Leila Hilal is an international human rights lawyer. Previously, she was a senior fellow for the International Security Program and the former director of the Middle East Task Force at New America. She focuses on Syria, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and issues related to U.S. foreign policy, community-based change, constitution-making and transitional justice in the broader Middle East and North Africa. Prior to joining New America, Hilal served as senior policy adviser to the Commissioner-General of the Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) and as a legal adviser to Palestinian negotiators from 2002-2008. She has led numerous research missions on human rights and post-conflict scenario building and transitional justice in the Middle East, including for Chatham House, the International Center for Transitional Justice and the Euro-Med Human Rights Network for Human Rights.