Photo of Oliver Marsden
Oliver Marsden

Middle East Correspondent

Oliver Marsden is an award-winning Beirut-based correspondent for The Observer, covering the Middle East, conflict and the human cost of war. Over the past five years, he has reported from Lebanon, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Syria, Mali, Chad and the UK as a writer, photographer and videographer. He won New Journalist of the Year at the 2024 British Journalism Awards and an Emmy Award in 2023 for his Ukraine coverage.

Photo of Oliver Marsden

Oliver Marsden

Middle East Correspondent

Oliver Marsden is an award-winning Beirut-based correspondent for The Observer, covering the Middle East, conflict and the human cost of war. Over the past five years, he has reported from Lebanon, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Syria, Mali, Chad and the UK as a writer, photographer and videographer. He won New Journalist of the Year at the 2024 British Journalism Awards and an Emmy Award in 2023 for his Ukraine coverage.

  • Oliver Marsden
    The Israelis waiting to settle in Gaza

    Young Israelis are preparing to move into the ruined Gaza Strip – despite whatever Trump’s peace plan says

    Thu, 6 Nov 2025

  • Oliver Marsden
    Among the settlers on Gaza’s border

    Just outside Gaza, a small, fringe community of Israelis hope to settle the Strip. They hold a powerful sway within Israel's cabinet

    29 min • S1, E330

  • Oliver Marsden
    For one militia leader, rebuilding Gaza could mean big business

    An Egyptian tycoon is vying for lucrative clearance and construction contracts in Gaza

    Sat, 25 Oct 2025

  • Oliver Marsden
    The difficulty delivering aid to Gaza

    Humanitarian payloads from planes are costly and largely ineffective but they remain one of few ways to ease people's suffering in Gaza.  

    10 min • S1, E1183

  • Oliver Marsden
    After 14 years of war, Syrians see the sea for the first time

    Ten months after the Assad regime fell, families from devastated cities can now visit beaches on the west coast

    Tue, 21 Oct 2025

  • Oliver Marsden
    Tears, relief, fresh bruises – Palestinian prisoners return

    Celebrations erupted for the gaunt men who were released from Israeli jails as part of the ceasefire deal. But many others remain in detention

    Tue, 14 Oct 2025

  • Oliver Marsden
    Today’s ‘peace summit’ is a real estate convention in disguise

    Trump and his guests see opportunity in Gaza’s rubble

    Mon, 13 Oct 2025

  • Oliver Marsden
    A brother weeps as he hears his siblings will be freed

    Two men’s names appear among 2,000 Palestinian prisoners in swap deal

    Sun, 12 Oct 2025

  • Oliver Marsden
    Not everyone has rushed to help Afghanistan

    A muted international response leaves rescuers with a difficult task

    Wed, 3 Sept 2025

  • Oliver Marsden
    Despair as airdrops bring only meagre relief for Gaza’s starving

    Humanitarian payloads from planes are costly and largely ineffective but, with roads blocked by Israel, they remain the only way to ease people’s suffering

    Sat, 23 Aug 2025

  • Oliver Marsden
    The killing of Anas al-Sharif is part of a ‘deadly pattern’

    Six reporters were killed in a single strike in Gaza last Sunday, bringing the total to at least 242 since October 2023

    Wed, 13 Aug 2025

  • Oliver Marsden
    Gaza is starving despite Israel’s denials

    Aid is slowly being dropped into the Palestinian enclave – but it’s far from enough

    Tue, 29 Jul 2025

  • Oliver Marsden
    Hezbollah must decide: disarm, fight on or turn fully to politics

    Devastated by war with Israel, the Lebanese militant group is facing the most significant choice of its 40-year history

    Sun, 20 Jul 2025

  • Oliver Marsden
    Why Israel bombed Syria

    Netanyahu has appointed himself protector of a religious minority. But more is at play

    Fri, 18 Jul 2025

  • Oliver Marsden
    Despair of families watching attacks on Gaza food aid sites

    With all eyes on Iran, starvation and killings at aid sites in Gaza continue unabated

    Sun, 22 Jun 2025

  • Oliver Marsden
    How close Iran was to a making a nuclear bomb

    Israel has struck a potentially fatal blow to Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. How close they were to completing a bomb remains in question

    Mon, 16 Jun 2025

  • Follow

    The Observer
    The Observer Magazine
    The ObserverNew Review
    The Observer Food Monthly
    Copyright © 2025 Tortoise MediaPrivacy PolicyTerms & Conditions