Image of amputee Palestinian boy wins World Press Photo award

AMSTERDAM – 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 on April 17.

The picture, by Ms Samar Abu Elouf for The New York Times, depicts Mahmoud Ajjour, who was evacuated to Doha, Qatar, after an explosion severed one arm and mutilated the other in 2024.

“One of the most difficult things Mahmoud’s mother explained to me was how when Mahmoud first came to the realisation that his arms were amputated, the first sentence he said to her was, ‘How will I be able to hug you?’” said Ms 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 Ms Joumana El Zein Khoury, World Press Photo’s 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 Mr 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 photojournalists to select 42 prize-winning shots from around the world. AFP