Features

Features Since 2023, Morocco has built some 44 of these desalination stations, also called "monobloc" -- compact, transportable units © - / AFP

Morocco Mobile Desalination Units Quench Remote Areas' Thirst

In the small fishing village of Beddouza in western Morocco, locals have turned to the Atlantic to quench their thirst, using mobile desalination stations to…

Asharq Al Awsat
Features Search and rescue team members try to find victims following an overnight raid by the Israel army on the Palestinian camp of Ain el-Hilweh, in Sidon, Lebanon, 01 October 2024. (EPA)

Lebanese Emergency Services Are Overwhelmed and Need Better Gear to Save Lives in Wartime

When Israel bombed buildings outside the southern Lebanese city of Sidon, Mohamed Arkadan and his team rushed to an emergency unlike anything they had ever…

Features Israeli tanks on the Lebanese-Israeli border (AP)

Why Does Israel Insist on Hezbollah to Withdraw North of Litani River?

Lebanese fears became reality early Tuesday when the Israeli military announced a “limited ground operation” in southern Lebanon against Hezbollah. This…

Lina Saleh (Beirut)
Features Fighters from Hamas' Al-Qassam Brigades in the Gaza Strip. (Reuters file)

What’s Happening in Forgotten Gaza?

While the world is focused on the war in Lebanon and its dangers, the situation in Gaza has been largely overlooked. Despite ongoing suffering, it has…

Nazir Magally (Tel Aviv)
Features The aftermath of Israeli airstrikes on the Lailaki area in Beirut's southern suburbs as seen on Tuesday morning. (Reuters)

Beirut’s Southern Suburb Becomes a ‘Ghost Town’ as Residents Hesitate to Return

Ali F., 35, refused to enter Beirut's southern suburbs to check on his home after Monday night airstrikes. “I’m not taking any chances... I'll find out if…

Asharq Al Awsat (Beirut)
Features  An Israeli mobile artillery unit fires a shell from northern Israel towards Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. (AP)

After Pressing an Israel-Hezbollah Ceasefire, the Biden Administration Shifts Its Message

The Biden administration says there is a significant difference between Israeli actions that have expanded its war against the Iranian-backed armed groups…

Features In this photo provided by Mashala Shelter, Hussein Hamza feeds dogs at his animal shelter in Kfour, south Lebanon in 2024. (Mashala Shelter via AP)

South Lebanon Man Cares for Pets Left Behind as Residents Flee Israeli Strikes

A dog clings to Hussein Hamza inside a car as he pans his camera around to show the aftermath of an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon. “Poor thing. Look at…

Asharq Al Awsat (Beirut)
Features  Photographers document damage in a building that was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern suburb, Lebanon, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (AP)

Which Countries Have Pledged Aid to Lebanon as Conflict Worsened?

Israeli attacks on the Hezbollah group in Lebanon have killed more than 1,000 people and wounded 6,000 in the past two weeks, according to the Lebanese Health…

Features Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during the General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations Headquarters in New York, New York, USA, 27 September 2024. (EPA)

Will Israel Build on its War ‘Gains’ or Become More Involved in Lebanon?

As in every war, Israel is faced with two options: either invest in its military “gains” or seek a new “political horizon” after in the post-war scenario. So…

Nazir Majali (Tel Aviv)
Features An Iraqi woman holds a picture of Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah as she attends a protest following the announcement of his death, in Baghdad, Iraq, September 28, 2024. (Reuters)

Nasrallah’s Killing Reveals Depth of Israel’s Penetration of Hezbollah

In the wake of Hassan Nasrallah's killing, Hezbollah faces the enormous challenge of plugging the infiltration in its ranks that allowed its arch enemy Israel…

Features Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, on Saturday. Photograph: Hussein Malla/AP

Residents of Beirut Suburbs Traumatized by Israeli Strikes

When Israel began pounding the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh in airstrikes that killed Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, the blasts were so…

Asharq Al Awsat
Features Families sit on the ground in Martyrs' square after fleeing the Israeli airstrikes in Beirut's southern suburbs, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

'Anxious’ Lebanese Sleep on the Streets as Israel Strikes Beirut

Thousands of residents in Beirut's densely-packed southern suburbs camped out overnight in streets, public squares and makeshift shelters after Israel ordered…

Asharq Al Awsat (Beirut)
Features Hashem Safieddine in a photo from 2015 (AFP)

Who is Hashem Safieddine, Leading Candidate to Succeed Nasrallah?

