Mahmoud Khalil
Khalil in July 2025
Born	1995 (age 30–31) Damascus, Syria
Alma mater	Lebanese American University, Beirut (BS) Columbia University (MPA)
Known for	Negotiating with Columbia’s administration during the Gaza Solidarity Encampment and broader protests during the Gaza war ICE detention
Spouse	Noor Abdalla ​ (m. 2023)​
Children	1

Mahmoud Khalil (Arabic: محمود خليل, romanized: Maḥmūd Khalīl; born 1995) is an Algerian-Palestinian activist known for his role as a negotiator and spokesperson in the 2024 Gaza Solidarity Encampment and broader protests in solidarity with Palestine at Columbia University during the Gaza war and genocide while he was a graduate student at Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs, and for his detention by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in 2025, under the second presidency of Donald Trump.

Khalil was born in 1995 to Palestinian parents in a refugee camp in Syria.^[1] His mother has Algerian ancestors who migrated to Palestine during the Ottoman Empire, which is how Khalil holds Algerian citizenship.^[2] He organized protests against the Assad regime during the Syrian revolution, but fled Syria for Lebanon in 2013 after two of his friends were detained.^[3] In Lebanon, he worked for the United Kingdom's Foreign Office where he managed part of their Chevening Scholarship program.^[1]

Khalil completed his bachelor's degree in computer science at Lebanese American University in Beirut before enrolling in Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, where he earned his Master of Public Administration in development practice in December 2024.^[4] The same year, he was granted lawful permanent resident status in the United States.^[5][6]

In spring 2024, Khalil represented the Gaza Solidarity Encampment (April 17–30, 2024) as a negotiator and spokesperson. The encampment, as well as the broader Columbia protests in solidarity with the Palestinians of Gaza, demanded that the university officially call for an end to the Gaza war and genocide and divest from Israel, especially from companies whose products, services, or infrastructure it has extensively used in its military operations in Gaza.^[7] The negotiations went on for 10 days, from April 19 to 29.^[8] According to the Columbia Daily Spectator, the leadership of Columbia did not reveal the chain of command outside of the negotiation room and "positioned key administrators to be the public face for negotiations and kept others within University leadership, including the trustees, away from the conversation," and therefore, "the protesters never came into direct dialogue with those empowered to answer their demands."^[8] On the morning of Monday, April 29, Shafik announced in a university-wide email^[9] that negotiations had ceased without having reached an agreement, and that Columbia would "not divest from Israel."^[10][11]

He was not arrested during the protests nor was he accused of participating in actions such as the Hind's Hall occupation of Hamilton Hall.^[12]

On March 8, 2025, ICE arrested Khalil at his Manhattan apartment, citing a provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act and alleging false information on his 2024 green card application, which he denied. The federal government of the United States, via Secretary of State Marco Rubio, claimed his activism harmed United States foreign policy. Khalil was detained for 104 days at the LaSalle Detention Center in Jena, Louisiana. His arrest sparked protests in New York, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco, with support from figures like U.S. representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who called it politically motivated.^[13][14][15]

Khalil completed the requirements for his Columbia degree before being detained, but was incarcerated during the graduation ceremony. His wife participated in the ceremony on his behalf.^[16][17]

On June 11, 2025, federal judge Michael Farbiarz ruled Khalil’s detention unconstitutional, noting he was neither a flight risk nor a community threat. Khalil was released on June 20, 2025, after a court found the government’s case relied on unverified tabloid reports. His case drew attention as part of a broader Trump administration effort to deport pro-Palestinian student activists.^[18]

In July 2025, Khalil filed a claim for US$20 million in damages against the Trump administration.^[19][20]

The second Trump administration appealed Judge Farbiarz's ruling. It argued that such decisions should be made by immigration courts, not by federal courts, and hence that Farbiarz did not have jurisdiction over the case. On January 15, 2026, a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia ruled 2–1 in favor of Trump and instructed the lower court to dismiss Khalil’s habeas petition.^[21]

On September 17, 2025, Jamee Comans, an immigration judge in Louisiana, ordered Khalil to be deported to either Syria or Algeria. Khalil’s lawyers suggested intention to appeal the deportation order.^[22] 108 current and former professors at Columbia and Barnard signed an amicus brief in support of Khalil's appeal of the deportation order.^[23]

On September 21, Khalil addressed hundreds at a Voices for Gaza fundraising event with Mosab Abu Toha, Aasif Mandvi, Hannah Lillith Assadi, Hala Alyan, and Viet Thanh Nguyen.^[24]

Khalil identified himself as a Palestinian political prisoner arrested because he exercised his right to free speech and "advocated for a free Palestine",^[25][26] and that the case against him was "part of a broader strategy to suppress dissent" by the Trump administration.^[27]

Khalil said that Hamas's October 7 attacks on Israel were, in his interpretation, part of "a desperate attempt to tell the world that Palestinians are here, that Palestinians are part of the equation", driven by the absence of a political process and the imminence of a Saudi–Israel deal.^[3] He called the attacks a calculated decision by Hamas that, "it's obvious were not right" and a violation of international law, while also rejecting what he called the expectation that Palestinians be "perfect victims".^[3][28]

Of antisemitism at Columbia University, Khalil said there was "manufactured hysteria about antisemitism at Columbia because of the protests", adding, "it's not like antisemitism is happening at Columbia because of the Palestine movement."^[3][28]

Khalil is married to Noor Abdalla, a U.S. citizen. The couple has one son who was born while Khalil was incarcerated.^[6]