Palestine Deep Dive

Hala Hanina speaks with two exceptional Palestinian scholars who are trapped starving and under Israeli fire in Gaza awaiting permission to be allowed to enter the UK.

Israa Saleh and Malak AlSweirki are two of more than 80 Palestinians students in Gaza who are unable to travel to the UK because they cannot obtain biometric data required for visas as facilities there remain closed.

Israa Saleh is a medical doctor, Chevening alumna and expert in sexual and reproductive health. She was awarded a fully funded PhD by the UK’s prestigious Medical Research Council.

Malak AlSweirki, one of Gaza’s top students at just 20 years-old, chose to study at Cambridge University despite also receiving full offers from Harvard, Yale among others.

Hala Hanina is a social and political activist from Gaza. She is currently completing a PhD in politics and sociology, focusing on Palestinian women at the intersection of colonial and patriarchal violence.

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O little light in me, don’t die.”

In the first episode of Falasteeniya — a new podcast series spotlighting the voices, expertise, and lived experiences of Palestinian women — host Hala Hanina welcomes Somaia Abunada to the Palestine Deep Dive studio.

A witness and survivor to Israel’s genocide on Gaza, Somaia Abunada remembers the life and legacy of her older sister Heba Abunada — poet, scientist, and beloved daughter of Gaza — who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on October 20, 2023.

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Heba Abunada (1991–2023) was more than a poet. She was Gaza’s radiance — a biochemist, a writer, and a visionary thinker whose words carried generations of Palestinian pain and resistance.

Her poems traced the delicate threads between loss and longing, life and liberation. She wrote as if Gaza breathed through her. But Heba’s life was cut short in the beginning of Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza.

She was killed while on her prayer mat, during one of the most violent days of the genocide. Her final words on Facebook that morning read: “In Gaza, we are with God, either as martyrs or as witnesses to liberation, and all of us are waiting to see which we will be.”

Somaia Abunada is the younger sister of Heba. She is a former Fulbright language teaching assistant, she holds a B.A. in English Literature and an M.A. in Translation Studies.

Somaia is currently pursuing a second Master’s degree in Applied Intercultural Communication at Trinity College Dublin. She has worked as an English teacher with the Irish Red Cross, social media coordinator with We Are Not Numbers, as a writer, and an activities coordinator and translator.

Hala Hanina is a social and political activist from Gaza. She is currently completing a PhD in politics and sociology which focuses on Palestinian women at the intersection of colonial and patriarchal violence.

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Palestine Deep Dive’s Ahmed Alnaouq and Matt Kennard discuss his latest story about the Labour government secretly allowing Israeli Air Force planes to land in the UK.

They discuss where Matt and colleagues found the evidence and why the UK government has tried so hard to keep it secret. They also talk about the significance of the UK base where the IAF planes have been landing, RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, which was recently targeted by Palestine Action.

Matt explains how IAF refuelling planes have been active over Gaza around the time of war crimes, including attacks on residential apartment blocks.

They finish by talking about the implications of the new findings, with British ministers coming under increasing pressure for transparency about the UK military and intelligence role in the Gaza genocide.

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Israel and the US’s current war on Iran has been a long time in the making. Palestine Deep Dive’s Ahmed Alnaouq and Matt Kennard discuss the history of regime change efforts and why Tehran has been such a problem for Washington and Tel Aviv.

They discuss the history of Israel’s secret nuclear weapons program which began in the 1950s, and the evolution of the Begin Doctrine after Israel’s strike on the Iraqi reactor at Osirak in 1981.

They also talk about the fact that no evidence exists that Iran has a nuclear weapons program while Israel’s is widely-known documented - and the absurdity of the fact that Iran signed up to the Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1970, but Israel is one of only four countries which has always refused.

This interview was conducted on Friday 20 June 2025.

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"The Zionist system in Palestine is closer to disintegration than at any point in its history!"

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Iran and Israel are at war after Israel launched an unprovoked attack last week. Palestine Deep Dive’s Ahmed Alnaouq sits down with legendary journalist and hip hop artist Lowkey to talk about the role Iran has played in the history of resistance to Zionism, about whether regime change in Iran is Israel's end goal, and who might come out on top.

