Nir Hasson (journalist)

Nir Hasson
ניר חסון
Hasson in 2017
Alma materHebrew University of Jerusalem
OccupationsJournalist, author and researcher
EmployerHaaretz
Notable workUrshalim: Israelis and Palestinians in Jerusalem, 1967–2017
AwardsSokolov Award (2025)

Nir Hasson (Hebrew: ניר חסון) is an Israeli journalist, author and researcher. A longtime correspondent for Haaretz, he became known particularly for his reporting on Jerusalem and East Jerusalem, including municipal politics, Israeli–Palestinian relations, archaeology and cultural heritage. International publications have treated Hasson as a specialist on Jerusalem; in 2019, Le Monde described him as Haaretz's Jerusalem specialist, while Tablet characterized his 2017 book Urshalim as an important account of the city's political and social divisions.[1][2]

During the Gaza war, Hasson increasingly reported on humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip. His reporting and methods were subsequently discussed by Le Monde, Foreign Policy and Prospect.[3][4][5] In 2025 he received the Sokolov Award for print journalism, with the award citation referring to his coverage of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.[6]

Education and research

Hasson studied at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He subsequently conducted research at the university's Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace, where his research addressed East Jerusalem, informal urban space, divided cities and Israeli–Palestinian relations in Jerusalem.[7]

In February 2026, the Hebrew University's Department of Geography announced the approval of Hasson's doctoral dissertation, Planning, Informal Spaces and Struggle: The Creation of the Built Landscape in East Jerusalem, 1967–2020, supervised by Hillel Cohen and Nufar Avni.[8] His academic work has included research on the former Yemenite Jewish neighborhood of Silwan, examining its establishment, abandonment and subsequent disappearance from Jerusalem's built landscape.[9]

Journalism

Jerusalem

Hasson's reporting for Haaretz has concentrated extensively on Jerusalem, particularly relations between the city's Jewish and Palestinian populations, municipal planning and development, religious communities, archaeology and cultural heritage. A 2015 Forbes profile of Hasson and his Jerusalem Blog described his work as examining the city's political, religious and social divisions and noted his reporting from places and communities rarely covered by much of the Israeli press.[10]

In 2017 Hasson published Urshalim: Israelis and Palestinians in Jerusalem, 1967–2017, an account of political, demographic and social developments in Jerusalem during the fifty years following the Six-Day War. Forbes subsequently published an extended interview with Hasson centered on the book and his interpretation of changes in East Jerusalem.[11] In 2019, Le Monde, in a lengthy report comparing the political and communal divisions of Jerusalem and Sarajevo, identified Hasson as Haaretz's specialist on Jerusalem and drew on his analysis of the effect of the Israeli West Bank barrier on relations between East Jerusalem and the remainder of the West Bank.[1] The same year, Tablet described Urshalim as an "indispensable" examination of the unified city and consulted Hasson as a longtime observer of Jerusalem municipal politics.[2]

In June 2024, Hasson was assaulted while covering the annual Jerusalem Day march. Reuters reported that Hasson and Palestinian journalist Saif Kwasmi were attacked during the march and that both the Committee to Protect Journalists and the United States Department of State condemned assaults on journalists at the event.[12]

2019 Jerusalem District investigation

In August 2019, Hasson reported that police officers participating in the Kan 11 documentary television series Jerusalem District had placed a rifle in the home of Samer Suleiman, a Palestinian resident of Issawiya, before filming its purported discovery during a search. N12 independently attributed the disclosure to Hasson's reporting and noted that the search documentation provided to Suleiman stated that nothing had been seized from his home.[13]

The report produced repercussions for both the program and its production. The following day, N12 reported that the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation had removed all episodes of the series from its YouTube channel, suspended discussions concerning a continuation of the program and opened an investigation into its production practices. The Israel Police likewise announced an internal inquiry and expressed regret over the incident.[14] On 8 August, the public broadcaster announced that it was terminating its work with Koda Communications, the production company responsible for the series.[15]

Gaza war reporting

Following the 7 October attacks in 2023, Hasson initially reported from southern Israel and concentrated on the community of Nir Oz, one of the kibbutzim attacked that day. In mid-2024, he shifted much of his reporting toward humanitarian conditions in Gaza. In a 2025 profile, former Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger reported in Prospect that Hasson spent the following eighteen months covering Palestinian civilian experiences in Gaza and published numerous reports and investigations on displacement, hunger, civilian deaths and destruction.[5]

