Ghassan Elkahlout

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Doha Institute for Graduate Studies

Rebuilding Gaza The Need for a Radical Shift in Reconstruction Strategy

The events of October 7th and the war and destruction that followed do not come as a surprise to anyone who actively follows Palestinian affairs. Rather, the ongoing war in Gaza that began on October 7th is simply another chapter in the enduring struggle of the Palestinian people against the settler colonial enterprise in Palestine—a struggle that...

The wars on the Gaza Strip are just one aspect of the continued Palestinian suffering. Since 2007, Gazans have struggled under a blockade that deprives more than two million people of their basic rights and needs—a situation only compounded by the repeated wars and incursions on the territory by Israeli forces. This context of over 15 years of war...

This paper reviews the interactions between conflict and demographic trends in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), and provides an analysis of The Gaza Strip. Palestinian society has experienced momentous demographic transition over the past century, as well as recurrent waves of displacement and outbreaks of conflict and violence over the...

In recent years, Qatar has emerged as a key actor in humanitarian diplomacy (HD), which has received limited academic attention. This paper provides an analysis of Qatar’s engagement with HD, drawing on a literature review and extensive interviews with officials and humanitarian workers in Qatar, observations of state activities and humanitarian ag...

Motivation Qatar's humanitarian role in Afghanistan, a less‐explored example of a non‐traditional actor, is crucial in understanding international responses to geopolitical crises. Examining Qatar's involvement provides insights into the complex dynamics of humanitarian assistance, diplomatic efforts, and post‐crisis challenges. Purpose The study...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the feasibility of mud brick houses as an alternative to the more widely adopted emergency shelters used in war-torn Syria. It focuses on the mud houses’ sustainability, cost effectiveness, cultural preference, income generation and security. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a qualitative...

This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the reconstruction efforts in the Gaza Strip following the 2021 and 2022 wars, placing these efforts in the context of previous reconstruction experiences after the 2008/09, 2012, and 2014 conflicts. Employing a mixed-methods approach that includes interviews, primary data analysis, and policy documen...

Qatar’s role in mediation diminished following the 2017 Gulf Crisis and the regional backlash to its interventionist policy during the Arab Spring. After the resolution of the Gulf Crisis in 2021, the Qatari role in conflict mediation re-emerged with a return to third-party mediation in the early 2020s, receiving widespread attention following the...

Over the past two decades, the Gulf states have emerged as leading humanitarian actors both regionally and globally. This paper charts the evolution of four of the six Gulf states–Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, and Qatar–as humanitarian donors and actors. It analyses the evolving humanitarian sectors of the Gulf states, focus...

Localisation has recently emerged as one of the most prevalent global norms shaping humanitarian reform towards more locally-led response as a corrective to power imbalances in the humanitarian system. The concept of localisation however remains subject to much debate and the practical complexities of localised humanitarian response have not yet be...

The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan has recently experienced large-scale unrest on a scale not witnessed for several years. The country, long viewed as a beacon of stability in a deeply fragile region, now faces a growing risk that it could be destabilised. This article addresses multiple pillars of stability and drivers of instability in Jordan, inclu...

Higher education in the Gaza Strip has been subjected to four wars and over a decade of blockade. University staff and students have been killed whilst campus infrastructure has been attacked, rebuilt, and destroyed again. This paper examines opportunities for, and limits to, protecting higher education from attack in Gaza. It presents a framework...

Despite the dire situation in Syria, the International Organization for Migration states that about one in ten Syrian refugees is returning home. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees predicts that hundreds of thousands of refugees may soon voluntarily return to their devastated homeland. The fear is that this will happen without any pr...

يشير "الفضاء الإنساني" إلى بيئة عمل يتم التمسك فيها بحق السكان في الحصول على الحماية والمساعدة الإنسانية، حيث يمكن للمنظمات الإنسانية أن تقوم بعمل إنساني فعال من خلال الاستجابة لاحتياجات السكان بطريقة نزيهة ومستقلة. تستعرض الورقة كيف أضحى قطاع غزة مثالًا حيًا لانحسار الفضاء الإنساني تحت الحصار. تنقسم الورقة إلى ثلاثة محاور، يبدأ أولها بماهية الفضاء...

