Motaz Azaiza

Biography: Motaz Hilal Azaiza (Arabic: معتز هلال عزايزة‎; born 30 January 1999) is a Palestinian photojournalist from the Gaza Strip who became famous for his coverage of the Israeli war in the Gaza Strip, where he lived through the events with his family until 23 January 2024, when he was evacuated to Doha, Qatar. Motaz Azaiza grew up in Deir al-Balah camp in the Gaza Strip. He attended al-Azhar University in Gaza and graduated in 2021 with a degree in English studies. He is currently employed by UNRWA. Prior to the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, Azaiza's online publications focused primarily on daily life in the Gaza Strip. Although he covered the 2014 Gaza War and the 2021 Israeli-Palestinian crisis, his social media accounts had not received much attention. There are few foreign journalists in the Gaza Strip as Israel and Egypt deny them access to the territory, leading Azaiza to become a key reporter on the ground in Gaza. Before October 7, 2023, Azaiza's Instagram profile had approximately 25,000 followers. On October 13, his Instagram account was restricted, but access was restored the following day. As of December 27, 2023, Azaiza's Instagram profile had 17.5 million followers, making him one of the most followed journalists in the world. On October 11, 2023, at least fifteen members of Motaz Azaiza's family were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Deir al-Balah camp, shortly after the outbreak of the 2023 Israel-Hamas war. On January 23, nearly 100 days after the start of the war, Motaz announced in a publication in which he removed his reporter's vest that he was being evacuated to Qatar, via Egypt, expressing his wish to return to his homeland quickly. Motaz had to flee Gaza in the face of threats received and attacks by the Israeli army that seemed to target him. In November 2023, GQ Middle East magazine named him Man of the Year. In France, the Normandy region awarded him the "Freedom Prize 2024".