Unconfirmed reports suggest that Hassan Nasrallah, the Secretary-General of Lebanon's Hezbollah, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut on Friday,…

Asharq Al Awsat (Beirut)
Features Meeting on Palestine at the United Nations (Arab League)

Can Arab Efforts Pressure for a Two-State Solution?

At the 79th United Nations General Assembly in New York, Arab nations pushed for the implementation of a two-state solution. Arab League Secretary-General…

Fathiya al-Dakhakhni (Cairo)
Features People in Beirut are stepping up to help tens of thousands of Lebanese displaced by Israel's aerial bombardment © Anwar AMRO / AFP

In Beirut, Volunteers Race to Help War Displaced

Beirut is buzzing with activity as volunteers scramble to aid the tens of thousands displaced by Israel's intense bombardment of Lebanon this week. Despite…

Asharq Al Awsat
Features Raous Fleg sits outside a hut in a displaced persons camp she fled to in Sudan’s South Kordofan state. There’s no food in the camp, so Fleg and the other residents have resorted to eating boiled leaves and seeds. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya

As Famine Ravages Sudan, the UN Can’t Get Food to Starving Millions

More than half the people in this nation of 50 million are suffering from severe hunger. Hundreds are estimated to be dying from starvation and hunger-related…

Asharq Al Awsat
Features Internally displaced Palestinians walk in a street in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, 25 September 2024. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER

Gaza War Resonates But Has Global Diplomacy Shifted One Year On?

A year after the October 7 attack that sparked war in Gaza, diplomacy has failed to produce a ceasefire and the world watches on as the death toll mounts…

Asharq Al Awsat
Features Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah. AFP/Reuters

Lebanon War... Why is it Difficult for Netanyahu and Nasrallah to Back Down?

Informed sources in Beirut told Asharq Al-Awsat that any diplomatic efforts to stop the ongoing war between Israel and Lebanon would face the obstacle of the…

Asharq Al Awsat (Beirut)
Features  Smoke billows over southern Lebanon following an Israeli strike, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Tyre, Lebanon September 25, 2024. (Reuters)

A Family, a Bride, a Domestic Worker: The Toll of Israeli Strikes on Lebanon

Ahead of Lebanese engineer Maya Gharib's wedding planned for next month, excited relatives were arranging for her dress to be picked up. But on Monday, 23…

Features Palestinians search for survivors amid the rubble of a building, which collapsed after Israeli bombardment on a building adjacent to it, in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in Gaza City on September 23, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Hamas group. (AFP)

Gazans Struggle to Imagine Post-war Recovery

The sheer scale of destruction from the deadliest war in Gaza's history has made the road to recovery difficult to imagine, especially for people who had…

Features People search for survivors and the bodies of victims through the rubble of buildings destroyed during Israeli bombardment, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on October 26, 2023, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)

Hamas Weakened, Not Crushed a Year into War with Israel

Israel's military campaign to eradicate Hamas in retaliation for the October 7 attack has weakened it by killing several of its leaders and thousands of…

Features Smoke billows from the sites of an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon's southern plain of Marjeyoun along the border with Israel on September 24, 2024. (AFP)

Long History of Warfare on Israel-Lebanon Border

Escalating hostilities between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah group are the latest episode in decades of conflict across the Lebanese-Israeli border…

Features Smoke billows after an Israeli strike near the southern Lebanese village of Al-Mahmoudiye on September 24, 2024. (AFP)

Is All-Out War Inevitable? The View from Israel and Lebanon

The relentless exchanges of fire between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah of recent days have stoked fears the longtime foes are moving inexorably towards all…

Features  Lebanese citizens who fled on the southern villages amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes Monday, settle at a waterfront promenade in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP)

Has Iran Abandoned Hezbollah in its Fight against Israel in Lebanon?

Iran appears to have withdrawn itself from the latest confrontation between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Israel on Monday intensified its operations…

Youssef Diab (Beirut)