By Andrea Tucci,
After eight years of collaboration with the Reuters agency, a freelance photographer announces the end of the relationship, denouncing the role of the news outlet in “justifying and facilitating the systematic killing of 245 journalists in Gaza.”
His images, published over the years by The New York Times, Al Jazeera, and numerous other international media outlets, have told many stories of this region marked by suffering. Today, however, he says, “It is impossible for me to continue carrying this press card without shame and pain.”
The breaking point, he explains, came with the killing of Palestinian journalist Anas Al-Sharif and the entire Al Jazeera crew in Gaza City on August 10. On that occasion, instead of defending its contributor, Reuters repeated the Israeli claim—later proven false—that accused him of being a Hamas militant. “One of the countless lies that Western media have repeated and legitimized,” the photographer denounces.
On August 25, a new tragic chapter unfolded: the Israeli attack on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, carried out with a “double tap” tactic—striking a civilian facility and then returning to bomb it after rescuers and journalists arrived. In that operation, 19 people were killed, including five journalists: Alaa al-Kafarneh, Mohammad al-Attar, Shadi al-Sultan, Mohammad Abu Qamar, and the photojournalist Maryam Abu Daqqa.
Maryam was 32 years old. She came from Abasan, an agricultural town east of Khan Younis. After attending a photography course at the Italian center in Gaza City, she chose to dedicate her life to photojournalism.
According to the photographer, responsibility does not fall solely on the Israeli army but also on Western media: “From The New York Times to The Washington Post, from AP to Reuters: they all continue to function as a conveyor belt for Israeli propaganda, dehumanizing civilian victims and whitewashing war crimes under the pretext of having killed Hamas militants.”
The deliberate killing of those who tell the truth can no longer be met with silence or indifference. Governments, international institutions, and both religious and civil communities – including the Jewish community – carry a moral responsibility to openly condemn these crimes, to demand respect for international law, and to raise their voices for justice.
In just the past month, Israel has killed ten journalists.
Among them was Maryam Abu Daqqa, not only a Photojournalist, but also a Wife, a Mother, a Voice of Gaza.
Photo of the article: photojournalist Maryam Abu Daqqa