Hasson's methods for reporting from Gaza, where Israeli journalists did not have independent access, became a subject of international media discussion. Foreign Policy reported in October 2025 that Hasson used a network of Palestinian journalists, physicians and international aid workers as sources and reviewed material emerging from Gaza to corroborate events there. The magazine contrasted his approach and that of Haaretz with the more restricted coverage of Palestinian civilian conditions in much of the Israeli broadcast media.[4]

In December 2024, Le Monde highlighted a lengthy investigation by Hasson into research assembled by Hebrew University historian Lee Mordechai concerning alleged violations of international law and abuses committed during the Gaza war.[3] Prospect later discussed the same investigation as part of its examination of Hasson's work and his broader Gaza coverage.[5]

In July 2025, media historian Jérôme Bourdon, discussing Israeli media coverage of Gaza with Le Monde, singled out Hasson's war reporting, describing him as a "remarkable journalist" and Haaretz as an increasingly important source of information on the conflict.[16]

Recognition

In 2025 Hasson and fellow Haaretz journalist Josh Breiner received the Sokolov Award for print journalism. The Seventh Eye reported that Hasson's award recognized his role in leading Haaretz's coverage of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.[6] Prospect subsequently discussed the award in its profile of Hasson and described the Sokolov Award as Israel's leading journalism honor.[5]

Selected works

  • Hasson, Nir (2017). אורשלים: ישראלים ופלסטינים בירושלים, 1967–2017 [Urshalim: Israelis and Palestinians in Jerusalem, 1967–2017] (in Hebrew).

References

  1. 1 2 Ourdan, Rémy (16 August 2019). "Sarajevo-Jérusalem, deux villes, deux destins". Le Monde (in French).
  2. 1 2 Kra-Oz, Tal (4 June 2019). "The Lion of Jerusalem". Tablet.
  3. 1 2 Forey, Samuel (31 December 2024). "Targeted by Israeli government, newspaper 'Haaretz' continues to expose army's abuses in Gaza". Le Monde.
  4. 1 2 Nir, Ori (8 October 2025). "How the Hamas Attacks on Oct. 7 Changed the Israeli Media". Foreign Policy.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Rusbridger, Alan (17 December 2025). "Inside Haaretz, Israel's voice of dissent". Prospect.
  6. 1 2 עיתונאי "הארץ" ניר חסון וג'וש בריינר יקבלו את פרס סוקולוב לעיתונות כתובה [Haaretz journalists Nir Hasson and Josh Breiner to receive Sokolov Prize for print journalism]. The Seventh Eye (in Hebrew). 8 September 2025.
  7. ↑ "Nir Hasson". Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace, Hebrew University of Jerusalem. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  8. ↑ ברכות לד"ר ניר חסון! [Congratulations to Dr Nir Hasson!] (in Hebrew). Department of Geography, Hebrew University of Jerusalem. 22 February 2026. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  9. ↑ Hasson, Nir. "The Loneliness of Our Settlement: The Yemenite Colony in Silwan – A Disappeared Neighborhood and Liminal Identity". Politika (33). Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
  10. ↑ Teicholz, Tom (20 July 2015). "Mr. Jerusalem: Nir Hasson of Haaretz's 'The Jerusalem Blog'". Forbes.
  11. ↑ Teicholz, Tom (2 November 2017). "The Real Jerusalem (Nir Hasson's Urshalim)". Forbes.
  12. ↑ Lewis, Simon; Singh, Kanishka (6 June 2024). "Press activists, US condemn assault on reporters at Jerusalem Day march". Reuters.
  13. ↑ שוטרים שתלו נשק בבית במזרח ירושלים לצורך סדרת טלוויזיה [Police officers planted a weapon in an East Jerusalem home for a television series]. N12 (in Hebrew). 6 August 2019.
  14. ↑ Nosbaum, Moshe (7 August 2019). המשטרה על שתילת הנשק בבית החשוד ב"מחוז ירושלים": מתנצלים - נתחקר [Police on the planting of the weapon in the Jerusalem District suspect's home: We apologize and will investigate]. N12 (in Hebrew).
  15. ↑ Ravid, Or (8 August 2019). סערת שתילת הנשק בסדרת הדוקו: כאן תפסיק את העבודה עם חברת ההפקה [Weapon-planting controversy: Kan to end work with production company]. N12 (in Hebrew).
  16. ↑ "Bande de Gaza : « Les Israéliens n'ont pas eu jusqu'à ces derniers jours accès aux images d'horreur »". Le Monde (in French). 25 July 2025.
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