A powerful portrait of a young Palestinian boy injured during the war in Gaza has been named the 2025 World Press Photo of the Year.
The winning image, taken by Doha-based photographer Samar Abu Elouf for The New York Times, shows nine-year-old Mahmoud Ajjour, who was severely wounded while fleeing an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City in March 2024.
According to the photographer, Mahmoud had turned back to call out to his family during their escape when an explosion struck. One of his arms was severed, and the other was left badly injured. He was later evacuated to Qatar with his family, receiving emergency medical care.
Abu Elouf, who left Gaza in December 2023, now lives in the same apartment complex as Mahmoud in Doha. Her ongoing work documents the lives of a small number of severely wounded Gazans who, like Mahmoud, were able to leave for treatment.
The #WPPh2025 Photo of the Year is ‘Mahmoud Ajjour, Aged Nine’ by @samarabuelouf, for @nytimes. The jury was moved by this portrait of a Palestinian boy which speaks to the devastating long-term costs of war on civilians. Read more: https://t.co/KHmkUjt2Rj pic.twitter.com/QP3lqEBWaR
— World Press Photo (@WorldPressPhoto) April 17, 2025
Today, Mahmoud is learning to adapt—using his feet to play games, write, and open doors. His dream is simple: to receive prosthetic arms and live like other children. The United Nations estimates that Gaza had the highest number of child amputees per capita in the world by December 2024.
Joumana El Zein Khoury, executive director of World Press Photo, said, “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. Looking at our archive, in the 70th year of World Press Photo, I am confronted by too many images like this one.”
The award was announced Thursday at the World Press Photo Exhibition 2025 opening at De Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam, coinciding with the organization’s 70th anniversary.
Two other images were recognized as runners-up.
“Night Crossing”, by photographer John Moore for Getty Images, documents a tense moment during a nighttime migration across the U.S. border. The image captures the emotional weight of migration and the quiet uncertainty that defines such journeys.
The second runner-up, “Droughts in the Amazon”, by Musuk Nolte for Panos Pictures and the Bertha Foundation, highlights the severe water crisis in Brazil. The photograph shows a young man walking across a cracked riverbed in the once-boat-accessible village of Manacapuru, carrying food to his mother.
All three images were selected from over 59,000 entries submitted by 3,778 photographers from 141 countries. Winners were chosen across categories, including single images, photo stories, and long-term projects.
“I remain endlessly grateful for the photographers who, despite the personal risks and emotional costs, record these stories to give all of us the opportunity to understand, empathise, and be inspired to action,” Khoury said.
