TNA Voice Podcast: News Digest: Throwing Palestine under a bus, UAE goes all-in for Israel

This week, we’ll be examining the controversial peace deal between the United Arab Emirates and Israel, as well as the verdict on the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri.

Tune in every Friday midday for our latest episodes

In a surprise announcement last week, US President Donald Trump said Israel and the United Arab Emirates had reached a peace agreement. The deal would make the UAE only the third Arab country with diplomatic ties to Israel, after Egypt and Jordan.

The deal was also lauded by Arab countries such as Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain and Oman. But across the occupied Palestinian territories, the all too familiar sentiment of betrayal has echoed far and wide

The Palestinians fear such deals concluded without taking into account their demands to end the occupation means the evaporation of any leverage they may have in future negotiations with Israel.

In Lebanon, an international trial revolving around the murder that profoundly impacted Lebanon some 15 years ago has finally concluded. On Tuesday, a UN-backed tribunal in the Netherlands has delivered verdicts in absentia of four members of the Hezbollah militant group accused of involvement in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Observers fear the verdicts could compound tensions in the tiny Arab country. Hariri was Lebanon’s most prominent Sunni politician at the time of his assassination, while the Iran-backed Hezbollah is a Shia Muslim group.