Beyond the Headlines

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...

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...

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 build...

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...

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 widesprea...

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,...

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...

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...

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...

More than 34,000 Palestinians have died in Israel's onslaught on Gaza since October. But there's another grim figure that tells the story of the Gaza conflict: 77,000. That's the number of people who have suffered horrific burns, blast injuries, lacerations and crushed bones. A small number have managed to leave the under-siege strip for medical treatment. The UAE is one of a small number of count...

What a normal life is like for the rest of the world does not apply in Gaza, and it almost never has. Even before October 7, electricity only came on for an average of four to six hours a day and nearly 98 per cent of water was undrinkable. Transportation options were always limited and housing was a challenge in one of the most densely populated cities in the world. Now, after more than six month...

Air-raid alerts going off in Israel, many airports in the Middle East closed, flights delayed, the airspace over Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon shut down. That was Saturday night in the region as Iran launched its first major attack on Israel with around 300 drones and missiles. Most of the projectiles - launched in response to the April 1 strike on Iran’s embassy in Damascus that killed two general fro...

It’s been almost a year since the war in Sudan broke out, bringing with it death, displacement and a humanitarian disaster. As the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group continue their deadly power struggle, civilians bear the brunt of the violence and instability gripping the nation. The humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate. More than 8.5 million people have been...

Social media has redefined the way people are experiencing the war in Gaza, with citizens and regular users alike playing a crucial role in sharing minute-by-minute updates from the region. Israel's continuous bombardment of Gaza for six months now since the October 7 attack by Hamas has propelled numerous activists to the forefront, utilising social media to shed light on the harrowing realities...

This week, the UN Security Council passed a resolution – for the first time since the Israel-Gaza war began in October – demanding an immediate ceasefire during Ramadan. Hours later, more than 50 people were killed by Israeli air strikes on the Palestinian enclave, bringing the death toll to more than 32,000 people – over 80 per cent of them women and children. Washington's criticism of Israel’s a...

After almost six months of war and more than 31,000 deaths in Gaza, ceasefire talks resumed in Doha this week as Hamas, Israel and mediators discussed the details of a potential future deal. Meanwhile, during his visit to the Middle East, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said his country had submitted a draft resolution to the UN Security Council calling for an “immediate ceasefire linked to t...

Ramadan is typically a time of spiritual reflection, self-discipline and community bonding for Muslims around the world. But for millions of people in the Arab region, Ramadan this year is defined by violence and uncertainty.   On top of that, the Middle East is amidst one of its worst food crises in recent years, according to the UN’s World Food Programme. About 40 million of the region’s 400 mil...

Ramadan this year will be different for the people of Gaza with Israel continuing an air and ground assault that has gone on for five months now. The threat of famine looms due to the limited supply of food and the disrupted process of getting aid in.   In most Muslim households across the world, families would usually stock up on ingredients and food supplies to accommodate the month of fasting f...

Egypt is the only country other than Israel with a border with Gaza, which means the area between the city of Al Arish and the Palestinian territory bears witness to what is unfolding in Rafah. Tensions are high as Israeli officials say they will launch a ground offensive before Ramadan if the hostages held by Hamas aren’t released. This means the lives of half of Gaza's 2.3 million residents, see...

Tens of thousands of lives have been lost among Ukrainians and Russians, countless buildings are in ruin, the landscape of eastern Ukraine has been ravaged by destruction and there is no end in sight. Two years after the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war, it has become certain that the impact of this conflict extends far beyond its borders. The shockwaves of the war have been felt in many countr...

A series of protests escalated into a full-blown revolution in Iran and became a turning point in the history of the Middle East. On February 11, 1979, the rule of the US-backed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi ended, the Iranian monarchy was overthrown, and the country has since been referred to as the Islamic Republic of Iran. In the decades since, Iran has become a major player in the region, either...

The US has stepped up its involvement in the Middle East conflict with a barrage of strikes against Iran-allied targets in various locations in Iraq, Syria and Yemen. The strikes are in response to a deadly drone attack on American troops at a base in Jordan on January 28. These attacks have increased the tensions between the US and Iran-backed militias that started in October 2023 when Tehran-lin...

The Israel-Gaza conflict is evolving into a complex web, transcending the borders of the region to the international community. The week started with the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the UN’s highest court, making a historic ruling, ordering Israel to take all measures to prevent genocide against Gazans and allow vital aid into the Palestinian enclave. Meanwhile, another UN organisation t...

This week saw the biggest single loss of life for Israel in Gaza since the war began with 24 soldiers killed on January 22 in two separate attacks, bringing its total military deaths to more than 200 since October 7. Israel has called up about 360,000 reservists and tens of thousands of soldiers have been sent to fight inside Gaza, where more than 25,000 Palestinians have been killed in three mont...

Every year, political and business leaders from around the world come together in the quaint ski resort of Davos nestled in the Swiss Alps for dialogue on the pressing global issues, including not just economic challenges, but environmental concerns and political roadmaps. The 54th edition of the World Economic Forum took place while many countries in the Middle East are grappling with geopolitica...