Abbie Cheeseman

Beirut, Lebanon

Education: City, University of London, MA in Interactive Journalism; Royal Holloway, University of London, BA in History and International relations

Abbie Cheeseman reports on the Middle East for The Washington Post from Beirut. She was previously the paper's 2024 Stern-Bryan fellow covering the U.S. election on the national politics desk. Before joining The Post, she spent five years reporting across the Middle East as a freelance correspondent and prior to that was an investigative reporter and researcher in London covering civilian casualties from U.S.-led coalition airstrikes.
Latest from Abbie Cheeseman

In a ruined Hezbollah stronghold, supporters question the costs of war

Displaced families are streaming back into Tyre, in southern Lebanon, to take stock of the destruction.

December 2, 2024

In Beirut suburb, streets come back to life but the future is uncertain

Restaurants in Beirut’s Dahiyeh reopened, clothes shop owners redressed mannequins and produce sellers emerged with carts of fresh vegetables.

November 27, 2024
A destroyed building in the southern suburbs of Beirut on Wednesday. (Lorenzo Tugnoli for The Washington Post)

Israel and Hezbollah agree to cease-fire, halting year-long conflict

The deal would include a phased withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon, as well as the retreat of Hezbollah fighters to north of the Litani River.

November 26, 2024
Israeli soldiers near the border with Lebanon in northern Israel on Tuesday.

Major explosion rocks central Beirut, leaving huge crater

At least four missiles hit a site in the Basta neighborhood, Lebanese state media and Reuters reported. The target of the strike was not immediately clear.

November 23, 2024

Israel’s war on Hezbollah takes terrible toll on Lebanon’s children

At least 231 children have been killed and 1,330 injured, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

November 19, 2024
Ivana Skakye, 2, recovers in the burn center of the Lebanese Hospital Geitaoui in Beirut in October. She sustained burns over more than 40 percent of her body.

Lebanon reviews cease-fire proposal as Israel launches fresh strikes

Fresh Israeli strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs Saturday. Lebanon is expected to respond to a U.S.-backed ceasefire proposal soon.

November 16, 2024

Israel drops massive bomb in Beirut strike, as Lebanon mulls cease-fire

Israel has stepped up strikes on the city’s southern suburbs in recent days, an area Israeli officials say hosts Hezbollah militants and infrastructure.

November 15, 2024
A bomb dropped from an Israeli jet hits a building in Beirut's Tayouneh neighborhood on Friday.

20 children killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza and Lebanon, officials say

The deadly attacks came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday he has spoken with President-elect Donald Trump three times in recent days.

November 10, 2024
Palestinians carry an elderly man in a wheelchair after Sunday's Israeli strike on Jabalya in the northern Gaza Strip.

Dozens killed in strikes in Gaza and Lebanon, officials say

Strikes in northern Gaza and across Lebanon killed at least 20 children, officials said, highlighting the toll of Israel’s war against militant groups on local populations.

November 10, 2024

Qatar halts role as cease-fire broker while panel warns of famine in Gaza

Qatar has paused mediation efforts for a cease-fire in Gaza, saying it would resume only when the parties are serious enough to end “the brutal war.”

November 9, 2024
The northern Gaza Strip, the site of a large-scale Israeli offensive that began last month.