Celebrated Palestinian photojournalist Motaz Azaiza evacuates from Gaza

After surviving 108 days of Israel's brutal military onslaught on the Gaza Strip, celebrated Palestinian photojournalist Motaz Azaiza has announced his decision to evacuate from the coastal enclave.

The 24-year-old, who later revealed he would be traveling to Qatar, rose to prominence after he documented the destruction wreaked upon his home city since the beginning of Israel’s latest war on Gaza in October.

Since then, Azaiza has become one of the most prominent voices from Gaza on social media, delivering regular English-language news updates from the ground to his 18.3m followers on Instagram.

Before October, Azaiza had just 25,000 followers. GQ Middle East also featured him as their 2023 ‘Man Of The Year’ in November. Before Israel's latest military aggression on Gaza, he documented everyday life in the besieged Palestinian enclave.

But over the last three months, his shocking and heart-wrenching images have given the world an unfiltered view of the relentless violence carried out by Israeli forces. Yet amid his horrific or sombre reports were glimpses of the resilience of Palestinians in Gaza: sharing meals, playing football, and going to the beach.

Azaiza also often shared his thoughts, expressing the devastating physical and mental toll the three-month war had taken on him. Journalists in Gaza have also been frequent targets of Israeli drones and warplanes, and Azaiza himself received several threats from unknown Israeli telephone numbers.