Analysis: The Hostage Crisis in Gaza

This week on a special edition of Babel, Will Todman speaks with Jon Alterman, the creator of Babel and the show’s host since it began in 2019. They discuss Jon’s reflections on 22 years directing the CSIS Middle East Program, his analysis of how the Middle East policy ecosystem ...  Show more

This week on Babel, Jon Alterman speaks with Dr. Mohanad Hage Ali, deputy director for research at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut. Mohanad's latest paper for Carnegie investigates the rise of a new form of drug smuggling in Lebanon. Together, they discuss Hezbollah’s i ...  Show more

On this day five months ago, Hamas stormed out of Gaza and into Israel. Israel says they murdered 1,200 people and took 240 others hostage. Across Israel, families are taking to the streets to demand that their government prioritizes their release – among them is Chen Almog-Golst ...  Show more

This week, Mark Leonard is joined by Hugh Lovatt, ECFR policy fellow, and Tahani Mustafa, visiting fellow in ECFR’s Middle East and North Africa programme, to discuss Israel’s military action in Gaza and the West Bank, the ensuing humanitarian crisis, and the political dynamics o ...  Show more

Hundreds of people have been killed and kidnapped as fighting in Israel and Gaza continues.The BBC’s security correspondent Frank Gardner is on to discuss what we know about the situation.And after Sir Keir Starmer’s Sunday morning interview, Victoria and Paddy chat to chief poli ...  Show more

It’s been nearly seven weeks since 240 Israeli hostages were seized in a terrorist attack by Hamas. The attack was followed by intense retaliatory bombings of the Gaza strip by the Israeli army and thousands of Palestinians have been killed. Finally, a deal for the release of som ...  Show more