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Maya Gebeily Profile
Maya Gebeily

@GebeilyM

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Bureau Chief for Lebanon, Syria & Jordan @Reuters

Joined October 2012
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
4 months
Our investigation into the Oct. 13 strike that killed our beloved Issam Abdallah, & wounded 6 other journalists, has found an Israeli tank fired 2x at them, with munition produced by Israel, from within Israel. The Israeli military killed Issam Abdallah.
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
4 years
Hospitals in #Beirut turning away injured people with blood streaming down their faces because they're too full or damaged to take them in
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
6 months
We are deeply saddened to learn that our videographer, Issam Abdallah, has been killed. Issam was part of a Reuters crew in southern Lebanon who was providing a live signal. Reuters journalists Thaer Al-Sudani and Maher Nazeh also sustained injuries and are seeking medical care.
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
2 years
#BREAKING : A US-sanctioned ship owned by the Syrian government has docked in Lebanon’s Tripoli carrying flour and barley that the Ukrainian embassy told @Reuters was stolen from Ukrainian stores
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
7 years
#BREAKING : Syria's armed forces were warned about US military action hours before strike on Shayrat, military source tells @AFP
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
2 years
#BREAKING : Lebanon’s banks will remain shut indefinitely, their association said today, saying it did not receive adequate guarantees by authorities following spree of hold-ups last week - @reuters
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
5 years
Yeah, I'm going to have to say no for this one
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
2 years
This was difficult to write, not only because it's about malnourished children & their panicked parents - but because it's challenging to convey the especially dire circumstances of a place we have already condemned as doomed to suffer.
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
7 years
. @AFP There would be no coverage of nearly-incomprehensible level of human suffering in #Syria if it weren't for local reporters. Real heroes.
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
4 years
Updates from outside US embassy in #Iraq : -Security forces deploy on roof of embassy & fire tear gas, flash bangs to keep protesters away -Demonstrators hoist PMF, Iraqi, Kataeb Hezbollah flags at embassy -NSA Faleh Fayyadh, Qais al-Khazaali, Hadi al-Ameri all outside embassy
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
4 years
#BREAKING : Of five rockets fired tonight, three rockets in direct hit on US embassy in Iraqi capital, including one on cafeteria: security source - via @AFP
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
3 years
I'm super excited to announce that today is my first day as @TRF_Stories ' Middle East Correspondent, writing on climate, socioeconomic justice, & more. I'm eternally grateful to @AFP & all in Lebanon, Syria & Iraq who shared their stories w/me the last 6 years. Stay in touch!
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
6 months
I am sharing below snips from a gut-wrenching conversation today with Mariam, 36, who is in Gaza. We spoke by phone for a few minutes when the power miraculously turned on in her apartment & she briefly had internet. Mariam has 2 sons & just finished her Chevening in the UK.
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
6 months
LEBANON TO SUBMIT FORMAL COMPLAINT TO UN SECURITY COUNCIL ON "ISRAEL'S DELIBERATE KILLING OF LEBANESE JOURNALIST ISSAM ABDULLAH" - via @reuters
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
4 years
#IRAQ : -One rocket hit dining facility, 2 in its vicinity -Military earlier reported 5 rockets in total targeting @USEmbBaghdad , no casualties -We heard rockets at exactly 7:30pm (1630 GMT), much earlier than priors & at dinner time -Last attack near embassy: 3 rockets on Jan 21
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
4 years
Smoke from explosion(s) at Port still visible. Shards of glass still bursting from windows and falling over our heads
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
4 years
#BREAKING : Two rockets hit Iraqi capital's Green Zone: security sources - via @AFP
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
7 years
"You will pass on to the grand mufti my consideration, but I will not veil myself." Far-right Le Pen refuses veil to meet Lebanon's mufti -
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
4 years
#BREAKING : Beirut blast damage extends over half of city: governor - via @AFP
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
3 years
@Pontifex Here he is, @Pontifex riding around the Old City of #Mosul in a golf cart when most foreign officials visit it in bulletproof vests & armoured cars:
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
5 years
Before today gets too crazy with actual news, a small update from me: it's my last day in @AFP 's Beirut bureau after 3 rich years reporting on #Syria 's war. Starting next month, I'll be covering Iraq from AFP's Baghdad office.
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
4 years
Shopkeepers in Mar Mkhayel are desperately trying to figure out how to lock up and protect their goods as all windows and doors are blown out. Sirens ringing out from disemboweled banks. Man just yelled as I went by, "You're still wearing a mask? We have bigger problems."
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
3 years
The moment @Pontifex entered the St. Joseph Cathedral for his first real public mass. Yes, I cried.
