Beyond the Headlines

Donald Trump will return to the White House in January as the 47th American president, and the Middle East is waiting to see whether and how he can end the wars in the region. Many Palestinians in Gaza say they are not optimistic about the new US administration and worry the situation might take a turn for the worse after Mr Trump is inaugurated. Their concerns are rooted in decisions he made during his first term as president when he moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and cut more than $200 million in funding to the UN refugee agency UNRWA. He also revealed his Peace to Prosperity plan to resolve the Israel-Palestine conflict in 2020. But it was strongly rejected by Palestinians, not only because it was drawn up without their input, but also because it revoked important rights that Palestinians have been asking for and allowed for illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank to be incorporated into Israel. But the political landscape in the Middle East today is drastically different from four years ago and Mr Trump has a lot of new factors to consider. At the same time, he is viewed as a transactional leader and a dealmaker who may be more capable of ending the war. This week on Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher speaks to Dalal Iriqat, associate professor of diplomacy at the Arab American University Palestine, and to Ghaith Al-Omari, senior fellow at the Washington Institute, about what a Trump presidency could mean for Palestinians in the short and long term. They discuss how his policies might change in his second term and whether there can be any prospect for peace and security in Palestine, Israel and the region.

Israel continues to bombard Gaza and Lebanon. It is launching strikes in Syria. But between Tel Aviv and Tehran, there’s an eerie silence. The latest round of attacks between the two came from Israel late last month, hitting military sites linked to Iran’s ballistic missile programme. Four soldiers and a civilian were killed, Iran said. Analysts believe Tehran's ballistic missile capabilities, drone production and air defences were seriously damaged. This came in response to Iran launching its attack on Israel on October 1. With its response, the fear that Israel would hit back at Iran’s nuclear or oil centres has been put to rest, at least for now. Israel’s strikes nevertheless prompted criticism from Arab states, including the GCC. The UAE strongly condemned them and expressed deep concern over the repercussions for security and stability in the region. Saudi Arabia called them a “violation of sovereignty” and international law, urging all parties to exercise maximum restraint. Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, has recently been on tour across the Middle East. He said that he received guarantees from regional neighbours that neither their soil nor air spaces would be used to allow any attacks on Iran. But Tehran has vowed to respond again. A continuous cycle of strikes poses a serious risk to the region and the world at large, potentially dragging the US and Arab states into a conflict that none of them wants. On this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher speaks to The National’s military affairs reporter Robert Tollast about the effect of Israel’s strikes on Iran. She also talks with Dr Hasan Alhasan from the International Institute for Strategic Studies to investigate Iran’s relationship with its Arab neighbours amid regional escalations.

The Knesset has voted to ban the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, prompting much concern, even from Israel’s closest allies. Two bills were passed on Tuesday with overwhelming majorities: the first to halt the relief agency’s activities in Israel and occupied East Jerusalem, and the second to ban the Israeli state from interacting with the organisation. The move would make it almost impossible for UNRWA to operate in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. It would hinder the agency’s financial operations and break aid supply chains into the enclave, where the north has already been starved, bombed and besieged for about a month. More than 43,100 have been killed in Gaza since the war began. This isn’t the first time that UNRWA, and the UN more broadly, have come under attack from Israel, politically or physically. The war in Gaza has been the deadliest for UN workers, killing more than 220 staff members from the agency. UNRWA funding was cut by western states after Israel accused some of its members of being involved in the October 7 attacks on southern Israel, which killed about 1,200 people and led to the start of the war. Although most have since reinstated their funding, the US – the largest donor – has yet to overturn its suspension. The ban deals a blow to the 75-year-old organisation, which serves six million Palestinian refugees across the region. World leaders have warned that the consequences could be serious. Legal experts say the Knesset’s decision may be breaching international law. In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher looks at the effect of the UNRWA ban on Palestinians in Gaza, and examines the legal consequences it could have on Israel and its standing at the UN. We hear from Chris Gunness, former director of communications and advocacy at UNRWA, and international human rights lawyer Saul Takahashi.

For weeks, the Israeli military has isolated the north of Gaza, conducting air strikes and ground attacks, including on residential areas and hospitals. In back-to-back attacks on Beit Lahia and the nearby Jabalia refugee camp last Friday and Saturday, more than 100 people were killed in a single day. Limited aid is entering the area and more eviction orders have been issued to families in the north. But where will they go? And if they stay, what will be their fate? UN officials and other rights groups have warned that Israel is forcing Gaza residents to choose between leaving or starving. The latest onslaught follows the killing last week of Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader and one of the men identified as most-wanted by Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it marked the beginning of the end of the war. But Palestinians in Gaza say those words carry little weight as they endure some of the most intense days of violence yet. In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher speaks to Tahani Mustafa, senior Palestine analyst at Crisis Group, and Avi Melamed, a former Israeli intelligence official and founder of Inside the Middle East Institute. She asks them about Israel’s strategy in the north of the strip and what its end-goal is, now that it has eliminated Hamas’ top leadership. We also hear from Ziad Mousa, a UN worker in Gaza city, who describes the dire situation there.

Over the past year of war in Gaza, several diplomatic and humanitarian organisations, including the UN, have repeatedly accused Israel of breaching rules of military conduct. These breaches have provoked regular condemnation by governments and high-ranking officials worldwide. But amid all the words, what has been missing is concrete action against Israel. If any authority has the power to influence Israel's actions, it is the US – its strongest ally and main source of military aid. The death toll in Gaza has passed 42,400, with thousands more bodies thought to be buried under rubble and tens of thousands dying from indirect causes. In Lebanon, where densely populated neighbourhoods are being hit by air strikes, at least 2,300 have been killed and 1.2 million displaced. Earlier this year, the International Court of Justice determined that it was plausible that Israel may be committing genocide. Investigators and human rights groups, including Amnesty International, have warned the US that it may be complicit in war crimes because of Israel’s unlawful use of American weapons. In a rare development this week, a leaked document revealed US officials warning the Israeli government that future weapons shipments could be affected if the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is not addressed within 30 days. But with little having changed in the past year, and as Israel appears to defy any limits imposed on it, the question remains: will the US truly enforce any red lines? On this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher speaks to Hala Rharrit, a former US diplomat who resigned in protest against Washington’s handling of the war. She also speaks to Mark Schwartz, a defence researcher at the RAND Corporation, to examine the White House's support for Israel. And we hear from Alex Vatanka, the founding director of the Iran programme at the Middle East Institute, on the prospects of an Israeli retaliation against Tehran.