Beyond the Headlines

After the Democrats’ sweeping victory in the US midterm elections, President Donald Trump acknowledged that the loss was partly because of the Iran war . And, in a lengthy post on X, Vice President JD Vance said that traditionally Republican voters cast their ballots for the Democrats citing frustration over the conflict, the cost of living and US support of Israel . Now that the midterms are over...

The US midterm elections next month could change the course of American politics at home and – and American policy abroad. While voters will be waiting to see whether the Democrats take control of Congress and the Senate, in the Middle East the question is whether the results will change anything in US foreign policy. At the moment, the Republicans control all three branches of government, giving...

Israelis will vote on Tuesday in the first national election since the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack and subsequent war on Gaza . Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ’s Likud party could win, but polls are showing that opposition candidates also have a good chance. No single party is likely to secure a majority. Whoever wins will almost certainly have to form a coalition. Israelis will be castin...

From Riyadh to Taiz, it has been a week of tragedy. While Saudi Arabia faces a wave of deadly attacks by the Houthis , hundreds of thousands of people in the southern Yemeni city are largely cut off from food and fuel. The fighting continues to intensify between the rebel group and Yemeni government forces, but the most recent attacks on Saudi targets, both inside and outside the country, have tes...

When the Gaza ceasefire came into effect a year ago, Palestinians in the enclave hoped that they could start rebuilding their lives. The truce came in the form of a 20-point plan which specified that aid would enter at scale and the strip would be “redeveloped for the benefit of the people of Gaza”. It also said there would be a demilitarisation process and gradual Israeli withdrawal. While the ce...

The US withdrawal from Iraq this week marked a major milestone, as its anti-ISIS mission officially came to an end. The government in Baghdad called it Sovereignty Day. More than 20 years since the American invasion of Iraq and 12 years since the start of the US-led coalition against ISIS , the departure was widely celebrated by Iraqis. But it also comes at a challenging time for the country and t...

The number of people forced from their homes by war, violence and persecution continues to grow, while the international system created to protect them is under increasing strain. On the sidelines of the 81st UN General Assembly in New York, The National’s Editor-in-Chief Mina Al-Oraibi speaks to Barham Salih , the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and former president of Iraq, about the mounting...

An escalation of attacks on Saudi Arabia by the Houthi rebels in Yemen, and the group’s seizure of Yemen’s western coast , comes at a critical time in the region. The rapid advance in a matter of days has given the group unprecedented access to the Bab Al Mandeb strait, a global maritime chokepoint, while displacing at least 125,000 civilians. Meanwhile, the Strait of Hormuz , another critical rou...

The UK’s decision to ban imports from illegal Israeli settlements , and impose sanctions on entities that are used to build them, has put new pressure on Benjamin Netanyahu’s government as the occupied West Bank faces unprecedented land grabs. It has been more than two years since the International Court of Justice issued its advisory opinion stating that all states are under an obligation not to...

When the US announced it was imposing new sanctions on Iran late last month, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the aim was to sever every economic lifeline “until Tehran stands alone”. The burden will also fall on Iran-backed groups across the region. For Hezbollah in Lebanon, the sanctions deal yet another blow after its war with Israel, the fall of the Assad regime in Syria and the fallout f...

Israel has been attacking parts of Syria since the fall of the Assad regime and carrying out incursions into the country’s south under the pretext of targeting weapons of the former government. But its attack last week on the Abu Al Duhur military airfield in the northern governorate of Idlib was different, apparently directed at Turkey as tensions rise between the two countries. Israeli officials...

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, Mercy Corps CEO Tjada McKenna joins host Nada AlTaher in conversation about the challenges facing humanitarian assistance across the Middle East and beyond. The impact of the Strait of Hormuz blockade has trickled down into the aid sector. Rising fuel costs, shortages of essential goods and delays in the delivery of materials such as fertilisers have all ta...

The US-Iran war has highlighted how rapidly modern warfare is changing, with drones and other relatively inexpensive technology playing an increasingly prominent role alongside sophisticated missile and air-defence systems. US Central Command this month announced a multinational attack drone task force that will be operated by US military support staff and partners in the region. Last month the US...

The Houthis had mostly stayed out of the Iran war. But in recent weeks they have started attacking ships in the Red Sea, as well as Saudi-linked targets inside Yemen and across the border. On Tuesday, a double-tap strike on a cargo ship in the Bab Al Mandeb strait killed four crew members and two rescue workers. They have also targeted Yemeni government forces in Marib, Hadhramaut and Hodeidah, an...

Since October 2023, entire industries in Gaza have been wiped out and poverty has increased. In the occupied West Bank , businesses are struggling amid settler violence and increasing restrictions on movement. After the Gaza war began, Israel suspended most work permits for Palestinians in the country. It also withheld billions of dollars in tax revenue collected on behalf of the Palestinian Autho...

It has been five months since the US and Israel launched their war with Iran, and the conflict has never really been contained. Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, the UAE and Jordan have all been hit by Iranian missiles and drones, Hezbollah drew Lebanon into a fight that is still going on, and the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, with neither talks nor military action producing a lasting reopening. Right no...

US President Donald Trump pledged his support for Lebanon this week during a visit to the White House by Lebanese President Joseph Aoun. A four-decade ban on US airlines flying to the country will be overturned, Mr Trump said, who also told of concrete plans to support the Lebanese Armed Forces. This comes at a time when the government in Beirut is under pressure to prove it can deliver on an agre...

The interim agreement aimed at ending the war between the US and Iran has fallen apart barely three weeks after it was signed. Iran has resumed attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz , claiming it has control over the entire waterway and any vessels crossing it must co-ordinate with its forces. The US, seeing this as a breach of the ceasefire agreement signed on June 17, has responded...

On the sidelines of an eventful Nato summit in Ankara, US President Donald Trump was sitting next to his Syrian counterpart Ahmad Al Shara when he announced his intention to lift Syria’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism . 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 incre...

The Middle East has been grappling with one conflict after another, leading to countless rounds of negotiations to end fighting. 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...

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Al Zaidi has conducted a bold anti-corruption campaign since taking office in May. 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 o...

The US and Iran have signed their framework agreement to end the war. 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 th...

More than 100 days since the US and Israel launched co-ordinated strikes on Iran on February 28, the war that was supposed to eliminate its threat and reshape the region is at a crossroads. 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 t...

When the US, Canada and Mexico were selected as joint hosts of the 2026 World Cup, they were supposed to be the “safe choice” for Fifa. 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 natio...

In its first report to the UN Security Council, the Board of Peace this month said Hamas’s refusal to disarm was the main obstacle to the reconstruction of Gaza. 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...