Beyond the Headlines

How the Houthis rose to prominence in the Israel-Gaza conflict

Experts have long warned the violence in the Gaza Strip could spill over into a wider conflict. And those warnings have become more relevant and real today.

The US and Britain launched overnight strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, these attacks being carried out from the air and sea in response to the Iran-backed militia's attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, affecting commercial shipping.

The mission was a response to the rebel group’s nearly 30 attacks on shipping lanes in the Red Sea since November.

This week on Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher looks at how the Red Sea has become a battlefield and what impact that has had on global trade.

Gaza, Hamas and the future

Gaza has borne the brunt of three months of war between Israel and Hamas.

Mosques and churches have been destroyed. More than 200 out of Gaza’s 325 heritage sites, many of them centuries old, are gone. Israel’s weapons have killed, injured and maimed tens of thousands. Many of the wounded are being left to bleed while others are arrested, stripped and blindfolded.

For Israel, the shocking and unprecedented attacks of October 7 stung hard – and the response has been constant with no sign of slowing down.

This week on Beyond the Headlines, host Nada Al Taher looks at the future of Israel’s war on Gaza.

Ballots and bullets - How elections and war will shape the West in 2024

2024 will be a big year in global politics. A slew of important general elections will be held across the developing world – in India, Pakistan and Indonesia, to name but three.

Wars may continue to rage in Gaza, Ukraine, Syria, Sudan, Myanmar and elsewhere, driving millions of people deeper into poverty and displacement. Though there is some hope that in at least some of these conflicts, there remains space in which to find political solutions.

But 2024 is set to be a year of high stakes in the West, too. Next summer will see parliamentary elections in the EU, and by the year’s end the US presidential election and a British general election. In fact, it could be the first time in more than 30 years that citizens of the English-speaking world’s two nuclear powers – Britain and America – pick their leaders in the same calendar year.

On this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Sulaiman Hakemy discusses what elections and war will mean for the western world’s political outlook in 2024.

Why is it so difficult to get aid into Gaza?

For the past 11 weeks, life has been brutally disrupted in Gaza. 20,000 Palestinians have been killed, the majority women and children, and over 50,000 wounded.

 

The ongoing humanitarian crisis has left more than a quarter of the population starving, according to the UN. The flow of aid into Gaza is far from sufficient, and the distribution process poses its own set of challenges, leaving those in need struggling for survival.

 

In this week’s episode of Beyond The Headlines, host Nada AlTaher looks into the complexities of aid delivery in Gaza, and the obstacles faced in getting essential aid from trucks into the hands of those who need it the most, speaking to representatives of the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund and the Norwegian Refugee Council, whose teams are on the ground in the strip.

How will the historic Cop28 climate deal affect our future?

The global stocktake, or what is now known as the UAE Consensus, is the first-ever climate deal to transition away from fossil fuel - and it has been unanimously approved by almost 200 nations in Dubai. This is significant, as no previous Cop text has mentioned moving away from oil and gas.
 
It took over two weeks of negotiations that intensified in the last days of the summit as several key players and countries were pushing for tougher language in the Cop28 agreement, to “phase-out” fossil fuels, not just transition away or phase down, as a choice of words.
 
Countries were locked in a series of meetings to break the deadlock on the issue of fossil fuels, and the heated negotiations pushed the summit to extend for one more day until all countries could agree on the language used in the agreement.
 
In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Sarah Forster unpacks the key outcomes of the conference and examines the areas where the international community agreed or disagreed.

What are the main climate action and pledges announced so far at Cop28?

It has been a week of big announcements at the Cop28 in Dubai – from action on the loss and damage fund to pledges to reduce methane gas emissions.

But as the UN climate summit in Dubai enters in final days, much work is still to be done to help keep global temperature rises to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

Heads of state and government, ministers, captains of industry, decision makers, experts, and advocates from more than 190 countries make up some of the 90,000 participants at Expo City Dubai.

Every corner of the site is full of energy, discussions and panels on diverse topics, from policy commitments and climate finance to innovations and global. 

On this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Sarah Forster delves into the latest developments in climate action and global initiatives at Cop28.

Cop28, Union Day, and the future of sustainability in the UAE

The UAE’s 52nd Union Day, which falls on the 2nd of December, is special this year. It coincides with Cop28, the international climate summit taking place at Expo City in Dubai.
 
2023 is also the UAE’s Year of Sustainability – demonstrating the country’s commitment to support action and innovation in the field. This year has witnessed many initiatives, activities, collective action and events that drew upon the UAE's deep-rooted values of sustainability.
 
On this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Suhail Akram reflects on a special Union Day, the Cop28 conference – and the future of sustainability in the UAE.

The Israel-Gaza conflict and the US’s position in the Middle East

For decades, the relationship between the United States and Arab countries has been complex and multifaceted, and defined by a combination of geopolitical interests, economic ties and regional conflicts.

This often-fraught relationship has been affected by many factors, including the Arab-Israeli conflict, regional power dynamics and US military interventions.

With the current war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, US President Joe Biden faces domestic and global calls to pressure one of its most important allies to agree to a ceasefire with the militant group.  Mr Biden's administration has not been open to the option - despite the growing civilian death toll - something governments in the Middle East have repeatedly called for.

This week on Beyond the Headlines, host Ismaeel Naar is joined by Brian Katulis, vice president of policy at the Middle East Institute, to explain how Israel’s war on Gaza affected the US’s position in the region.

Hamas, Israel, and where the war goes from here

We’re almost six weeks into the Israel-Gaza war and few believe it will end any time soon. Calls for ceasefires from the international community have fallen on deaf ears and hostage release negotiations are proving fruitless. But end at some point, it must.
 
And when it does, what will peace look like – for Gaza, for Hamas, for Israel?
 
This week on Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher is joined by Hussein Ibish, senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute and a US affairs columnist for The National, to talk about the current conflict - and what lies ahead.

How is the Israel-Gaza war seen from a US viewpoint?

The US is feeling the pressure of the war in Gaza because of the way President Joe Biden is deemed to be handling the conflict.

In the days after the October 7 Hamas attacks, Mr Biden visited Israel and expressed his staunch support for the country.

But as civilian casualties rise in Gaza, the Biden administration has begun to call for temporary pauses in hostilities and for more humanitarian aid to be allowed into the enclave, although it has, so far, rejected calls for a ceasefire.

Thousands of protesters held a rally in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza earlier this week amid a background of rising public anger towards policymakers.

In this episode of Beyond The Headlines, host Thomas Watkins, The National’s Washington bureau chief, examines the Gaza conflict from the US perspective.