Nir Hasson

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 Haaretzs Jerusalem specialist, while Tablet characterized his 2017 book Urshalim as an important account of the city's political and social divisions.

During the Gaza war, Hasson's reporting on the humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip were discussed by Le Monde, Foreign Policy and Prospect. In 2025 he received the Sokolov Award for print journalism, with the award citation referring to his coverage of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

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.

In February 2026, the Hebrew University's Department of Geography approvaled 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. 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.

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.

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. In 2019, Le Monde, in a lengthy report comparing the political and communal divisions of Jerusalem and Sarajevo, identified Hasson as Haaretzs 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.

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.

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. On 8 August, the public broadcaster announced that it was terminating its work with Koda Communications, the company responsible for the series.

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.

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 Haaretzs coverage of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Prospect subsequently discussed the award in its profile of Hasson and described the Sokolov Award as Israel's leading journalism honor.

Selected works