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
7 years
#BREAKING : Death toll in horrific 'gas attack' on #Syria 's Khan Sheikhun rises to 58 civilians: monitor - via @AFP
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
3 years
@AFP @clmarciano What a difference five years makes. Al-Tahera Church in 2016, two years after IS torched it, vs today.
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
3 years
Tears of joy across the region as children of Middle Eastern parents speed up their parents' nine-minute Whatsapp voice notes. What a day.
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
3 years
@AFP This image has moved me, and I think it would stir anyone - religious or not. An unprecedented, history-making encounter between the head of the world's Catholics & one of the most reclusive but respected Muslim clerics. This image was published by both their offices.
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
4 years
#BREAKING : Four rockets hit #Iraq airbase hosting US troops: military sources - via @AFP
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
7 years
Me trying to explain how US-backed SDF is fighting Turkish-backed Euphrates Shield & what is Manbij & then there's Syrian army & PS Russia
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
4 years
A year ago, the US embassy was urging American companies to invest in #Iraq . Today it's advising its citizens to draft a will before traveling there. (📷 is from the embassy's emailed travel alert a few moments ago)
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
7 years
Every journalist I know with contacts, sources, colleagues still in #Aleppo are spending their evening terrified & attached to their phones.
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
3 years
The single biggest fake news source in my life is not a Twitter bot or government propaganda machine. It is my otherwise really lovely aunt, who won't stop sending total garbage to the family whatsapp group that I have to debunk every morning.
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
7 years
#BREAKING : Incredible. UN says that evacuation deal of #Aleppo - overseen by ICRC - is a war crime. #Syria
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
7 years
#SYRIA : Pope Francis calls suspected gas attack an 'unacceptable massacre,' UN chief says it shows 'war crimes' - via @AFP
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
4 years
#BREAKING : US military tells Iraq it is preparing to 'move out': official letter - via @AFP
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
3 years
Corruption is #Iraq 's worst-kept secret. From small talk with neighbors to hot-topic talk shows, from protest squares to government’s top advisory committees, from its ports to its supermarkets: everyone agrees corruption is both rampant and hard to root out. But why?
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
2 years
#BREAKING : The Razoni - the ship that was meant to bring 26,000 tonnes of corn to Lebanon earlier this month until the buyer changed his mind - is approaching the Syrian port of Tartous this morning instead, two shipping sources tell @Reuters
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
2 years
I'm beyond thrilled to join the brilliant @Reuters bureau in #Beirut - covering Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. Email is the same, so keep the tips & story ideas coming.
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
6 years
Covering #Syria at this point just feels like trying to get through one sentence without mixing up de-escalation, demilitarisation, reconciliation, reconstruction, stabilisation, rehabilitation and self-administration
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
3 years
Today is @pontifex 's last full day in #Iraq , and he'll be addressing a subject very close to his heart - the Christian exodus from the country & region. In #Mosul , he'll be praying outside the ravaged Al-Tahera Church then heading to Qaraqosh for another prayer.
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
2 years
#BREAKING : Lebanese MP Cynthia Zarazir has entered Byblos Bank in Antelias to demand access to her frozen savings for an upcoming surgery. She is unarmed & wants $8,500 - via @Reuters
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
7 years
. @AFP "What US did nothing but foolish & irresponsible behavior which only reveals short-sightedness & political & military blindness to reality."
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
4 years
#BREAKING : US embassy in Baghdad urges citizens to 'depart Iraq immediately' after strike - via @AFP
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
3 years
#BREAKING : Rockets target US embassy, first after month of truce: security source - via @AFP
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
5 years
My little brother just bought his first house in the US, complete with a home theater, while my biggest concern is how to maximize how many dates I can pack in my checked luggage. Wonder who the parents will brag about more this Christmas.
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
7 years
Historic pictures by @Kilicbil today in Al-Naim square -- once infamous for IS atrocities, now dotted with yellow flags of SDF
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
4 years
@AFP A US official has confirmed to @AFP that one US soldier, one US contractor, and one British soldier were killed when a volley of Katyusha rockets hit Taji base north of #Baghdad
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
4 years
Good morning, #Baghdad -Protester killed in Nasiriyah; camp there & in Najaf torched by gunmen -More rallies planned as Sadr support becomes fault line -One hurt in rockets on @USEmbBaghdad ; it's been 1 month since US contractor killed in similar attack -Najaf yesterday:
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
3 months
#BREAKING : Israeli strike on south Lebanon kills senior commander in Hezbollah's elite Radwan force -three security sources to @reuters
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
1 year
#BREAKING : First convoy of six trucks of aid is en route to Turkey’s border with Syria in the hopes of crossing today with desperately-needed help for those impacted by earthquake -two aid sources to @reuters
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
7 years
Long day for @AFP 's team - particularly our reporters who traveled to Khan Sheikhun today & were caught under rubble when hospital was hit.
