I am an author and international correspondent for the New York Times, where I run our Jerusalem bureau. I have reported from more than 50 countries and territories, and was previously based in Cairo, Istanbul and Berlin.

As Jerusalem bureau chief, I led a team that won Pulitzer, Polk and Overseas Press Club awards for our coverage of the Israel-Hamas war. You can read my Pulitzer acceptance speech here.

I am the author of two books, and I’ve lectured on migration at the universities of Harvard, Oxford and Cambridge. I am a former British foreign correspondent of the year.

I was born in London in June 1989. I have a first-class degree in English Literature from Cambridge University, and a diploma in journalism from the National Council for the Training of Journalists.

More about my reporting

I joined the New York Times in January 2017, first as the paper’s Turkey bureau chief, and then as a roving international correspondent, reporting on places like Hungary, Greece, Britain, Moldova, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Malta, Germany, the Czech Republic, Finland, Switzerland and Spain.

I moved to Jerusalem in January 2021. My work includes investigations into Israel’s bombardment of Gaza in 2023 and the abuse of Palestinian detainees; and Hamas’s attack on Israel and the abuse of Israeli hostages. Earlier work included a state-of-the-nation journey through Israel; profiles of Israelis and Palestinians who defy religious and ethnic expectations; and in-depth reportage on the Israeli judicial crisis; how the pandemic affected ultra-Orthodox Jews; the 2021 Gaza war; and a divided house that embodies the battle for East Jerusalem.

I previously worked for The Guardian for seven years, first as a reporter in London and then, from January 2013, as a Middle East correspondent.

While in Egypt, I won awards for my investigations into a state-led massacre in Cairo; a secret blacksite in Ismailia; the gassing to death of 37 prisoners inside a police truck; and this assessment of the bloodiest week in modern Egyptian history. With a colleague, I also conducted the last interview of Egyptian president, Mohamed Morsi, days before his ouster in 2013.

In 2015, I was appointed the Guardian’s first-ever migration correspondent, and as a result I had the chance to cover the 2015 migration crisis in more depth and breadth than any other journalist. On the migration beat, I won awards for this story about one man’s journey from Syria to Sweden, as well as my four-part, year-long investigation into people-smuggling in i) Libya; ii) Egypt; iii) Turkey; and iv) Niger.

This work led to me being named foreign affairs reporter of the year at the British Journalism Awards. My book about the European refugee crisis, based on reportage from 17 countries along the migration trail, has been translated into 10 languages. It was described by Jon Snow as “a unique journalistic achievement”, and by Alan Rusbridger as “the great piece of reporting this issue so badly needs.”

I gave the 2016 Harrell-Bond Lecture, an annual address at Oxford University that has previously been made by the heads of both the United Nations, and the United Nations refugee agency. I have also lectured at Harvard and Cambridge.

My first book was an exploration of Danish culture called How to be Danish. Published in 2012, the New York Times said it was “fascinating”, the Wall Street Journal “delightful”, and it was a travel book of the month at The Sunday Times.