Melanie Swan

Dubai based British newspaper journalist with over 20 years' experience in both the UK and UAE. I write on Middle East geopolitics, security, humanitarian issues and travel.

Dubai based British news, features and travel writer with over 20 years' experience, writing for international titles including The Times (London) and The Telegraph. Offering services including ghost writing, PR and media relations, copywriting and editing.

News And Features Articles

Business Traveller •

Exploring Chania, Crete’s Hidden Secret

Bursting with ancient history and a stunning coastline, Chania offers a less-traversed way to see the island of Crete. With a host of hot new hotels and restaurants opening up on its shores, Crete’s little-known second city is forging its path as a rival to some of the island’s better-known destinations. Bursting with ancient history, culture, and stunning coastline, it is within a short hop from the UAE, through an international airport.
The Telegraph •

‘Mentally and physically, I am not the same... but this war is right’

It was the rapid response of the Israeli military which saved the life of Omri Rosenblit, 23. On February 9, he was serving with a paratroop regiment in southern Gaza when a house in Khan Younis that they were “cleaning” for weapons and intelligence exploded on them. Expecting a Hamas booby trap at the main doorway, Rosenblit and his team had breached the back wall but once inside, a huge improvised explosive device (IED) was triggered, bringing the three storey building down on top of them. Rosenblit was left unconscious, buried up to his chin in rubble.
The Telegraph •

How Israel went after Hezbollah’s chain of command – and why it matters

As huge air strikes levelled at least six buildings in the southern suburbs of Beirut, it became clear that Israel was targeting Hezbollah’s headquarters. Not long after the smoke and dust had cleared, the IDF confirmed that they had assassinated Hassan Nasrallah, the group’s leader. The attack came after a week of some of the most extensive bombings of the 21st century, globally, in what Israel has dubbed Operation Northern Arrows - a campaign against Iran’s most formidable regional proxy.
Irish Independent •

Emily Hand, one year on from her kidnapping by Hamas: ‘She knows how to deal with bad news and tragedy’

A year since she was kidnapped by Hamas, Emily is slowly learning how to enjoy life again. Reduced to whispers after her 50-day ordeal, her father Thomas tells Melanie Swan in Tel Aviv how horse-riding and a visit to Disney World have helped her recovery It has been a year since nine-year-old Emily Hand was seized by Hamas and held hostage in Gaza for 50 days. It has taken until now for her to be able to sleep in her own room.
The Telegraph •

Revealed: Hamas plot to dig up war graves of British veterans

Hamas plotted to dig up the remains of British and Commonwealth troops buried in Gaza and blackmail the Government over their return, according to documents uncovered in the war-torn enclave. For more than a century The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC), chaired by the UK Defence Secretary and supported by the Crown, has maintained a cemetery in central Gaza containing the remains of more than 3,000 Commonwealth troops from the First and Second World Wars.
The Telegraph •

‘Self-made prophet who rose from the dead’: Hamas’s likely next leader

In the aftermath of the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’s political leader, all eyes are on Khaled Meshaal, who “rose from the dead” after an assassination attempt that made him a hero among Hamas supporters. A senior intelligence chief who was part of the team behind the operation in Jordan’s capital, Amman, in 1997, said: “Meshaal became a self-made prophet. He thought in his Islamic ideology that he was immortal, and it was from there he rose quickly to power.”
Irish Independent •

‘If you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time, it’s very dangerous’: Irish peacekeepers in the middle of Israel and Hezbollah’s escalating conflict

Eighteen months after the death of Private Seán Rooney, Irish soldiers in Unifil face renewed danger as the terrorist group and IDF step up hostilities. The streets of south Lebanon look like ghost towns. Usually alive with children playing and people drinking coffee outside cafes, with laundry hanging from balconies and battered cars trundling up and down winding lanes, they have largely emptied since an escalation in hostilities between Hezbollah and neighbouring Israel.
The Telegraph •

The day I met Hamas’ leader Ismail Haniyeh for his last interview with the Western media

When I went to meet Ismail Haniyeh for his last foreign interview in 2022, I was sent the address of a business park on the outskirts of Istanbul.I expected this would just be the first “pin”, and I might be taken then to a second or third location. But to my surprise, this was indeed the address of the office of the political leader of the terror group holding Gaza in its grip.He was living quite openly, under the eye of the Turkish government.The office – a simple, run-down building – was wher...
The Telegraph •

Hardline Iranian MP set to become first female presidential candidate

A radical Iranian MP who pushed for executions of protesters has stepped forward to become the country’s first female presidential candidate. Zohreh Elahian has registered to run in the country’s snap elections at the end of June following the sudden death of Ebrahim Raisi, its former president, last month in a helicopter crash. A staunch supporter of Ali Khamenei, the country’s supreme leader, she could potentially become the first woman ever allowed to stand if approved by the Guardian Council.
The Telegraph •

