Zeena Saifi is an award-winning Field Producer based in CNN’s Jerusalem bureau. She works with a wide range of correspondents, photojournalists, and other producers to tell stories from Israel, Gaza, the occupied West Bank, and the wider Middle East region for CNN’s TV and digital platforms.

Saifi has been an integral part of CNN’s coverage of the October 7 attacks on Israel and the ensuing offensive in Gaza and was part of the team awarded an Emmy for breaking news coverage of the war. She has spent months reporting on the conflict from the field, documenting its major developments and highlighting the war’s impact on human beings.

She also reported from Beirut during Israel’s attacks on Lebanon in 2024.

Prior to becoming a field producer, the Jordanian-native worked as a multiplatform producer for CNN’s flagship Middle East programme Connect the World with Becky Anderson based in Abu Dhabi. She helped manage the output of the television show, led production across high-profile guests and travelled around the region for big events.

During her time at CNN, Saifi has played a vital role in CNN’s coverage of every major story out of the Middle East, reporting on both U.S. President Donald Trump and Joe Biden’s first trips to the region, the earthquakes that struck Turkey and Morocco in 2023, and the 2021 Beirut port blast.

Saifi joined CNN in 2017. She holds a bachelor’s degree in international relations and Broadcast Digital Journalism from Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and is fluent in Arabic and English.