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
3 years
#IRAQ : Top Iraq officials have confirmed to @AFP tonight thatUS embassy in #Baghdad has partially withdrawn staff due to security concerns. "We knew ahead of time & top diplomatic staff including ambassador are staying, so this is not a rupture of diplomatic ties," one told me.
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
7 years
. @AFP #SYRIA : @AFP journalist in Khan Sheikhun said the bombardment brought rubble down on medical staff treating wounded
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
4 years
Meant to cripple #Tehran 's clout, US killing of Soleimani appears to have united #Iran 's allies across region, writes @alichoukeir for @AFP
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
6 years
Uncle, 93: I heard you were in Iran! Me: No, Raqa Aunt, 80: Iran was great under Shah Me: Raqa's in Syria Uncle: Wasn't Tehran beautiful
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
2 years
In #Beirut , @TalaRamadan saw bread shortages & panic-buying. In #Cairo , @MennaFarouk91 reports on 1st anticipated price rise in 30+ years. In #Aden , citizens fear collapsed currency can't cover food. Our cross-country @TRF_Stories story on wheat woes:
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
1 year
#BREAKING : SDF tells @Reuters they've stopped 'all coordination' and 'all joint counter-terror ops' with @CJTFOIR - including special ops - as a result of Turkish bombing. Pentagon earlier said only patrols had been halted.
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
3 years
That moment when the generator kicks back on an hour earlier than expected and you actually hear people outside your window cheering. Akh #Beirut
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
8 years
At this point, if anyone asks me to explain anything about #Syria I'll require wall-size whiteboard, 15 colored markers & 8 bottles of arak
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
3 years
I write for a living but I will never be able to put into words the mix of bewilderment, rage & conviction we are being trolled when I see street lamps on *in the middle of the day* in #Lebanon .
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
4 years
#BREAKING : NATO says taking some personnel out of Iraq temporarily - via @AFP
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
3 years
#BREAKING : Pope Francis to visit #Iraq in March, first foreign trip since pandemic: Vatican - via @AFP
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
7 years
#BREAKING : US strike killed 9 civilians, including 4 children: Syria state media - via @AFP
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
3 years
Good morning, #Iraq (& world!) -One of most extraordinary encounters in modern religious history about to take place: @Pontifex & Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani -Baba en route to #Najaf 's Old City from airport -Clerics say unlikely Sistani will sign 2019 doc on 'human fraternity'
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
7 years
#BREAKING : Deal reached on Aleppo rebel evacuation: senior Syrian military source - via @AFP
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
2 years
#BREAKING : At least two more silos just collapsed at the Beirut port as crowds gathered to mark the two-year anniversary of the blast that heavily damaged the structure - via @reuters What a macabre marking of this occasion.
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
3 years
Hundreds of international journalists are flocking to #Iraq to cover @Pontifex 's historic visit - but here's a shout-out to amazing Iraqi reporters (w/special love for @AFP 's teams) working non-stop on beautiful reportages from Najaf, Ur, Qaraqosh that you'll see in days ahead.
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
5 years
#IRAQ : @BarhamSalih has sent draft bill on Yazidi survivors to parliament, proposing: -Recognize 2014 events as 'genocide,' marked w/national holiday on August 3 -Yazidi women survivors get monthly allowance, residence & priority in govt hires
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
7 years
#BREAKING : Syrian presidency says US strike 'foolish, irresponsible' - via @AFP
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
6 years
Testimony, pictures, footage coming out of Eastern Ghouta today are so terrifyingly similar to Aleppo in 2016. 14 months ago, we thought we'd seen the worst of it. Same scenario playing out again today.
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
2 years
#BREAKING : Head of Lebanon's Hezbollah says his group has the 'capacity to prevent' Israel from extracting gas from Karish field - via @reuters
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
3 years
#BREAKING : @Pontifex to meet Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani in Najaf on March 6, Christian cardinal confirms to @AFP
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
6 months
I've relayed her words as she said them, even if repetitive. Like so many Gazans, she is utterly terrified, breathless, exhausted, and confused, and we must face that. /end
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
7 years
. @AFP "The first thing that hits you is the smell." Read accounts of @AFP reporters at scene of suspected gas attack -
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
6 months
"Everyone is here at our house. Families, big and small, cut up and hurt, kids, everything you can imagine. We are all just sitting on top of one another. They are bombing next to us now. Tell people, tell the international community just to look at us with humanity."
