Hesham Elgamiel

Hesham Elgamiel is a 24-year veteran of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) with extensive experience in criminal investigations and national security across domestic and international environments.

Prior to joining The Soufan Group, Hesham served as the FBI Attaché to Doha, Qatar, from 2020 to 2024. In this capacity, he led FBI investigative and capacity building efforts across all FBI programs in Doha, Kuwait and Afghanistan. Most notably, Hesham played a critical role in aiding in the recovery of US hostages being released from Iran and Afghanistan, as well as supporting the FIFA 2022 World Cup security efforts by helping Qatari partners develop and implement a comprehensive security plan which included support of FBI subject matter experts. Hesham was recognized for his efforts by the White House and the Amir of Qatar.

Hesham began his FBI career in 2000 as a Language Analyst, providing Arabic language and cultural expertise in support of FBI national security and criminal investigations. In 2003, Hesham became a Special Agent and was assigned to the Los Angeles Field Office where he investigated international terrorism cases. His tenure in Los Angeles included multiple temporary assignments in support of FBI investigations in Yemen, Sudan, Iraq, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

In 2010, Hesham was promoted to the position of Assistant Attaché assigned to the US Embassy, Cairo, Egypt, where he managed FBI operations with nexus to Egypt, Libya, Sudan and Chad. Hesham worked closely with foreign law enforcement and intelligence service partners on a host of national security issues and capacity building projects.

His crisis response experience became critical during the Arab Spring revolution where he maintained security and situational continuity of the FBI’s operations in Egypt and Libya in the midst of the uprising, ensuring the full accountability of personnel safety and operational integrity.

After Cairo, Hesham was selected as the first permanent FBI representative to Dubai, where he once again helped advance the bilateral relationships between the FBI and local law enforcement and security partners through robust liaison and operational exchanges, with emphasis on combating illicit financial activities.

Hesham was then promoted to a Supervisory Special Agent and was assigned to the Houston office where he led a team of local, state and federal investigators and analysts as a part of a Joint Terrorism Task Force. Hesham was responsible for deterring, detecting and disrupting international terrorism threats to the Houston area of region (AOR) through application of sophisticated investigative techniques in combination with proactive community engagement. His leadership led to the successful identification and disruption of several threats inspired by foreign terrorist organizations.