For this final edition of Middle East Matters, we bring you a series of reports from our correspondents in the region. We begin in Israel, where as the war in Gaza drags on, divisions in Israeli society are growing more stark. Immediately after the attacks of October 7, the vast majority of people supported the governm... more
Around a dozen donor countries are freezing funding to UNRWA, the UN's agency for Palestinian refugees, after Israel alleged that 12 UN staffers took part in the October 7 Hamas attacks. The UN has fired the employees in question and promised a full investigation. The budget cuts come at a profoundly challenging time. ... more
From Lebanon to Iraq and Syria, the ripple effects of the war between Israel and Hamas are being felt, but nowhere more so than Yemen. For months now, Houthi rebels there have been firing missiles at cargo ships in the Red Sea, prompting the US and UK to bomb targets inside Yemen this past weekend. FRANCE 24 spoke to D... more
The International Court of Justice is to hold hearings this week on a case brought by South Africa, accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza and seeking a halt to its military campaign. Israel has described the allegations against it as "baseless" and intended to stir up lethal hatred of Jews. FRANCE 24's Shirli Sitbon tell... more
In this edition, we look at the ripple effects of the war in Gaza. In the Red Sea, Houthi rebels from Yemen are stepping up their attacks on vessels in the vital shipping lane, saying they're doing so in protest at Israel's actions in Gaza, even though many of the ships in question are not Israeli-owned. Might that lea... more
He's claiming that his remarks were "misinterpreted". The Emirati oil executive leading the COP28 climate conference in Dubai has come out fighting after widespread criticism of his suggestion that there was "no science" indicating that a phase-out of fossil fuels was needed to contain global warming. A controversial c... more
This week, we are starting to learn more about the conditions of the mainly Israeli hostages held in Gaza. Those who have been released tell different stories: some received medical attention, while others were denied it. Many were held in the dark, with little food. What is clear is that all the hostages suffered a ma... more
The world's eyes are on Gaza at the moment, and rightly so. But violence is also continuing in the occupied West Bank. Even before the October 7 Hamas attacks, 2023 was already the deadliest year for Palestinians there in two decades. Now, violent confrontations are happening almost every day. Israel says it is trying ... more
As the war between Israel and Hamas rages on, violence is also on the rise in the occupied West Bank, fuelling tensions and creating divides amongst the Jews and Arabs living side by side in the region. While some continue to perpetuate the violence that splits communities, others are trying to build bridges between Pa... more
We bring you a special edition of Middle East Matters, one month after the start of the Israel-Hamas war. On October 7, 1,400 people were killed in the unprecedented Hamas attacks; the largest loss of Jewish life in a single day since the Holocaust. A month on, Israelis are still reeling, none more so than the families... more
In this special edition of Middle East Matters, we focus on the regional repercussions of the Israel-Hamas war. The October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel have placed Arab nations which have peace treaties with Israel in the awkward position of trying to honour their commitments under those deals, while they face mounting p... more
In this special edition of Middle East Matters, we look at the media war being played out in the Israel-Hamas conflict. Researchers who study mis- and disinformation warn that fake stories are spreading fast, adding to the digital fog of war. We talk to FRANCE 24's Catalina Marchant de Abreu, presenter of our Truth or ... more
Hamas fighters on Saturday launched an unprecedented deadly assault on Israel, catching Israeli intelligence services off-guard. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed the militant group will pay a heavy price. As Israel responds with force, razing whole districts in Gaza, the Hamas-run Palestinian enclave, reside... more
Is "chocolate hummus" an original, creative recipe or an insult to Arab culture? That's the burning question as a chorus of voices slam the so-called cultural appropriation of Middle Eastern food in the West. Where to draw the line between appropriation and exchange? And is there anything wrong with enjoying "fusion fo... more
The ballot hadn't been expected until spring next year. But Egypt's National Election Authority announced this week that the country would be holding its presidential vote in December, amid its worst-ever economic crisis. The vote is already fraught with accusations of repression. Human rights groups say at least 35 op... more
This week, five Americans released from an Iranian prison arrived back home in the United States. Their release was a part of a deal brokered by Qatar. The prisoner swap agreement also included the unfreezing of $6 billion of Iranian funds, which the Biden administration has reiterated was not a ransom. We take a close... more
Israel's Supreme Court has opened the first case examining the legality of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s controversial judicial overhaul, lurching towards a showdown with the nation’s far-right government. The latter has split Israel in two ever since it announced plans to reform the country’s judicial system, wh... more
It's sometimes called a forgotten war: fighting in Yemen has killed hundreds of thousands of people. Hunger has claimed even more lives, while 4.5 million Yemenis are internally displaced. Yet the complex conflict between Saudi-led forces and Houthi rebels doesn't always make headlines. This September, nine years after... more
Anti-government anger is mounting in southern Syria, where rare protests in the heartland of the minority Druze community are now into their second week. The protests were initially driven by surging inflation and the war-torn country's economic crisis, but have quickly shifted focus, with marchers now calling for the ... more
Protesters in Israel continue to take to the streets. The renewed demonstrations come after the Knesset adopted a key clause in the country's judicial reform package. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pressing ahead with the controversial bill that seeks to curb the power of Israel's Supreme Court, despite widesprea... more
Ten years ago this week, Egypt's first democratically elected president was ousted in a coup d'état. Mohamed Morsi, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, was propelled to power by the Arab Spring. His dramatic fall was orchestrated by Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, a military general who promised to bring stability to Egypt. A de... more
It's one of the largest religious gatherings in the world: the Hajj pilgrimage is underway this week in Saudi Arabia, with some 2 million Muslims converging in Mecca and at Mount Arafat. This year's Hajj could be the largest on record, according to officials, after several quieter years during the Covid-19 pandemic. We... more
As football superstars like Karim Benzema head to Saudi Arabia, and the kingdom announces a bombshell golf merger, we're asking what role sport plays in Saudi soft power. And is this a case of "sportswashing"? We speak to Yasmine Farouk, a nonresident scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Feminists and human rights activists in Lebanon are speaking out against attempts to impose increasing restrictions on their lives in the name of "conservative values". This follows an attack on a woman at a beach in the southern city of Sidon, when an Islamic cleric and his followers told Mayssa Hanouni she didn't hav... more