Mohamad El Chamaa

Beirut, Lebanon

Education: American University of Beirut, Master of Urban Planning and Policy, Bachelor of Arts in History

Mohamad El Chamaa is a Beirut-based researcher and reporter for The Washington Post, covering Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, and the Gulf. An urban planner by training, he previously worked on housing in post-disaster events and was a features reporter for L’Orient Today.
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Latest from Mohamad El Chamaa

Palestinians interview witnesses to U.S. woman’s West Bank killing

Two witnesses said Aysenur Eygi, 26, was shot in the head by Israeli forces. Eyewitnesses said evidence gathering was underway after Eygi’s death.

September 7, 2024
Nablus Governor Ghassan Daghlas speaks in front of the bodies of Turkish American Aysenur Eygi and 13-year-old Palestinian Bana Laboum at a hospital morgue in Nablus in the occupied West Bank on Saturday.

Lebanon detains former central bank governor accused of financial crimes

Riad Salameh, who was once credited with reviving Lebanon’s post-civil-war economy, has since been blamed for the stunning collapse of its banking sector.

September 3, 2024
FILE PHOTO: Lebanon's Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh speaks during a news conference at Central Bank in Beirut, Lebanon, November 11, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir//File Photo

How Israel and Hezbollah stepped back from the brink of all-out war

Analysts and officials said the potentially disastrous exchange of fire along the Israel-Lebanon border Sunday had become a face-saving moment for both sides.

August 26, 2024
Nadia Hashmar, a Palestinian citizen of Israel, looks out from her apartment in Haifa, Israel, on Sunday.

Israel, Hezbollah exchange heaviest strikes in months, raising regional tension

The dramatic but contained escalation overnight Sunday stopped short of all-out war, with Hezbollah and Israel both signaling restraint.

August 25, 2024
Smoke and fire rise on the Lebanese side of the border with Israel, after Israel said it had carried out preemptive strikes on Hezbollah.

Hezbollah’s escalated attack ‘is over’ after trading airstrikes with Israel, leader says

Israel said it preemptively struck Hezbollah targets to foil an attack from the group. The escalation in Israel and Lebanon comes ahead of Gaza cease-fire talks in Cairo.

August 25, 2024

Hamas delegates in Cairo as Gaza cease-fire talks resume

The Hamas delegation is not expected to participate directly in the talks, but it will be briefed on the negotiations by Egypt and Qatar, officials said.

August 24, 2024
Displaced Palestinians at a food-distribution center in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on Friday.

Israeli strikes in Gaza and Lebanon kill at least 25, officials say

Saturday’s bloodshed came after the United States and its allies expressed optimism over cease-fire negotiations to end the war in Gaza.

August 17, 2024
Palestinians search for bodies and survivors in the rubble of a destroyed building Saturday after an overnight Israeli airstrike on Zuweida in the central Gaza Strip.

What to know about Hezbollah weapons as Israel awaits retaliatory strikes

The Lebanese militant group has guided and unguided rockets, antitank artillery, and ballistic and anti-ship missiles, as well as drones equipped with explosives.

August 11, 2024

Hezbollah is undeterred as Lebanon braces for war with Israel

The militant group has been buoyed by its status as Lebanon’s unrivaled military force, its vast arsenal of weapons and its tens of thousands of men under arms.

August 11, 2024
The site of a June 6 airstrike by Israeli forces that hit Lebanon’s Wadi Jilo. The attack leveled one building, damaged another and caused a third to catch fire. Twenty people were injured in the strike.

Nearly 100 killed in Israeli strike on school, Gaza officials say

The Israel Defense Forces said Hamas fighters had been operating in the Gaza City school. Eleven children and six women were among those killed, a Gaza official said.

August 10, 2024