Israel wanted Gazan clan to take over after war – but Hamas beheaded it

A secret Israeli plan to persuade a powerful Gazan clan to take power from Hamas was derailed when the terror group executed its leader, The Telegraph can reveal. Israel is now trying to recruit more moderate Palestinian leaders from the West Bank to rule Gaza after the war. The plan to install Gaza’s Doghmush clan – the most powerful in the enclave – failed after the group’s leader and several of its allies were assassinated, an Israeli intelligence source with knowledge of the plan said.
The Telegraph •

Prominent Iraqi-British Jew says urgent action needed to save Mosul’s last synagogue

Urgent action is needed to help save one of Iraq’s last remaining synagogues from crumbling beyond repair, an Iraqi-British Jewish philanthropist has warned. Mosul’s Sassoon Synagogue, which dates back to 1902 and was once the heart of a 6,000-strong thriving local Jewish community, has become a rubbish dump, with its ritual bath - or “mikveh” - now a barn for horses, according to Edwin Shuker who was born in Baghdad but fled to the UK to seek asylum in 1971.
The Telegraph •

Israel enrols Gazan citizens as recruits to help in search for hostages

Israel’s intelligence services have enrolled a swathe of new recruits from within Gaza to aid them in their search for the remaining hostages. It has become much easier to draw Gazans in to work for Israel after the breakout of war on Oct 7, intelligence sources told the Telegraph, with offers of cash, immunity from prosecution, or physical safety. At the same time it is easier for elite units of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to enter the Gaza Strip unnoticed, and one source told The Telegraph.
The Telegraph •

Iran’s historical sites being starved of funds during economic crisis

Iran’s budget to preserve its ancient heritage amounts to a paltry £161 per site and £3,000 per building, a minister has complained. Ali Darabi, the deputy minister for cultural heritage, tourism and handicrafts, said that the country’s historical sites risk falling into total disrepair in the middle of a profound economic crisis. “The fact that all this historical greatness and cultural heritage should be preserved and restored with this minimal budget is beyond me,” Mr Darabi said.
The Telegraph •

‘I shot down drones over Israel and was back in my office sending emails by 4pm’

An Israeli reservist fighter pilot said it was like “Top Gun meets Star Wars” as he described how he shot down Iranian missiles and was back at work in his office before the end of the day. The pilot, identified as “Major G”, said that taking to the skies to defend Israel from more than 350 missiles and drones was “the most complex mission of my life”. “It really was a different thing with hundreds of those UAVs and missiles in the air getting intercepted around you, like Top Gun meets Star Wars."
The Telegraph •

‘We have to continue living’: Tel Aviv locals keep calm and carry on after night of fear

After a sleepless night for many, Tel Aviv’s coffee shops were bustling on Sunday morning as life returned to relative normality after the unprecedented Iranian bombardment. While children were kept home from school, businesses were back to usual in the city which is more than familiar with war. “What else can we do,” said Shira Cohen, speaking from Tel Aviv’s beachfront where she was doing her morning run. “Thank God it wasn’t more than this, but we have to continue living.”
The Telegraph •

Mafia crime wave in Israel drives Christians from Nazareth

The centuries-old Christian population in the holy city of Nazareth is slowly disappearing because of a mafia crime wave sweeping northern Israel. Mafia gang members reportedly harass Christian store owners in the northern Israeli city and demand the equivalent of thousands of pounds in protection money. Their numbers are reported to have grown since the outbreak of the Gaza war despite the deployment of Shin Bet, the Israeli internal security agency, last year and extra police patrols.
The Telegraph •

Israel admits it may not be able to destroy Hamas now US has turned its back

Israel may not be able to destroy Hamas despite five months of intense fighting in Gaza, intelligence officials have admitted. The main objective of the Gaza invasion faces failure as international support turns against Israel, sources warned. Israel believes it has dismantled Hamas’s main command and control structure in central and northern Gaza but pockets of “guerrilla” resistance remain. Senior officials told The Telegraph four out of an original 24 Hamas battalions remain completely untouched.
The Telegraph •

In Israel’s deserted north, your nearest neighbour can be a Hezbollah fighter who wants to kill you

The beautiful tree-lined roads up the mountainside have been turned into muddy tracks by tanks, with soldiers now patrolling where children once played freely in the 750-strong community. “I miss my children, my wife, the life we lived, the simplicity,” he said, his eldest of two just three years old. “I want to be part of raising my daughter but instead, I’m here, safeguarding what’s left of our community’s homes,” he said, more than 100,000 Israelis have been displaced from the country’s north.
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