Photo of Hamas terrorists parading with woman’s body wins award, sparks outrage
The Associated Press has won a prestigious journalism award for its photo of Hamas militants carrying the body of a dead woman through the streets of Gaza. The development sparked widespread reaction on social media, with some praising the use of the woman’s image as a “disgraceful insult to Jewish life”.
The woman, identified as 22-year-old Shani Louk, was abducted by Hamas on October 7, when the terrorist group first attacked Israel.
The photo shows Luke semi-nude, lying unconscious in the back of a pickup truck filled with armed men.
According to media reports, Luk was at the Supernova music festival on October 7, when terrorists opened fire on attendees with bullets and grenades, killing about 360 people and abducting dozens, mostly civilians, of whom Many were subjected to horrific acts of cruelty and sexual assault.
He was officially declared dead on 30 October after fragments of his skull were identified. His body is still kept in Gaza.
According to the New York Post, the ‘Team Picture Story of the Year’ award, run by the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute at the University of Missouri School of Journalism, has been described as the world’s oldest photojournalism competition.
Reacting to the image, Aviva Klompas, former head of speech writing at the Israel Mission to the UN, demanded punishment for the photographer for clicking the image.
“The AP photographer who accompanied jihadi barbarians during the October 7 invasion of Israel has been honored with a prestigious photography award for taking this photo of murder-rapist-turned-terrorists posing with the brutalized and mutilated body of Shani Lauk Going. I feel like he should go to jail, not get an award,” she wrote on X.
Other social media users said they were “shocked” and “disgusted” at the photo.
Israel-Hamas war
In the latest, the UN’s top court on Thursday ordered Israel to take measures to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, including opening more land crossings to allow food, water, fuel and other supplies into the war-torn territory. .
Thursday’s order came after South Africa called for more temporary measures, including a ceasefire, citing starvation in Gaza.
Israel, which had urged the court not to issue new orders, said it does not impose any limits on aid entering Gaza and vowed to “promote new initiatives” to bring even more aid. .
So far 1,200 people on the Israeli side have been killed in the war, while 250 others have been taken hostage. More than 32,000 Palestinians are reported to have died as a result of the war, according to local health officials.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza does not distinguish between civilians and fighters, but says about two-thirds of the dead are women, children and teenagers.