Award-Winning Photo of Child Amputee in Gaza Highlights Human Cost of Conflict
Title: A Portrait of Pain and Resilience: The Story Behind the 2025 World Press Photo of the Year
The 2025 World Press Photo of the Year has been awarded to a gut-wrenching yet quietly powerful portrait of nine-year-old Mahmoud Ajjour, a young Palestinian boy from Gaza who lost both of his arms in an Israeli airstrike. Captured by Gazan photojournalist Samar Abu Elouf, the image has resonated globally—not only for its technical brilliance but for the harrowing human story it represents.
Elouf’s image, taken while on assignment for The New York Times, was part of a series documenting Gazan children receiving medical treatment in Qatar. It shows Ajjour bathed in soft sunlight, his injuries exposed yet his eyes unyielding. The photograph, both intimate and stark, reflects the unfathomable burdens shouldered by the youngest victims of war.
Ajjour’s story is one of loss and dignity. According to reports, he was fleeing his home in Gaza with family in March 2024 when an Israeli explosion tore off one of his hands and severely injured the other. Despite his devastating injuries, he urged his family to keep running, sacrificing his own safety. Months later, he reached Qatar for rehabilitation, where Elouf, living in the same residential complex, met and photographed him.
The Power of a Single Image
“This is a quiet photo that speaks loudly,” stated World Press Photo Foundation Executive Director Joumana El Zein Khoury. She went on to emphasize that Ajjour’s story embodies not just personal tragedy but encapsulates a wider conflict that will scar generations to come.
Global Jury Chair Lucy Conticello echoed this sentiment, calling the photo “a layered entry point into a complex story,” one that invites a deeper understanding of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
A Working Crisis
Gaza, according to UNICEF, has the highest number of child amputees anywhere in the world. The region’s children have, by many accounts, borne the brunt of the war’s brutality. The 2025 photo contest’s results highlight just how important stories like Ajjour’s are in documenting real and ongoing suffering.
Human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and a United Nations Special Committee, have labeled Israel’s attacks on Gaza as genocidal. As of 2024, these claims continue to be the subject of international scrutiny and political contention.
Additionally, the Committee to Protect Journalists found that more media workers have died while covering the Gaza conflict between October 2023 and April 2025 than in any previously recorded war zone. This makes Elouf’s recognition even more poignant, spotlighting the dangerous, yet essential, work of journalists and photographers in conflict zones.
Recognition and Context
Samar Abu Elouf is now the second Palestinian photojournalist to win the prestigious World Press Photo of the Year award since October 2023. The previous year’s winner, Mohammed Salem of Reuters, received widespread acclaim for his heart-wrenching photo of a Gazan woman clutching the body of her five-year-old niece.
This year, the World Press Photo contest received over 59,000 entries submitted by photographers from 141 countries. Besides Elouf’s winning entry, finalists included images highlighting other pressing issues across the globe:
– “Droughts in the Amazon” by Musuk Nolte, depicting severe deforestation and climate change in Brazil.
– “Night Crossing” by John Moore, showing Chinese migrants attempting to cross into the United States from Mexico.
The award comes with a €10,000 (~$11,300 USD) cash prize and a new Fujifilm camera. Elouf’s photo will be featured in a year-long traveling exhibition alongside other regional winners and finalists, bringing the stories of resilience, hardship, and human endurance to audiences around the world.
Photography as Witness
More than mere documentation, the winning portrait serves as a visual testament of survival and the continued struggle for recognition and justice. The impact of the photograph lies not in its shock value but in its invitation to pause—to look deeper into the life of a child whose experience speaks volumes about the cost of war.
In a year marked by global displacement, ecological disaster, and ongoing conflicts, the 2025 World Press Photo awards remind us of the vital role photojournalism plays in chronicling not just facts, but truths. These images galvanize public awareness, spark conversation, and, at their best, inspire meaningful change.
As long as images like the one taken by Elouf continue to circulate, the stories of individuals like Mahmoud Ajjour will not be forgotten. Through visual witness, the world is compelled to reckon not only with what has happened—but what continues to unfold.