Beyond the Headlines

An escalation of attacks on Saudi Arabia by the Houthi rebels in Yemen, and the group’s seizure of Yemen’s western coast, comes at a critical time in the region.

The rapid advance in a matter of days has given the group unprecedented access to the Bab Al Mandeb strait, a global maritime chokepoint, while displacing at least 125,000 civilians.

Meanwhile, the Strait of Hormuz, another critical route for international energy supplies, remains effectively closed because of the war between the US and Iran.

The violence in the two waterways has disrupted the flow of oil, goods and aid.

The fighting only intensified over the past week as the Iran-backed group attacked Saudi targets, including the holy city of Makkah, while the East-West pipeline was struck from Iraq.

In Yemen, pro-government forces have suffered major losses.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher looks into how the Houthis' capacity to fight has grown enough for them to make such sweeping gains so quickly and whether the confrontation will escalate further before it dies down.

She speaks to Baraa Shiban, political analyst on Yemen at the Royal United Services Institute, and to Gulf expert Cinzia Bianco, visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations.

The UK’s decision to ban imports from illegal Israeli settlements, and impose sanctions on entities that are used to build them, has put new pressure on Benjamin Netanyahu’s government as the occupied West Bank faces unprecedented land grabs.

It has been more than two years since the International Court of Justice issued its advisory opinion stating that all states are under an obligation not to recognise Israel's decades-long occupation.

The court also obliged Israel to stop building settlements, which are illegal under international law.

Israel began its settlement project when it occupied Palestinian territory in 1967. It has continued expanding under every successive government, and at an accelerated pace since October 7, 2023.

But one project in particular has rung alarm bells. The Israeli government has issued a tender to build 1,200 housing units as part of the E1 settlement. This development would cut the West Bank in half, making the prospect of a Palestinian state unviable.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher speaks to Mairav Zonszein, senior analyst on Israel at the International Crisis Group. They discuss what the new UK-led measures will change on the ground and whether they will have any bearing on Israel's actions.

When the US announced it was imposing new sanctions on Iran late last month, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the aim was to sever every economic lifeline “until Tehran stands alone”.

The burden will also fall on Iran-backed groups across the region. For Hezbollah in Lebanon, the sanctions deal yet another blow after its war with Israel, the fall of the Assad regime in Syria and the fallout from the US-Iran conflict.

Before the war, Iran’s funding to Hezbollah was about $700 million a year, according to the US State Department. Now, Washington has designated Hezbollah a terrorist group under Iranian control as part of its economic-pressure campaign.

But the consequences could be felt by some southern Lebanese communities that depend on the group for their livelihoods and for reconstruction support after ruinous the conflict.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher asks whether Hezbollah can survive if it loses its Iranian financing and what this means for Lebanon as a whole. She speaks to Randa Slim, director of the Middle East programme at the Stimson Centre.

Israel has been attacking parts of Syria since the fall of the Assad regime and carrying out incursions into the country’s south under the pretext of targeting weapons of the former government.

But its attack last week on the Abu Al Duhur military airfield in the northern governorate of Idlib was different, apparently directed at Turkey as tensions rise between the two countries.

Israeli officials accused Turkey of stationing troops at the airbase, an allegation both Syria and Turkey dismissed.

US special envoy to Syria and ambassador to Ankara Tom Barrack called the strikes unnecessary and deeply concerning. The escalation comes at a time when President Ahmad Al Shara’s government is seeking stability with its neighbours, with Washington’s support.

Stalled talks between Israel and Syria picked up again in Jordan this week as the US pushed to defuse tension. But with Turkey and Israel seeking to secure their influence in a post-Assad Syria, challenges remain.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher discusses the motives driving this showdown between two major regional powers. She speaks to Noah Bonsey, senior adviser on Syria at the International Crisis Group, and Danny Citrinowicz, senior fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, Mercy Corps CEO Tjada McKenna joins host Nada AlTaher in conversation about the challenges facing humanitarian assistance across the Middle East and beyond.

The impact of the Strait of Hormuz blockade has trickled down into the aid sector. Rising fuel costs, shortages of essential goods and delays in the delivery of materials such as fertilisers have all taken a toll on vulnerable communities that rely on operational supply chains.

Humanitarian organisations are forced to adapt to the growing needs on the ground in places such as Gaza and Sudan, where mass displacement and conflict have brought life to a standstill, and in Syria, where rebuilding after 14 years of civil war remains complicated.

Meanwhile, funding is dwindling. The Trump administration’s decision to shut down USAID projects last year has had tangible consequences in countries in the Middle East, where aid and economic empowerment programmes once provided a vital lifeline for millions.

Now, many donors are choosing to invest in emergency life-saving efforts instead of in longer-term development projects. Ms McKenna discusses the importance of helping people to be more resilient to crises instead of simply responding to disasters after they happen.

