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Ivana Kottasová

Ivana Kottasová is a senior reporter at CNN International. She is based in London and covers Europe, the Middle East and Africa. She most often reports on conflict, human rights and geopolitics. She was on the ground in Kyiv when Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and has since returned to Ukraine on a number of occasions, reporting on the impacts of the ongoing conflict. Kottasová covered the October 7 Hamas attacks against Israel, travelling to Israel, the West Bank and Gaza multiple times to report on the aftermath of the assault and the subsequent Israeli military operation in Gaza. She has also written extensively about climate, coronavirus, inequality, Brexit, the eurozone crisis and economic policies and trends across Europe. She was part of CNN reporting teams that won an Emmy, a duPont-Columbia Award, the Foreign Press Association Award, a Royal Television Society Award and the David Kaplan Award from the Overseas Press Club of America. Originally from Prague, Kottasová joined CNN in 2012. She holds a master’s degree in European Government from the London School of Economics and a master’s degree in Journalism from Columbia University, where she was the Arco Fellow. Before joining CNN, Kottasová contributed to the Financial Times, The Guardian, ITV News, various Czech newspapers and magazines, and the Czech Radio.
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Insights

Who is Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader Israel has called a ‘dead man walking’

Gershon Baskin believes that at the end of the day there are two people atop the negotiations “One is Yahya Sinwar on the Hamas side, and the other is Benjamin Netanyahu on the Israeli side.

By Ivana Kottasová, 2 yearsDecember 8, 2023 ago
The Negotiator: Freeing Gilad Shalit from Hamas

The Negotiator: Freeing Gilad Shalit from Hamas
Click here to Buy The Negotiator: Freeing Gilad Schalit from Hamas
In 2006, Gilad Schalit was kidnapped by a group of Gaza militants. Decades of animosity and distrust thwarted any attempt at a prisoner exchange. THE NEGOTIATOR is the firsthand account of Gershon Baskin, who made it his mission to liberate Gilad Schalit. Baskin drew on his ties to Hamas to create a secret back channel and succeeded where official mediators had failed, paving the way for the deal that brought Gilad home.
Click here to Buy The Negotiator: Freeing Gilad Schalit from Hamas
Click here to Buy the Book in Hebrew
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In Pursuit of Peace in Israel & Palestine


In his latest book, In Pursuit of Peace in Israel & Palestine, Gershon Baskin reveals how relations in the Middle East are based on justified fear, influenced by lack of human contact and reinforced by continued violence that solidify patterns of thinking and behavior that negatively influence public policies.

Buy In Pursuit of Peace in Israel & Palestine

Freeing Gilad: The Secret Back Channel

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"Free Gilad" is the story of an unprecedented secret communication channel developed by Gershon Baskin developed that made a decisive contribution towards the release of Gilad Shalit.
Click Here to Order the Book and Learn More
Click Here to buy The Negotiator: Freeing Gilad Schalit from Hamas


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