** This article contains a graphic image that many readers will find upsetting **
“THE DANGER IS always there,” says freelance photographer Omar Ashtawy about his work covering the death and destruction in Gaza.
Since the war broke out on 7 October, ignited by Hamas’s attacks on Israel which killed 1,197 people, mostly civilians, the media has been relying heavily on Palestinian journalists and photographers to document the devastation in Gaza.
The health ministry in Gaza said yesterday that at least 39,145 people have been killed since the 7 October attack.
Earlier this month, freelance photographer Omar Ashtawy photographed three dead children and their father who had been brought to the Al-Aqsa hospital after an Israeli strike hit their home.
The Journal contacted Ashtawy after viewing these images of the deceased Al-Raii family, and his Arabic responses have been translated for this article.
He was asked about the process of taking these photos of the Al-Raii family after they were killed in an Israeli strike, as well as the toll such events take on him personally.
“We photographed their bodies inside the hospital morgue, and we moved in the morning to their house, which had been bombed by Israeli army planes.
It was clear from the scene they were asleep at the time they were targeted, as there was a lot of damage next to their beds and clothes.
He said these were “certainly painful scenes” that he and his colleague from the news agency AFP “were able to photograph in a professional way”.
Warning: Graphic image of the deceased Al-Raii family below
Ashtawy said his work “requires him to be present in the area of the event as quickly as possible” so that he can “document the scenes of destruction, killing, and panic experienced by people at the moment of bombing and explosions”.
“The scenes are often tragic.
“For example, when you go to cover the event of a house being bombed by Israeli army planes, you will find a large number of people stricken with panic, trying to escape from the place or take cover.
“Then you will find others with some civil defence personnel and ambulance staff near the bombed place, where they search for the victims.
“They move the bodies that are visible and present, then they begin to search for the remains of the family members who were buried under the rubble and stones.”
Ashtway said that he then “waits a little or a long time until they begin to remove the victims from under the rubble”.
He said these victims under the rubble are often children or women, and that the recovery is set against a backdrop of “relatives and neighbours crying and screaming from the horror of what they saw and grief for those they lost”.
“Taking such photos professionally requires the photographer to put in more effort, struggle, focus, and to move quickly.
These are all scenes that the photographer must document and photograph because they convey a reality full of tragedy, suffering and human feelings.
Gaza has always been dangerous for journalists, but this danger has increased dramatically since 7 October.
Speaking to The Journal in January, Sherif Mansour, the Committee to Protect Journalist’ Middle-East and North Africa program co-ordinator, said that 20 journalists had been killed in Palestine by Israeli forces between 2001 and 2023.
As of 24 July, the CPJ has confirmed that 108 journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza since 7 October.
Of this figure, 103 were Palestinian, two were Israeli, and three were Lebanese.
In addition to this, 51 journalists were reported as arrested and two were reported as missing.
Sherif Mansour warned that there is a “track-record of impunity when it comes to killing journalists” in Palestine.
Ashtawy told The Journal that most Palestinian photographers and journalists feel that the Israeli army “does not distinguish between a journalist, a civilian, or even other wanted persons”.
Journalistic work in the Gaza Strip has become fraught with dangers, and nightmares of injury and death haunt journalists even in their dreams.
“The dangers surround journalists and photographers everywhere here.
“Likewise, our offices and equipment were not spared from destruction, as the headquarters of the agency I worked for was destroyed in the 2021 war, and now it has been destroyed again in this war.”
In May 2021, the Israeli military flattened a 13-floor building which hosted the US agency Associated Press (AP) and Qatar’s Al Jazeera.
And last November, AFP’s building in Gaza was severely damaged by an Israeli strike.
“A strike on the offices of an international news agency sends a deeply troubling message to all the journalists working in such difficult conditions in Gaza,” said AFP Chairman and CEO Fabrice Fries at the time.
Ashtawy said he and other Palestinian media workers “feel the danger looming when covering any event or visiting any place that is targeted by the Israeli army”.
He added that his work “requires him to be present in the area of the event as quickly as possible” so that he can “document the scenes of destruction, killing, and panic experienced by people at the moment of bombing and explosions”.
“We constantly have fear and anxiety about facing the fate of our fellow photographers and journalists who fell while performing their journalistic duties in the field.”
Ashtawy said there are occasions when the Israeli army “re-targets places where we go to photograph after it bombed them the first time”.
“That’s when journalists and photographers are always exposed to injury or death, and many colleagues have been injured in such cases.”
Ashtway also noted that there is the risk of buildings collapsing due to the damage caused by Israeli strikes.
“Needless to say, the photographer is fully aware and worried about the dangers they may face, because there is no real protection or commitment on the part of the Israeli army to spare Palestinian journalists from being targeted, injured, or even killed,” said Ashtway.
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