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Amputee Palestinian boy image wins World Press Photo award

Amputee Palestinian boy image wins World Press Photo award

The picture depicts Mahmoud Ajjour, who lost both arms during an Israeli attack on Gaza.
17 Apr, 2025

A haunting portrait of a nine-year-old Palestinian boy who lost both arms during an Israeli attack on Gaza City won the 2025 World Press Photo of the Year Award Thursday.

The picture, by Samar Abu Elouf for The New York Times, depicts Mahmoud Ajjour, evacuated to Doha after an explosion severed one arm and mutilated the other last year.

“One of the most difficult things Mahmoud’s mother explained to me was how when Mahmoud first realised that his arms were amputated, the first sentence he said to her was, ‘How will I be able to hug you’?” said Elouf.

The photographer is also from Gaza and was herself evacuated in December 2023. She now portrays badly wounded Palestinians based in Doha.

“This is a quiet photo that speaks loudly. It tells the story of one boy, but also of a wider war that will have an impact for generations,” said Joumana El Zein Khoury, World Press Photo Executive Director.

The jury praised the photo’s “strong composition and attention to light” and its thought-provoking subject-matter, especially questions raised over Mahmoud’s future.

The boy is now learning to play games on his phone, write, and open doors with his feet, the jury said.

“Mahmoud’s dream is simple: he wants to get prosthetics and live his life as any other child,” said the World Press Photo organisers in a statement. The jury also selected two photos for the runner-up prize.

The first, entitled ‘Droughts in the Amazon’ by Musuk Nolte for Panos Pictures and the Bertha Foundation, shows a man on a dried-up river bed in the Amazon carrying supplies to a village once accessible by boat.

The second, ‘Night Crossing’ by John Moore shooting for Getty Images, depicts Chinese migrants huddling near a fire during a cold rainshower after crossing the US-Mexico border.

The jury sifted through 59,320 photographs from 3,778 photo journalists to select 42 prize-winning shots from around the world.

Photographers for Agence France-Presse were selected four times for a regional prize, more than any other organisation.

Nairobi-based Luis Tato won in the Stories category for the Africa region for a selection of photos depicting Kenya’s youth uprising.

Jerome Brouillet won in the Singles category Asia-Pacific and Oceania for his iconic picture of surfer Gabriel Medina seemingly floating above the waves. Clarens Siffroy won in the Stories category North and Central America for his coverage of the gang crisis in Haiti.

Finally, Anselmo Cunha won in the Singles category for South America for his photo of a Boeing 727-200 stranded at Salgado Filho International Airport in Brazil.

Comments

Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad Apr 17, 2025 05:20pm
Salute and tribute to the fair and equitable jury, which has chosen the picture of a nine-years old Amputee Palestinian boy, who lost both arms during a horrific Israeli attack, taken by Samar Abu Elouf for The New York Times, as the winner of the 2025 world press photo award, while going through 59,320 photographs taken by 3,778 photojournalists to pick 42 prize-winning shots from all over the world.
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Free Palestine Apr 17, 2025 09:43pm
My salute to this young boy and wish him all good luck and blessings to his family.
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YaarDost Apr 18, 2025 01:42am
Very very SAD and painful. While one should condemn Israel but HAMAS should also take responsibility. Current wave of violence was started by Hamas and Israel inhumanly, brutally retaliated. Shame, look at his innocent face. Special training and modern limbs should be made available to him.
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