Amira Hass is an internationally acclaimed Israeli journalist and author who serves as the correspondent for Palestinian affairs for Haaretz. Born in Jerusalem to Holocaust survivor parents, she moved to Gaza in 1993 to report on the region, living there for three years before relocating to Ramallah in 1997. She is the only mainstream Israeli journalist to reside permanently within Palestinian communities in the Occupied Territories.
Hass’s reporting focuses on the logistical and structural details of the occupation, particularly the system of permits and restrictions on Palestinian movement. Her 1999 book, “Drinking the Sea at Gaza: Days and Nights in a Land under Siege,” drew on her years living in the Strip to document daily life under military rule. In recognition of her reporting, she was named a World Press Freedom Hero by the International Press Institute in 2000 and received the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize in 2003.
Hass’s work examines the bureaucratic enforcement of the occupation, including house demolitions, residency revocations, and movement restrictions. Citing her family background as a key reference for her political outlook, she regularly argues that the ongoing control over Palestinians undermines both Palestinian society and the internal legal and moral institutions of Israel, calling for full equality and an end to systemic segregation.