تقديم جريدة العربي الجديد للكتاب https://www.alaraby.co.uk/culture/%22%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%85%D9%84-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A5%D9%86%D8%B3%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%8A%22-%D8%AA%D8%A3%D8%B5%D9%8A%D9%84-%D8%AD%D9%82%D9%84-%D9%85%D8%B9%D8%B1%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%AC%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%AF منذ قرنين، وبموازاة تغلغل الرأسمالية في العالم، أصبح العمل الإنساني نوعاً من التعويض يتيح إ...

Stabilisation Agriculture has been defined as a focus on enhancing the ecological and social resilience of agricultural communities to withstand and respond to adverse conditions in countries affected by disasters, ranging from climate events to conflict and complex emergencies. However, in this review paper, rather than taking a broad disaster ris...

Stabilisation Agriculture has been defined as a focus on enhancing the ecological and social resilience of agricultural communities to withstand and respond to adverse conditions in countries affected by disasters, ranging from climate events to conflict and complex emergencies. However, in this review paper, rather than taking a broad disaster ris...

This study provides an overview of development stages in post-conflict reconstruction since World War II. The authors attempt to summarize a set of lessons learned from accumulated experiences, which could then be used to better inform Arab decision-makers. The authors also call for an indigenous, Arab perspective, distinct from Western approaches,...

With unique strengths, problems, and challenges, localisation is an increasingly important modality for humanitarian relief. Based on the primary research including interviews with practitioners who are expert and experienced in localisation and remote management in Syria, the article offers an important case study of remote management during confl...

Full Article Figures & data Citations Metrics Reprints & Permissions Get access Abstract In today’s fast-changing international humanitarian landscape, non-traditional/new donors are prominent amongst the more diversified group of humanitarian donors operating in the same settings as Development Assistance Committee donors. Kuwait was the first ‘ne...

The 2017 Gulf crisis is one of the most challenging episodes faced by Qatar since its independence in 1971, with major economic, social, and political impacts on the Arab Gulf nation. Its economic prognosis has been brought into doubt, the map of regional alliances has been redrawn, and any prospects of deeper regional integration have been dashed....

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to study the feasibility of using the agency-driven housing approach in a post-conflict context. This paper aims to identify the challenges in applying the agency-driven approach within the context of post-conflict housing reconstruction in the Gaza Strip. Design/methodology/approach In this paper, a qualitativ...

تسبّبت الحرب في سورية في تدفق أعداد كبيرة من اللاجئين السوريين، وقد كان للأردن نصيب في استقبال عدد كبير منهم، فأدى ذلك إلى استنزاف موارد الحكومة الأردنية، ما كان له تأثير كبير في المجتمع الأردني في النواحي كافة. تحلّل هذه الورقة أثر تدفق اللاجئين في الأردن، وتسلّط الضوء على كل من التحديات والفرص الإنسانية والاقتصادية والاجتماعية التي واجهت المجتمع...

This paper examines the siege of the Gaza Strip since 2007. Research on sieges tends to address the coping strategies employed by besieged communities, and humanitarian issues of the impact of siege, humanitarian access, and the prioritization of needs with little or no attention to reconstruction. However, Gaza is unusual as a siege context under...

The Gulf crisis, which broke out on June 5, 2017 between Qatar and the four countries (Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain), surprised the world. The four countries initiated punitive action against Qatar and justified it in seeking to stop Qatar from supporting terrorism. The sanctions included a diplomatic boycott, an economic blockade and a...

This article examines the Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism (GRM) – the main institutional mechanism regulating the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip since the 2014 war. Proponents of the GRM hold that it is a crucial lifeline enabling the entry of humanitarian and reconstruction goods into Gaza while assuaging Israel’s security concerns. In contrast, t...

In the Palestinian Territories, housing is thought to be amongst the most difficult problems facing the National Authority (PNA) (Al‐Agha, 1997, p. 3). Increased Israeli settlements, the large size of Palestinian families, the deteriorating economic situation, the lack of national banks operating in the field of housing, the presence of refugee set...

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of York, 2001.