Beyond the Headlines

Two months have passed since a ceasefire was announced in Gaza, but the second phase of US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan has yet to materialise. The uncertainty has left Gazans anxious that the ceasefire could collapse – as the last truce did in March. The initial part of the agreement included the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian detainees and a stop to the fighting. Now these terms have mostly been met, Israel, Hamas and the mediators cannot seem to agree on how to tackle the next steps. Phase two is supposed to focus on a peacekeeping force and a governing committee, as well as reconstruction in the enclave. But so far there has been much disagreement over which countries will take part in the force and what their mandate will be. Meanwhile, an impasse remains over Israel's withdrawal from Gaza and the disarmament of Hamas. In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher looks at the obstacles that must be overcome to reach the second stage of the ceasefire and what it would take to move the process forward. She speaks to Max Rodenbeck, Israel-Palestine director at International Crisis Group, and to The National’s UK bureau chief Damien McElroy.

A year has passed since Bashar Al Assad’s government fell in Syria, marking the end of a brutal civil war that lasted for almost 14 years. In the end, it took less than two weeks last December for an insurgency of rebel groups led by Hayat Tahrir Al Sham to take control of Damascus. It was a euphoric moment for Syrians opposed to the Assad regime. The HTS leader quickly traded his fatigues for a suit, and his nom de guerre for his new title as President Ahmad Al Shara. He was widely accepted by the international community, most notably the US. But even as sanctions were eased and reconstruction pledges rolled in, the honeymoon phase was ending. Sectarian violence, revenge killings, economic despair and devastated infrastructure posed challenges for the transitional government. As Mr Al Shara looks to the West for legitimacy and the region for economic support, the pressure is also mounting on him internally to reunite the fragmented country. In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher is joined by Rahaf Aldoughli, assistant professor at Lancaster University, and Charles Lister, director of the Syria Programme at the Middle East Institute. They discuss how Mr Al Shara has fared over the past year and whether Syria is better off today.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called a cabinet meeting this month to discuss settler violence, but this sudden interest stands in stark contrast to years of inaction by the state. Settler attacks in the occupied West Bank hit a record high in October, the worst monthly toll since record-keeping began almost two decades ago. The violence is happening with impunity and under the protection of the army, according to evidence collected by rights groups and testimonies from Palestinians. The question is: why are authorities only now taking an interest? Is new pressure from Washington pushing them to take a stronger stand against settler attacks? In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher examines Israel’s reaction to settler violence. She speaks to Kobi Michael from the Misgav Institute and to political analyst Ori Goldberg.

Israel has bombed Lebanon on an almost daily basis over the past year, despite a ceasefire being in place. Its army claims to be attacking Hezbollah, accusing the group of re-arming. But civilian infrastructure, agricultural land and even construction equipment in southern border towns have been destroyed in the attacks. At least 100 civilians have been killed over the past year. Just this week, 13 people died in an attack on Ain Al Hilweh, Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp. Residents have been unable to rebuild their lives. Their homes lie in rubble. Their means of income have dried up. And any hope of reconstruction comes at a huge risk: more Israeli strikes. In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher speaks to urban planner Isabela Serhan from The Beirut Urban Lab, senior Lebanon analyst at Crisis Group David Wood and The National’s Beirut correspondent Nada Maucourant Atallah. They discuss the heavy price paid by Lebanese communities in the south and the pressure mounting on the government to respond to the Israeli aggression.

When the Sudanese city of El Fasher fell to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in late October, the group gained control of the entire Darfur region and areas to the south-west. Their rivals, the Sudanese armed forces, control the capital Khartoum, as well as the northern, eastern and central areas of the country. The fear now is that Sudan could be divided, as the fighting rages on for a third year. Amid the violence, it is the civilians who suffer most. Mass atrocities have been reported that may amount to war crimes. Famine has been declared in parts of the country, while millions have been displaced by the conflict. This episode of Beyond the Headlines documents the humanitarian crisis in the aftermath of the RSF taking control of El Fasher, as civilians seek safety. We hear from Shashwat Saraf, Sudan country director for the Norwegian Refugee Council, and ask The National’s Editor-in-Chief Mina Al-Oraibi what a diplomatic end to the conflict could look like.