan 23 2025 20 mins  
Days after the guns fell silent in Gaza, violence erupted less than 200km away in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin. Israel’s military deployed tanks, snipers and special forces in the city on Tuesday, where it began an operation named “Iron Wall”, cracking down on what it described as terrorists within the Iranian axis. But videos have surfaced showing unarmed Pales