{"id":3942,"date":"2025-09-16T10:11:05","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T10:11:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/?p=3942"},"modified":"2025-09-16T10:11:05","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T10:11:05","slug":"they-fear-our-lenses-gaza-photojournalists-speak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/?p=3942","title":{"rendered":"\u201cThey Fear Our Lenses\u201d: Gaza Photojournalists Speak"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\n Ibrahim Nofal\u2019s photograph of his mother, Muneera, receiving treatment on June 20, 2025, after being hit by shrapnel from an Israeli attack. She died shortly after.<\/span>\u00a0Photo: Ibrahim Nofal<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Israel killed six<\/span> journalists with an airstrike on a press tent in Gaza City last month. Among the dead in the August 10 attack were Al Jazeera correspondent Anas Al-Sharif <\/a>and his colleague, photojournalist Mohammad Nofal.<\/p>\n

In the days leading up to the killing, I had been speaking with Mohamed\u2019s brother and fellow photojournalist, Ibrahim Nofal, 27, about what it\u2019s like to be a photojournalist in Gaza today, to witness horror and massacres.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the only thing I know how to do,\u201d he said. \u201cEvery person here has a role in this war. Mine is to document. If I don\u2019t photograph it, this moment will never exist.\u201d<\/p>\n

His job may be the most dangerous in the world<\/a>. Israel killed five more journalists on August 25, in a \u201cdouble-tap\u201d missile strike on Nasser Hospital <\/a>in Khan Younis that appeared to be designed to kill the rescue workers and journalists who responded to the initial strike.<\/p>\n

The day after Israel killed his brother, I asked Ibrahim what he misses most. He immediately responded: \u201cMy mother and my brothers Omar and Mohammad, who were killed in this genocide. I had a life in Turkey when I was traveling; I had plans. But none of it matters now. Only my mother and brothers do.\u201d<\/p>\n

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I and my own brother, Ali Skaik, spoke with Ibrahim and five other photojournalists in Gaza about their daily lives and what the deadly task of documenting the genocide means to them. We also asked them to share one photo that is close to their hearts. I fear that any of them may join the ranks of the 221 other journalists<\/a> that Israel has killed in Gaza in the past two years. I fear that I and my brother could be killed any day too, as the Israeli military advances closer to our home.<\/p>\n

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\n Ibrahim Nofal<\/span>\u00a0Photo: Courtesy of Ibrahim Nofal<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Ibrahim is still working, despite the risks. He\u2019s come close to death before. \u201cOnce, a gas canister exploded beside me \u2014 I thought it was the end. Another time, a house we were documenting was hit, and everyone around me was injured,\u201d he said. His home was bombed on October 30, 2023, and five of his cameras were destroyed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

His photos have not only traveled far, they have changed lives: Some of those he photographed were able to leave Gaza for medical treatment because the world saw their suffering.<\/p>\n

He keeps documenting. \u201cThe camera is my weapon,\u201d he said. \u201cIt respects me because I respect it. Through it, I make the world see Gaza and its people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Documenting the genocide is not a choice \u2014 it is a responsibility, carried out with a sense of duty and love for our homeland and people. In Gaza, every image carries a cost, and every photographer bears both the burden of memory and the duty of witness.<\/p>\n

\u201cRealities That Cannot Be Hidden Behind Propaganda\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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\n Yazan Abu Foul, a 2-year-old resident of Al-Shati refugee camp, suffering from severe malnutrition amid widespread famine in the Gaza Strip on July 19, 2025.<\/span>\u00a0Photo: Abdul Hakim Abu Riash<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Abdul Hakim Abu Riash, 37, captured a searing photograph of starvation in Gaza: the image of 2-year-old Yazan Abu Foul in the Al-Shati refugee camp, suffering from severe malnutrition.<\/p>\n

He said he was not surprised when American media outlets, biased<\/a> in favor of Israel, tried to deny or discredit his work and the work of his fellow Palestinian journalists<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\n Abu Riash in his press gear.<\/span>\u00a0Photo: Courtesy of Abdul Hakim Abu Riash<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

\u201cThe reality, however, is far harsher than what has been reported,\u201d Abu Riash said. \u201cDuring the most recent closure of the crossings, I myself lost 13 kilograms \u2014 my weight dropped from 67 to nearly 53\u201d kilograms, or from 147 to 117 pounds. Food remains scarce, with prices 10 times higher than before the Israeli restriction of food. \u201cIf this is my condition as an adult, one can only imagine the plight of children, especially those with chronic illnesses who rely on specific nutritional needs,\u201d he said. \u201cTheir suffering is far greater, and under this blockade and the denial of food entry, their situation is only worsening \u2014 leading already to the deaths of dozens of children.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI risk my life and everything I own to share realities that cannot be hidden behind propaganda,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve had to learn new lessons on how to adapt in the field, to keep working under almost impossible conditions, and to find ways of ensuring our message still reaches the world.\u201dC<\/p>\n

