A powerful and emotional portrait of a nine-year-old Palestinian boy, Mahmoud Ajjour, who lost his arms in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza City, has won the prestigious 2025 World Press Photo of the Year award. Captured by Samar Abu Elouf for The New York Times, the photograph depicts the solemn reality of Mahmoud’s condition following the devastating attack, which took place in March 2024. Abu Elouf, a Gaza native who was later evacuated to Doha, Qatar, now documents the lives of severely injured Palestinians displaced by war.
The award-winning image highlights the immense human cost of the ongoing war in Gaza, which has so far killed over 51,000 Palestinians and injured more than 116,000 others. The photographer shared a heartbreaking moment, Mahmoud’s mother recounted his first question after realizing his arms were gone: “How will I be able to hug you?”
The World Press Photo jury praised the image’s powerful composition, emotional depth, and the way it symbolically speaks to a larger crisis affecting an entire generation in Gaza. It was described as a “quiet photo that speaks loudly,” emphasizing the lasting trauma of war on children and civilians.
Mahmoud was evacuated to Qatar where he is now adapting to life using his feet to write, play games, and perform basic tasks, though he still requires assistance for many daily activities. His simple dream, as reported by the World Press Photo organization, is to receive prosthetic arms and live a normal life.
The jury also drew attention to the broader implications of the conflict, pointing out the dehumanization of Gaza and the continued targeting of journalists, along with the restriction of access for international media. According to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), by late 2024, Gaza had the highest per capita number of child amputees in the world, illustrating the disproportionate impact of the war on children.
Two other photographs were named runners-up: “Droughts in the Amazon” by Musuk Nolte, showing a man carrying supplies over a dried riverbed in the Amazon, and “Night Crossing” by John Moore, which captures Chinese migrants warming themselves under cold rain after crossing the US-Mexico border.
Out of more than 59,000 submissions by nearly 3,800 photojournalists, 42 powerful images from around the world were selected for recognition. Other winners include Luis Tato for a series on youth protests in Kenya, Jerome Brouillet for his image of surfer Gabriel Medina, Clarens Siffroy for his coverage of Haiti’s gang crisis, and Anselmo Cunha for a surreal photo of a grounded Boeing 727 at a Brazilian airport.
The winning photographs not only represent excellence in visual storytelling but also shed light on pressing humanitarian crises, environmental issues, and global migration, reminding the world of the power of photojournalism to reveal hard truths.
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