A li Jadallah is a Palestinian photojournalist based in Gaza who has worked for Anadolu Agency since 2012. He has documented the Israel-Gaza war from its beginning in the face of immense challenges. Jadallah has won several international and local awards for his pictures.
He has lost four relatives in Israeli attacks on Gaza. He continues to cover the war in the region. This was at the beginning of the war, one of the first photos I took, and it left a lasting impact on me.
It was a deeply shocking image and, as I captured it, I felt an overwhelming fear – terrified that it could be one of my own family members in the place of the injured man. That fear gripped me entirely, and to this day I still don’t fully understand how I managed to continue taking those photos. It felt as though every click of the camera was an act of documentation and a way to shield myself from the terrifying possibility of personal loss.
After the huge explosion at al-Ahli al-Arabi , also known as the Baptist hospital, that claimed the lives of more than 500 people, the overwhelming number of casualties meant that many of the wounded lay on the hospital grounds with no medical staff or space to treat them. This woman needed water and a blanket. I put down my camera to provide her with what she needed.
Before being a journalist, I am a human being, and these scenes are incredibly difficult for me to process. My mind feels like it’s going to explode whenever I think about the possibility that this.