He traces his love for photography back to his boyhood in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip. His first mobile phone with a camera, bought in 2005, felt like a miracle, he said. He was capturing photos of nature in Beit Lahia, sunsets, and daily life scenes. By 2011, after the first war on Gaza, he turned his passion into journalism, determined to document the truth.<\/p>\n

For Abu Riash, images touch emotions before they reach the mind. \u201cA photograph speaks to everyone \u2014 even the blind can feel its weight through silence. It\u2019s the world\u2019s only common language,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

One particular image left a mark on Abu Riash: a photograph of a young girl embracing the bodies of her family members, killed in an Israeli airstrike on their home in Deir al-Balah. The shock was etched on her face, her grief uncontainable. \u201cEvery photo I take is a witness for history. I want the world to see the truth: the suffering of my people and their resilience. Nothing less,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Truth Is Our Weapon\u201d\u00a0<\/h2>\n
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\n Men gather around the body of slain photojournalist Anas Al-Sharif at his funeral on Aug. 11, 2025, following an Israeli attack on the press tent in Gaza City.<\/span>\u00a0Photo: Ayman al-Hessi<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For Ayman Majed al-Hessi, 32, photojournalism was imposed on him. He studied electronics engineering and Islamic sciences before life pushed him into the media. Since 2018, he has worked with Al Jazeera Mubasher and captured beauty and wars, drawn by the belief that images have more power than words. \u201cWhen I photograph, I\u2019m not documenting strangers. I\u2019m documenting my people, my father, my mother, my siblings, and my neighbors,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He has lived through multiple wars, but the current one has been different. He has been injured three times since October 2023, the first during the early days of the war while covering Al-Shati refugee camp. \u201cI moved from being a reporter to a photojournalist overnight,\u201d al-Hessi recalled, \u201cbut also to a survivor.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n Ayman al-Hessi<\/span>\u00a0Photo: Courtesy of Ayman al-Hessi<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

His cameras and equipment were destroyed when his family home was bombed. With no tools, he resorted to a cheap Xiaomi phone, yet even from that device, he broadcast some of the most haunting images of Gaza\u2019s devastation. One of al-Hessi\u2019s widely circulated images is the targeting of journalist Ismail Al-Ghoul. After photographing a massacre, the images linger in al-Hessi\u2019s mind, preventing restful sleep.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Israeli occupation tries to silence us. They accuse us of using artificial intelligence when we show famine,\u201d al-Hessi added, \u201cthey close our social media accounts and keep threatening us. But our responsibility is to show the world what is happening. The truth is our weapon.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cImages are stronger than texts,\u201d al-Hessi said. \u201cIf I describe a flower, you\u2019ll imagine one thing. But if I show it, the truth is undeniable. The occupation knows this. That\u2019s why they fear our lenses.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

There are many images that have stayed with al-Hessi, but the harshest of all was the moment his brother Akram was killed. \u201cI was filming the aftermath of an airstrike on the Shati refugee camp. People around me were shouting his name: \u2018Akram, Akram!\u2019 When I reached the site, I found my brother Akram lying lifeless, and my father clutching his body, screaming in anguish,\u201d remembered al-Hessi.<\/p>\n

The weight of loss bleeds into his words. He has lost his brother, his uncle, and 50 close friends. \u201cI miss everything,\u201d he admitted. \u201cOur homes, our places, the people we lost.\u201d Yet still he photographs, because if he doesn\u2019t, no one will know. \u201cEvery photo is not just for history,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s for my family, my neighbors, my people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore, I Looked for Beauty and Daily Life\u201d<\/h2>\n
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\n Two little friends walk hand in hand through the rubble of Suhail Nassar\u2019s Gaza neighborhood, Tel al-Hawa, on March 20, 2025.<\/span>\u00a0Photo: Suhail Nassar<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Suhail Nassar, 30, is a photojournalist who used to capture Gaza\u2019s hidden beauty: the laughter of children, sunsets over the Mediterranean, fleeting moments of joy. Photography began as a hobby for him, until he became a photojournalist to show the world how the people of Gaza live.<\/p>\n

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\n Suhail Nassar<\/span>\u00a0Photo: Courtesy of Suhail Nassar<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Since October 7, 2023, his lens has shifted. \u201cBefore, I looked for beauty and daily life. Now, everything I shoot is death, hunger, and ruins,\u201d Nassar said. Direct bombardment, lack of supplies, and the absence of safety anywhere are great risks for photojournalists in Gaza. Yet the worst risk for them is becoming a target simply because of carrying their cameras. \u201cThere is no true protection here; you try to pick safe angles, move quickly, and keep your eyes on all directions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t really deal with the trauma,\u201d Nassar said. \u201cYou carry it with you. The pictures stay in your head, stronger than any archive.\u201d<\/p>\n

But he feels compelled to document reality as it is. \u201cIf we do not document, no one will know what happens to us. Silence erases us. I photograph so that no one can ever say, \u2018We didn\u2019t know,\u2019\u201d Nassar said.<\/p>\n

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