In Frames: Gaza’s photographers risk all to record

Despite the Israel-enforced media blockade, images of destruction from the Gaza Strip have not stopped emerging over the past two years, mainly because Palestinians have taken it upon themselves to be the chroniclers of their ordeal. In the process, they have paid a huge price.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, as of October 22, 2025, at least 198 Palestinian journalists, photographers, and video journalists have been killed in Israeli bombing in the Gaza Strip since the violence began on October 7, 2023. Beyond those killed, hundreds of Palestinian media workers have been arrested or have been injured in Israeli attacks.

Missiles and bombs from Israeli jets are not the only challenge photographers face in Gaza, where finding food is as difficult as getting electricity, wi-fi, and charging points for phones and cameras. Pursuing photography in such a situation requires superhuman effort and a fearless dedication to one’s work.

At the recent HIPA (Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Photography Award) ceremony in Dubai, photographer Ali Jadallah — who continues to remain in North Gaza — won a top prize. When the organisers reached out to him to share the news, his response was: “Thank you, but how can I be happy?”

Jadallah is not alone. There are dozens of photographers who remain in the Gaza Strip who continue to record the human cost of the war, where peace is yet to return despite a ceasefire.

(The images are winning entries from the HIPA Awards 2025, presented on November 11. The reporter was a guest at the event)

Photo:
Ali Jadallah

From the rubble: People search for what remains of their lives as they return to apartment blocks levelled by Israeli strikes

Photo:
Belal Khaled

Saving lives: Palestinians rush to pull out survivors from beneath the rubble of a building

Photo:
Belal Khaled

Fragile hope: A child rescued from a bombed building arrives at a hospital as emergency workers surround the ambulance

Photo:
Belal Khaled

Lost innocence: A grieving relative holds a child killed in an Israeli bombing.

Photo:
Belal Khaled

Fleeting joy: Despite the surrounding devastation, a child lights up the evening with sparklers in Gaza

Photo:
Jehad Al Shrafi

Waiting for aid: Palestinians wait at a World Food Programme distribution centre in Jabalya refugee camp, on February 6.

Photo:
Ali Jadallah

Fight for life: A woman carries her child as she rushes from her home following Israeli airstrikes in the Ridwan neighbourhood of Gaza City, on October 23, 2023.

Photo:
Ali Jadallah

Shattered family: A Palestinian mourns the loss of a family member in the strikes in Gaza

Photo:
Jehad Al Shrafi

Life continues: Palestinians Ali Marouf and his mother Aisha cook over an open fire on the roof of their destroyed house.