Beyond the Headlines

Why legal action against alleged Israeli war crimes is so slow

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 same time, provisional measures issued by the International Court of Justice in early 2024 obliging Israel to facilitate the entry and distribution of aid in Gaza appear to have been ignored, according to humanitarian organisations.

Without legal enforcement, the capabilities of the world's top court have come into question and the limitations of international law have became more evident.

In recent months, civil society groups and national legal coalitions have begun to take matters into their own hands. Lawyers, activists and academics at a grassroots level are trying to prosecute and document what they allege to be Israeli war crimes. Some of them have already filed appeals to their domestic law enforcement to investigate Israeli soldiers who may have committed core international crimes in Gaza.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher looks at the efforts and challenges of legal mechanisms in delivering justice to Palestinian victims, both on an international scale and in domestic courts. She speaks to former ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo, legal director and founder of the Public Interest Law Centre in the UK Paul Heron, and Israeli historian Lee Mordechai.

Lebanon’s civil war: The feud that never ended

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 and thousands went missing. The war depleted the country's public resources and caused turmoil for years after.

But even after the war ended, the same sectarianism that fuelled the violence continued to thrive. It seeped into the country’s political institutions, into every facet of society, and it decimated the economy. Corruption and clientelism became the status quo. This led to a cycle of violence, popular uprisings and government stalemates.

On this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher marks the 50th anniversary of the outbreak of the civil war with a look back at the events that shaped it, how it changed people’s lives and the complicated legacy that scarred the country. She speaks to experts and academics and asks, how much has really changed today?

Deal or war: What’s next for Iran’s nuclear programme?

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 Iran may be on the brink of weaponising its nuclear programme.

Tensions have been brewing for the past several weeks as Mr Trump hawkishly tries to strike an agreement after withdrawing from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action during his first term in office.

But the geopolitical landscape today is drastically different to what it was back then, with Iran’s assets in the region greatly weakened.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher asks whether the outcome will be conflict or resolution. She speaks to Dr Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Chatham House, and Francesco Schiavi, Middle East analyst and non-resident fellow at the Middle East Institute Switzerland.

Where is Israel's renewed war on Gaza heading?

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 by the son of a Hamas leader who said: "We don’t have a white cloth to raise a flag of surrender, but only white cloths to shroud our children."

Protesters were angered by the apparent suggestion that their children are expendable. This comes after Israel shattered the ceasefire agreement on March 18, in one of the deadliest days for Palestinians. More than 400 people, including children, were killed.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher discusses the mounting pressure on Hamas and the severity of Israel’s renewed attacks. She speaks to Palestinian analyst Taghreed El-Khodary, Hisham Mhanna, spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza, and retired Israeli brigadier general and defence strategist Assaf Orion.

Is there still hope for Gaza’s shattered ceasefire?

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 dominated by fear, death and displacement. They had hoped that their brief respite would become permanent, as mediators tried to advance a truce agreement and hostage deal into its next phase.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the strikes were only the start and future negotiations with Hamas “will take place only under fire”. The US said it had been consulted of Israel's intention to attack.

The question is, why has the war started again. Will it ever end?

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher hears from Unicef’s Rosalia Bollen about the impact on Palestinians in Gaza. She also speaks to Taghreed El-Khodary, a Palestinian analyst, and Brian Katulis, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, about Hamas’s next moves, Israel's motives for resuming the war and where the US stands.

Are UK crackdowns deterring Iraqi Kurdish smugglers?

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 between some of the most notorious smuggler gangs operating from Kurdish towns in Iraq, and in France and the UK.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher speaks to the reporting team about what they uncovered: a teenage girl stuck in a northern French town, struggling to cross the English Channel; an infamous ringleader who has gone into hiding; and a sham car wash in Wales that pulls the strings from behind the scenes.

Sunniva Rose, Aveen Karim and Tariq Tahir recount the details of their investigation and talk about the impact of recent police raids on both smugglers and migrants.

What challenges stand in the way of the Arab plan for Gaza?

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 announced last month.

The $53 billion plan proposes establishing a technocratic committee unaffiliated with any political faction to oversee the rebuilding process and administer public services. This would mean Hamas would have to give up its authority.

But Israel and the US have rejected the Arab states’ plan, saying it fails to address the uninhabitable conditions in Gaza. Palestinians in the strip say they are worried reconstruction efforts will fail without US approval.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher speaks to The National’s correspondent in Cairo, Hamza Hendawi, and Crisis Group’s senior Palestine analyst, Tahani Mustafa, to examine the details of the resolution and the delicate matter of Palestinian political leadership.

She also speaks to Hussein Ibish, senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute and a columnist for The National. They discuss the challenges that may impede the Arab plan for Gaza if Israel and the US cannot be convinced to support it.

How serious is the threat of annexation of the West Bank?

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. Israeli officials have said their campaign is about combating terrorism.

But the military offensive is causing alarm after healthcare facilities came under attack in the area and violence by settlers against Palestinians intensified. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has also expressed concern about the growing threat of annexation.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher speaks to Palestinian and Israeli political and security analysts to discuss the nature of and threat posed by Israel’s objectives in the West Bank.

Can Egypt’s proposal for the reconstruction of Gaza succeed?

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 restored and temporary shelters set up. Other important details include the creation of an independent Palestinian agency that would oversee the enclave.

Since Israel’s war in Gaza escalated and the extent of the destruction drastically increased, the conversation about what will happen “the day after” has become a contentious issue. Questions over who will govern and administer day-to-day affairs remain unanswered. Another challenge will be defining the roles that Arab states will play in the transitional phase, with regional stability and security remaining a priority.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, Ghaith Al-Omari and Elizabeth Dent, senior fellows from the Washington Institute, discuss the strengths and challenges of Egypt’s proposal, and the relationship that Arab states must navigate as they negotiate with the US.

How Rafic Hariri’s assassination shaped the next 20 years in Lebanon

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 simmering with Syria as it exerted its growing influence in Lebanese affairs, maintaining a military presence and cherry-picking government candidates to serve its interests.

 

Mr Hariri had been tasked with rebuilding Lebanon after its civil war but he had to navigate a challenging political landscape that was tainted by power struggles, foreign intervention and government corruption. He tried to push back against Syria’s presence but this made him a target and eventually led to his assassination.

 

In the two decades following his death, the country descended into unrest and economic turmoil. But Lebanon today stands at a crossroads in the aftermath of Israel’s spillover war from Gaza, the weakening of Hezbollah and the fall of the Assad government in Syria.

 

This episode of Beyond the Headlines, marking the 20th anniversary of Hariri’s death, looks back at the spiral of events that swept across Lebanon in its wake, how they shaped the country, and how the long-awaited new government has a fresh opportunity to bring much-needed reform.