Beyond the Headlines

Too little, too late. This was the sentiment echoed among critics in the international community after Europe started taking a new, critical stance on Israel’s war in Gaza in recent weeks. For Palestinians actually in the strip, it is certainly too late, with the death toll from 19 months of war at more than 54,200. But what of the new stance itself? In late May, the EU announced it would launch a...

Chaotic scenes unfolded in Gaza this week as large crowds gathered at aid hubs set up by a US and Israeli-backed organisation, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. After three months of an Israeli-imposed blockade on the enclave, hungry, desperate Palestinians stood behind fences, waiting to receive their share. Reports and videos quickly emerged showing people overrunning a hub in Rafah, the souther...

Last week’s announcement by President Donald Trump on lifting US sanctions on Syria seemed to have a refreshing effect for a country that has been reeling from political divisions and economic turmoil. This week, the European Union followed, lifting all economic restrictions in a major diplomatic shift aimed at supporting Syria’s reconstruction and fragile peace. The news has been accompanied by m...

US President Donald Trump has returned to Washington after sealing hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of investments on his first visit to the Gulf since returning to office. His stops in Riyadh, Doha and Abu Dhabi were marked by the announcements of huge deals encompassing everything from defence and aviation to chips and energy. But it wasn’t all business. Mr Trump’s decision to lift sanctio...

Israel’s security cabinet has approved an expanded military offensive in Gaza that would push the entire population into a small pocket in the south of the strip. Shortly after the decision, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a bold message: the troops will be there to stay. Sources have told The National the plan will pave the way for Israel to seize the Gaza Strip and take contr...

During the first 100 days of Donald Trump’s administration, he has signed more executive orders than any other president in the same time span. They are part of his mandate to put "America first". But many of his foreign policy orders have also had a direct and immediate impact on the Middle East. He has frozen foreign aid, hitting countries like Egypt and Jordan that rely on US assistance. He has...

In his last public address on Easter Sunday, Pope Francis called for an end to the violence in Gaza, calling the humanitarian situation there "dramatic and deplorable”. His message came only a day before his death. People all over the world mourned the death of the beloved Pontiff, but perhaps no place more than in Gaza, where Palestinian Christians fear they have lost a protector of their communi...

When the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last year accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant of crimes against humanity, it seemed like a watershed moment. Global anger over Israel's war in Gaza had long been at boiling point, with people demanding justice for the victims of war. But to this day, they have not been arrested. At...

The Lebanese civil war that broke out in 1975 marked a dark chapter in the country’s history and would have an impact on the region for decades afterwards. The conflict lasted for 15 years, as armed militias and their political sects battled for power. Alliances shifted over time and outside forces exploited the chaos for their own interests. An estimated 150,000 people were killed in the fighting...

Simmering threats between Iran and the US are nearing their boiling point, after Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said this week that Tehran would retaliate if attacked. The heated tone comes after American President Donald Trump warned earlier that the US would bomb Iran and impose additional tariffs if it did not agree to a nuclear deal. Tit-for-tat warnings have sparked fears that I...

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 Hamas has grown after a speech b...

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 reality dominat...

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 traced direct links...

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 Donald Trump ann...

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 the coming year....

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 essential services are resto...

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. Tensions had been simme...

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 controversial yet. He also cla...

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 1,200 children are...

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 Palestinians being shot by Isra...

Four years after his first term, Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 47th US president, marking his second inauguration as one of America’s most unpredictable leaders.   An ocean away in the Middle East, where war, regime changes and power shifts have altered the political landscape forever, all eyes will be on the new president to see how he will shape his foreign policy in the region.   Mr Trum...

Cheers echoed through the streets of Gaza on Wednesday night, even before a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was finally announced. Much-needed respite appears to be in sight after 15 months of almost uninterrupted bombing, death and destruction.   But the jubilant reaction of Gazans stands in stark contrast to the bleak environment that surrounds them – their homes destroyed, their lo...

An entire month has passed since Syria’s Bashar Al Assad was overthrown by rebel groups and much has happened since. Prison dungeons of the former regime were unlocked, freeing political prisoners held by Assad enforcers. Families torn apart by war were reunited. Refugees have begun to return home and commercial flights to and from Damascus have eventually resumed. But there’s also much anxiety ov...

On a tense Saturday night in Jenin in the occupied West Bank, Shatha Al Sabbagh went over to the grocery store with her mother, neighbour and nephews. On her way out, she was shot in the neck and killed. She was a young journalist, only 21 years old. Her family has blamed her death on the Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces. But the PA rejects the accusation, saying instead that she was kil...

There’s no doubt that the events of 2024 have changed the Middle East. Israel’s continued war in Gaza has caused a ripple effect across the region. Multi-front conflicts over the past year have stoked the rise and fall of non-state actors backed by Iran. The geopolitical impacts of this are already starting to materialise, some concerning and others promising. The question of Palestine – unresolve...