They also talk about the resistance to the Gaza genocide within the UK, particularly the role Palestine Action has played, and the repression the British state has unleashed on activists and journalists to try to dampen the popular movement for Palestine.

Finally, they compare notes on being interviewed by Piers Morgan, and talk about whether his recent change of position on the genocide in Gaza is genuine, and what his real goal is with his popular Youtube show.

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Palestinian journalist Abubaker Abed exposes Israel’s targeting and killing of Palestinian footballers in its ongoing genocide on Gaza, and demands Israel be kicked out of FIFA immediately.

Abubaker, who only left Gaza two months ago in April 2025, reports that at least 371 Palestinian footballers have been killed by Israel, including the legendary Palestinian player, “the Lion”, Mohammed Barakat.

Abubaker praises the solidarity of Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola and Ipswich Town captain Sam Morsy for their solidarity with Palestine, but criticises Egyptian captain Mohamed Salah calling him an “absolute disgrace” for his lack of vocal solidarity with Palestinians.

Abubaker says Israel must be kicked out of FIFA immediately for its violations of international law and asks footballers to start calling out Israel and begin naming it as the perpetrator of unprecedented war crimes against the Palestinians.

Last night, Palestine’s national football team faced Oman in the World Cup qualifiers, drawing 1-1 after a controversial penalty was awarded against them in the 97th minute, resulting in Palestine not qualifying for the finals of the tournament.

Tune in as Ahmed Alnaouq and Abubaker Abed, two Palestinians from Deir al-Balah–Gaza, deep dive into everything concerning football, sports and Palestine today.

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At least 57 Palestinians seeking aid have been killed and more than 363 injured in Israeli attacks in Gaza since this morning, bringing the total number of Palestinians killed at these so-called "aid distribution centres" to 224, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

So far, the centres ran by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation have proven to be nothing more than death traps for Palestinians, who have likened their experiences to the movie "The Hunger Games".

To discuss all this and more, Ahmed Alnaouq is joined by fellow Palestinian author from Gaza, the Pulitzer prize-winning poet and writer, Mosab Abu Toha.

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Palestine Deep Dive’s Hala Hanina talks to actress and organiser Nicola Jenes, one of the key organisers of the Madleen Freedom Flotilla which has just been intercepted by Israeli occupation forces.

They talk about what happened early on Monday morning, what the activists were trying to deliver to Gaza, and what conditions they expect them to be held in. Jenes says despite the interception the flotilla was a success and that this is just the beginning of the attempt to break Israel’s illegal siege on Gaza.

They also discuss the huge global support for the flotilla and how this could change the situation in terms of Western government’s complicity in the siege and genocide.

Nicole Jenes is a content producer, actress and activist residing in Egypt.

Hala Hanina is a Palestinian journalist and political activist from Gaza.

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Palestine Deep Dive’s Ahmed Alnaouq talks to UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territory Francesca Albanese about the legality of Israel’s interception of the flotilla bound for Gaza.

Albanese says Israel’s actions are totally illegal and that it is obliged to immediately release the activists and return the vessel.

The Madleen was a UK-flagged ship and Albanese called on the British government to take its responsibility for the activists it held and pressure Israel to abide by international law.

But she went further saying that, now the flotilla has been intercepted, the navies of every nation in the Mediterranean, mentioning specifically France, Italy, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria and Spain should be sent to Gaza to break the siege.

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Palestinian journalist Ahmed Alnaouq sits down with Ben Jamal, director of the UK’s largest organisation campaigning for the rights of Palestinians, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

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They discuss efforts in the UK to build a mass mobilisation of support to stop Britain’s involvement and participation in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza and assess the effectiveness of the tactics used across the movement, from boycotts and marches to permanent occupations and direct action.

But given Britain’s continued support for Israel, from refusing to implement a full arms embargo to continuing to send RAF spy flights over Gaza from the British base at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, Ahmed questions whether efforts have indeed been enough.

They also deep dive into the attempts of the British state to restrict and repress the Palestine solidarity movement and the democratic right to protest in Britain and also discuss the roots of Zionism and whether calling for Zionism to be dismantled is an effective framing and approach for supporting Palestinian rights today.

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