Kareem Fahim

Istanbul

Istanbul bureau chief covering the Middle East

Education: Occidental College, bachelor's degree in Diplomacy and World Affairs; Columbia University, SIPA, master's degree in International Affairs

Kareem Fahim has served as the Istanbul bureau chief and a Middle East correspondent for The Washington Post since September 2016. Previously, he worked for 11 years as a staff reporter for the New York Times, with assignments on the metro desk and as a Cairo-based foreign correspondent reporting on the Arab uprisings and their aftermath. Fahim attended Occidental College in Los Angeles, and Columbia University's graduate School of International and Public Affairs. He grew up in Palo Alto, Calif., and in Kuwait.
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Latest from Kareem Fahim

Gaza aid flotilla plans to challenge Israeli blockade, organizers say

A maritime convoy with more than 5,000 tons of aid for Gaza is preparing to set sail from Turkey in the coming days.

April 21, 2024
The Akdeniz RoRo passenger ship, part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition seeking to bring aid to Gaza, at the Tuzla port near Istanbul on Friday.

How the war in Gaza has shaped Qatar’s role as a regional mediator

Qatar’s role as a Middle East mediator may be imperiled as U.S. politicians criticize its relations with Hamas.

April 18, 2024
The emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, center, speaks with Egyptian President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi, left, and the secretary general of the Arab League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, at a summit near Cairo on Oct. 21 to discuss the Gaza war.

Arab nations call for restraint as Israel-Iran conflict intensifies

Arab governments, already struggling to contain popular fury at the war in Gaza, pleaded for calm after Iran’s drone and missile attacks on Israel.

April 14, 2024
An Iranian demonstrator ignites a flare as others carry a Palestinian flag during an anti-Israeli gathering in Tehran on Sunday.

IDF says aid convoy attack was ‘serious violation’ of procedures

The deaths of the aid workers — six of them foreign nationals — have prompted a reckoning about Israel’s military tactics in a way that strikes that have killed Palestinian civilians have not.

April 5, 2024
One of the cars used by World Central Kitchen workers that was hit by an Israeli strike in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, on Monday

Israel braces for Tehran’s response after deadly Damascus strike

Though Iran has vowed revenge for the Israeli strike, officials and analysts expected it would carefully calibrate its response to avoid provoking all-out war.

April 4, 2024
People drive past a billboard in Tehran on Wednesday with a picture of Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force, two days after Zahedi was killed in an airstrike in Syria. The message on the billboard reads, “You [Israel] will be punished.”

Opposition victories in Turkey’s local elections deal Erdogan rare defeat

The election victories marked a startling turnaround for the Republican People’s Party less than a year after its candidate was defeated in a presidential race that left the opposition in disarray.

April 1, 2024
Supporters of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, the candidate of the main opposition Republican People's Party, celebrate early results in front of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality building on Sunday.

Israeli raid on al-Shifa Hospital deepens suffering in Gaza’s north

Israel said its large-scale operation was continuing for a fifth day.

March 22, 2024
Smoke rises during an Israeli raid at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza on March 20.

Gaza cease-fire talks falter in Doha as Blinken arrives in region

Hamas said Wednesday that Israel provided a “generally negative response” to its latest cease-fire proposal.

March 20, 2024
Humanitarian aid parcels attached to parachutes are airdropped from a military aircraft over Gaza City on Wednesday.

At least 20 killed awaiting aid in Gaza as new cease-fire offer debated

Palestinian officials in Gaza and witnesses said Israel attacked a crowd of people waiting to collect supplies from an aid convoy in the north of the enclave.

March 15, 2024
Egyptian drivers walk near their trucks that are loaded with humanitarian aid for Gaza at the Kerem Shalom border crossing on Thursday. (Heidi Levine for The Washington Post)

Israel acknowledges strike on U.N. facility, says it targeted Hamas commander

The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees said a distribution center was struck, even though the coordinates of the center had previously been shared with Israel.

March 13, 2024
Displaced Palestinians wait to receive U.N. Relief and Works Agency aid in Rafah on March 7.