Investigative journalism · Political research

I investigate what wars hide, and research the state and the actors outside it.

An Egyptian journalist and researcher. He works on open-source investigations, and researches geopolitics and the history of Islamic movements.

Rescuers reach an overcrowded rubber boat
The central Mediterranean, March 2017. A rescue team reaches an overcrowded rubber boat. Photo: Abdelrahman Ayyash
Abdelrahman Ayyash

Abdelrahman Ayyash

Leads the Investigations and Features Unit at Al Jazeera Net, and co-directs Midan.

  • Co-author of Broken Bonds, on the crisis of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood (The Century Foundation, 2023)
  • First prize, Migration Media Award, 2017
Full biography

Published by

Journalism and researchAl Jazeera Net · HuffPost Arabi · Human Rights Watch · The Century Foundation · Carnegie Endowment · Arab Reform Initiative · German Council on Foreign Relations
Academic publishingWiley
01

Investigations

All investigations

وسط المتوسط، بين ليبيا ومالطا, مارس ٢٠١٧, ثلاثة أسابيع على سفينة بحث وإنقاذ

٢٠ يومًا في بحر الظلمات

Writtenهاف بوست عربي9 March 2017

02

Selected writing

All writing

From earlier years: the archive, and Noon Post.

03

Research

All research
Peer-reviewedBook chapter

“Escaping the Iron Cage of the Present: Chronopolitics as Liberation Praxis in Islamic Movements.”The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Muslim Liberation Theologies. Edited by Emin Poljarevic and Ivan Ejub Kostic, 132–145. Wiley, 2026.On the same theme: “Escaping Presentism”, a paper at the BRAIS annual conference, Cambridge, 2025.SourceThe book at Wiley

Co-authorBook

Broken Bonds: The Existential Crisis of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, 2013–22With Amr ElAfifi and Noha Ezzat. The Century Foundation, 2023.The Arabic edition, «الأواصر الممزقة», was translated by Hassan Hassani.About this workSourcePDF, EnglishPDF, Arabic

Lead researcherReport

Wherever They Go: Transnational Repression and the Targeting of Egyptians AbroadEgyptian Human Rights Forum, 2026.A database of 84 cases across 17 countries. Launched in Brussels, February 2026.About this workSourceReport in English (PDF)Report in Arabic (PDF)

Co-authorReport

“Security Forces Dealt with Them”: Suspicious Killings and Extrajudicial Executions by Egyptian Security ForcesHuman Rights Watch, 2021.Source

Co-authorReport

“No One Cared He Was a Child”: Egyptian Security Forces’ Abuse of Children in DetentionHuman Rights Watch, 2020.Source

04

Books and translations

كيف تعمل الدكتاتوريات؟

Translation

كيف تعمل الدكتاتوريات؟ السلطة وترسيخها وانهيارها

Arabic translation of How Dictatorships Work, by Barbara Geddes, Joseph Wright and Erica Frantz · Arab Network for Research and Publishing, 2021

On Goodreads
داخل «الإخوان المسلمين»

Translation

داخل «الإخوان المسلمين»: الدين والهوية والسياسة

Arabic translation of Inside the Muslim Brotherhood, by Khalil al-Anani · Arab Network for Research and Publishing, 2018

On Goodreads
05

From the field

The full record
Abdelrahman Ayyash in a keffiyeh, the border fence east of Gaza behind him
01East of Gaza, January 2013. On the Strip’s eastern border.
A camp for displaced Syrians in rural Idlib
02Rural Idlib, 2013. A camp for the displaced.
Abdelrahman Ayyash with Saadeddine Othmani
03Rabat, 2015. With Saadeddine Othmani.
Abdelrahman Ayyash presents a paper at the BRAIS conference
04Cambridge, July 2025. The BRAIS annual conference.
06

Contact

For commissions, collaboration and interviews: the contact form.

For sources: I take documents and testimony over Signal.

Email
3yyash@proton.me
Signal
ayyash.33
A student encampment for Gaza at the University of Edinburgh’s Old College
Edinburgh, June 2024. The Gaza encampment at Old College.