[11] Hassan is from the town of Al-Shaafah in Al-Bukamal District, Deir ez-Zor Governorate, in eastern Syria near the Iraqi border.

[14] After graduation, Hassan moved to the United Arab Emirates in 2008 to work as a news reporter for the then newly-launched English-language daily The National newspaper in Abu Dhabi, covering domestic and Gulf affairs.

[15] His research on the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) included extensive interviews with members of the organization since its rise in his home region in June 2014.

In June 2016, Hassan testified before the US Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on the extremist ideology of ISIS,[27][28] a widely covered hearing.

Hassan told the Reuters Institute in 2021 that the magazine was launched in response to Western journalists’ reliance on outdated views of the Middle East, which pervades coverage of the region.

[46] Harvard University’s Nieman Lab describes New Lines Magazine's mission as "to serve audiences that want to read long-form, narrative journalism," with an emphasis on "local reporting from journalists and experts".

[47] The magazine has featured regular contributions by journalists like Clarissa Ward,[48] Arwa Damon[49] or Hala Gorani,[50] and public figures like former U.S. diplomat Robert Ford,[51] Syrian intellectual Mustafa Khalifa[52] or musician Alex Skolnick.