Please tell us about your master’s thesis.

My thesis examines the reconfiguration of humanitarian space in Gaza since October 2023. Building on the literature, I defined humanitarian space as physical, actor and legal spaces, and asked what has collapsed but, more importantly, what has been constructed in its place across these spaces. In physical space, I analysed land-crossing regimes, new aid procedures and bureaucracies, new logistics and modalities, and the reproduction of Gaza’s internal geography through infrastructural warfare, humanitarian, and militarised zones. In actor space, I examined how principled humanitarian actors are dismantled and delegitimised, and who is favoured instead. In legal space, I analysed how legal frameworks are used to displace the occupying power’s obligations and how the domestic legal regime is instrumentalised to override international humanitarian law. Together, I tried to demonstrate how spaces designed to alleviate suffering have been reorganised into a humanitarian order serving the genocidal agenda of the occupying power.
 

What inspired you to work on the topic?

I have been deeply engaged with Gaza since October 2023, in academic, policy, and activist circles, and my master’s thesis seemed like the right opportunity to add to my critical and academic engagement as a student. Two observations from the literature motivated me. First, existing registers on the humanitarian situation, while indispensable, mostly treated it as an outcome of collapse, a catastrophe to be measured or denounced, rather than a process of reconfiguration. The consequences and their possible reasons are well studied, but the processes, sequence of actions, and emerging new order are not. Second, there were many good arguments but no systematic analysis of daily data, despite abundant consistent data. I wanted to design a rigorous study, and process traced daily data, presented in tables, maps, and graphics, to show cumulative change over two years for future researchers and practitioners.

What does winning the War and Peace Prize mean to you?

Its meaning comes from Professor Mohamedou, whom I never met but came to know through his work. The prize is a huge honour to me because it commemorates a respected academic and teacher, but also a politician, policymaker, leader, defender of rights, and lifelong curious learner. His work provides a clear lens for understanding contexts and events, drawing on enormously rich knowledge from diverse fields and extensive experience, while maintaining a critical stance toward his own thinking. He masterfully observes processes and shows their marks on outcomes, while always leaving room for, and reminding us of the certainty of, further transformation in the processes that follow. Having a strong position on my topic, I tried to challenge and question all my assumptions and the baggage I brought to it, and in my conclusions I tried to capture a picture still in the making without fixing it in place. To me, receiving this prize not only recognises my effort to explore and navigate the complex realm of war and peace, but also suggests that my work resonates with Professor Mohamedou’s memory and remarkable scholarly tradition.
 

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The War and Peace Prize was introduced in 2025 in honour of the late Professor Mohammad-Mahmoud Mohamedou and aims to distinguish excellent master’s theses that fall within the thematic range of war and peace from a historical and / or political science perspective. Learn More about Our Academic Awards & Prizes.
 

This article was published in Globe #38, the Graduate Institute Review.