Overview

• The winning image, selected from over 59,000 submissions, depicts nine-year-old Mahmoud Ajjour, who lost both arms in a March 2024 Israeli airstrike on Gaza City.
• Photographed by Samar Abu Elouf for The New York Times, the portrait captures Mahmoud’s resilience as he undergoes rehabilitation in Doha, Qatar.
• World Press Photo described the image as a poignant representation of the disproportionate toll of war on children, citing Gaza’s global per capita child amputee rate as the highest.
• Mahmoud’s story reflects broader themes of suffering and survival, with the boy now learning to adapt to daily life using his feet while awaiting prosthetics.
• The contest’s runners-up include images addressing global crises, such as migration at the U.S.–Mexico border and drought in the Amazon rainforest.