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
6 months
"My kids say, 'when is it my turn to die? When will they kill us?' One is 11, one is 12. I am at my parents’ house. My house in Tal al-Hawa got hit. There is no Gaza City, it was completely wiped out."
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
5 years
Good morning, #Mosul ! (OK, this was shot just before sunset but it makes me happy, so sharing it at the start of your day so you can be happy too)
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
4 years
#BREAKING : Iraqi jihadism expert Hisham al-Hashemi shot dead: ministry - via @AFP
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
4 years
It's the type of "I don't know if I'm crying or my eyes are sweating" heat in #Baghdad today.
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
6 years
#Syria 's government appears to have quietly updated its records to mark hundreds of people detained in its notorious prisons as dead -- without informing their families
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
1 year
The tombstone above the tiny grave in north Syria bore no name. Instead, it read: "A little girl wearing a green sweater." The epitaph was scribbled in the hopes it would help surviving relatives find the unidentified victim of last month's quakes.
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
1 month
U.N. investigation finds an Israeli tank violated international law when it fired two 120 mm rounds at a group of "clearly identifiable journalists" & killed our colleague, Issam Abdallah.
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
6 years
#BREAKING : Turkish air strike hits hospital in Syria's Afrin, 9 dead: monitor tells @AFP
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
2 years
There are 5,000 tonnes of barely and 5,000 tonnes of flour aboard the Laodicea, a Syrian ship that docked yesterday in Lebanon’s Tripoli yesterday. It’s the first time a ship carrying suspected stolen Ukrainian grains has landed in Lebanon, the Ukrainian embassy says.
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
5 years
#BREAKING : Iraq has sentenced three French nationals to death over IS involvement - via @afp
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
10 months
Our latest @reuters exclusive: as attempted mutiny unfolded in Russia, Syria brought Wagner Group fighters to heel - cutting off comms, summoning commanders back to Hmeimim & shipping off those who didn't agree to new contract terms.
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
3 years
Come for the embarrassing pictures of me in a helmet; stay for a candid behind-the-scenes account of producing my @AFP series on corruption in #Iraq . Thank you @MarieColvinNet for the opportunity to write this:
@MarieColvinNet
The Marie Colvin Journalists' Network
3 years
#newarticle on our website: Read #MCJN member @GebeilyM 's article reflecting on her year-long investigation into corruption in #Iraq .
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
3 years
May I suggest a quick kabab at Hajji Hussein in Fallujah?
@ammar_afp
Ammar karim
3 years
Apparently Pope Francis’s plane arrived a bit earlier than expected and they decided to make several loops before landing.
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
1 year
We are witnessing one of ugliest products of 12 years of war. Syrian cross-line aid held up because of approval issues by HTS, UN spox told @Reuters . Aid from auto/admin was turned back, too. Damascus wants aid only thru it & donor concerns have kept cross-border aid to trickle.
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
2 years
Nearly two years after #Beirut 's port blast, local probe remains stalled. That has forced some victims to seek justice elsewhere. 9 people have just filed a $250mn suit in Texas against a U.S.-based firm:
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
4 years
Good morning, #Baghdad -Protests swelled overnight as determined youth flooded Tahrir; crowds growing across south -Riot police trying to clear camps in Baghdad, Nasiriyah for 2nd day, wounding 17 in capital -Student protests planned for today & next few days
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
6 months
"I want to live in peace. I want to live with my kids in peace. I want to see my husband and live with my parents in peace. I just want to get out."
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
1 year
Greetings, #Doha ! I’ll be here for two weeks covering all-but-the-games at #QatarWorldCup2022 . Reach out for story ideas, tips or a random hello.
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
8 years
#SYRIA : @AFP 's journalist in eastern districts of #Aleppo says first food truck of tomatoes & potatoes enters rebel parts via Ramussa
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
7 years
#BREAKING : 3,000 civilians flee Raqa under deal: SDF spox tells @AFP . "Raqa is now empty of civilians who had been taken as human shields."
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
6 years
Preliminary internal count by Kulluna Watani finds @JHaddadOfficial has scored a seat - no official results out yet. Here's the moment she found out:
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
4 years
#IRAQ : Hundreds mourn Al-Dijla reporter Ahmed Abdessamad & cameraman Safaa Ghali, shot dead Friday after covering anti-govt protests - via @AFP
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
5 years
#Iraq 's parliament today voted unanimously to ban massively popular PUBG, Fortnite & other video games for 'inciting violence,' spokesman says, & Iraqi Twitter is predictably having a field day
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@GebeilyM
Maya Gebeily
4 years
#BREAKING : Three French nationals, Iraqi national abducted in #Baghdad two months ago have been released, French presidency says - via @AFP
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