Claire Parker
Independent Journalist — based around the Mediterranean
Claire Parker is an independent journalist working around the Mediterranean, with a focus on the Middle East and North Africa. Her work centers around civilians navigating conflict and crisis, the effects of U.S. and European foreign policy on ordinary people, Arab politics, and post-conflict societies.
She previously served as the Washington Post's Cairo bureau chief from August 2023 until February 2026, playing a key role in the paper's coverage of the regional ripple effects of Israel's war in Gaza and the high-stakes diplomacy surrounding that conflict. She has reported extensively from Israel and the occupied Palestinian Territories in recent years, covering the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, societal rifts in Israel after the Oct. 7 attacks, and Israeli military incursions and settler violence in the West Bank.
Claire has also reported from Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, France, Afghanistan and the United States, and her work has appeared in the Associated Press and Foreign Policy, in addition to the Washington Post. She graduated from Harvard University with a B.A. in Social Studies and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations in 2019 and was an Overseas Press Club Foundation Fellow that year. She is HEFAT certified and available for assignments.