The US-Iran war has highlighted how rapidly modern warfare is changing, with drones and other relatively inexpensive technology playing an increasingly prominent role alongside sophisticated missile and air-defence systems.

US Central Command this month announced a multinational attack drone task force that will be operated by US military support staff and partners in the region. Last month the US carried out its first one-way sea drone strike on an Iranian target.

As the US expands its drone capabilities to adapt to Iranian tactics, its stockpiles are reportedly shrinking. But Iran, too, has suffered heavy losses. As both sides try to replenish their arsenals, the question is whether conventional weapons can keep pace with cheaper systems that can be produced and deployed at scale.

The war is also influencing how states assess and deter hostile threats, driving them to seek expertise and technology from countries that are not traditional major weapons manufacturers.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher examines what the conflict reveals about the changing nature and cost of warfare. She speaks to Thomas Harding, security and policy editor at The National.

The Houthis had mostly stayed out of the Iran war. But in recent weeks they have started attacking ships in the Red Sea, as well as Saudi-linked targets inside Yemen and across the border.

On Tuesday, a double-tap strike on a cargo ship in the Bab Al Mandeb strait killed four crew members and two rescue workers. They have also targeted Yemeni government forces in Marib, Hadhramaut and Hodeidah, and hit the port city of Mokha. Beyond the border, they have launched strikes on Saudi oil sites.

Analysts say the timing of the Houthis’ intervention in the conflict is not a coincidence. With the Strait of Hormuz mostly closed, they can increase pressure on global shipping and try to establish a more influential role in the region.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher examines the motives that prompted the Houthis to act now, and what they expect to gain from pressuring Saudi Arabia and by extension, the US-Iran negotiations. She speaks to Nadwa Al-Dawsari, associate fellow at the Middle East Institute, and Abdulghani Al-Iryani, senior researcher at the Sanaa Centre.

Since October 2023, entire industries in Gaza have been wiped out and poverty has increased. In the occupied West Bank, businesses are struggling amid settler violence and increasing restrictions on movement.

After the Gaza war began, Israel suspended most work permits for Palestinians in the country. It also withheld billions of dollars in tax revenue collected on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, leaving public sector workers to receive only a fraction of their salaries.

The Israeli government has also repeatedly threatened to sever the banking arrangement that connects Palestinian financial institutions to the global economy.

But the war has only accelerated decades of policies that left the Palestinian economy deeply dependent on Israel.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher examines how the Palestinian economy became so intertwined with Israel's financial system – and left it vulnerable to collapse.

We hear from Palestinian economist Raja Khalidi and Jalal Abukhater, policy manager at digital rights group 7amleh. We also talk to Bethlehem tour guide Kamal Mukarker about what it means for Palestinians to survive in an economy that many say is being systematically strangled.

It has been five months since the US and Israel launched their war with Iran, and the conflict has never really been contained. Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, the UAE and Jordan have all been hit by Iranian missiles and drones, Hezbollah drew Lebanon into a fight that is still going on, and the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, with neither talks nor military action producing a lasting reopening.

Right now, though, no front is moving faster than the one closing in on Saudi Arabia, and it is coming from two directions at once.

In Yemen, a strike on Sanaa airport and Houthi accusations against Riyadh in July reignited a conflict that had been largely dormant, leading within days to attacks on Saudi shipping, a Saudi strike on Hodeidah port, and a Houthi claim to have hit oil facilities in Jizan and Yanbu, potentially the first direct strike on Saudi oil infrastructure since 2022.

In Iraq, months of accusations that Iran-backed militias were launching drones from Iraqi soil culminated this week in Saudi Arabia joining the US in direct, public strikes for the first time, a move Riyadh justified as an exercise of its right to self-defence under the UN Charter.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher is joined by Douglas Silliman, former US Ambassador to Iraq and now President of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, Hasan Alhasan, senior fellow for Middle East Policy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, and Elizabeth Dent, senior fellow at the Washington Institute, to look at how Saudi Arabia's escalation fits into the broader trajectory of the US-Iran war.

US President Donald Trump pledged his support for Lebanon this week during a visit to the White House by Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.

A four-decade ban on US airlines flying to the country will be overturned, Mr Trump said, who also told of concrete plans to support the Lebanese Armed Forces.

This comes at a time when the government in Beirut is under pressure to prove it can deliver on an agreement it signed with Israel and the US in June.

The trilateral framework states that Lebanese forces must disarm Hezbollah and reassert control in areas dominated by the group, before Israel “redeploys” its troops from areas it occupies in Lebanon. Critics say the deal imposes the heavier obligations on Lebanon.

Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of people remain forcibly displaced from their homes in southern towns and villages, where Israeli attacks have caused mass destruction.

In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher looks at the opportunities and challenges the country faces as it tries to bridge the gap between dialogue and the reality on the ground. She speaks to Nada Homsi, The National’s correspondent in Lebanon, and Paul Salem, senior associate at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.