Humanitarian Golden Visa: A photo report on civilians trapped in Gaza wins an award from the Red Cross
Since October 2023, Palestinian photographer Saher Alghorra has tirelessly documented the daily lives of Gazans caught in the conflict. His lens has captured scenes of rare intensity: families fleeing on foot in panic; wounded people flocking to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Hospital in Deir al-Balah; mass burials of unidentified Palestinians in mass graves in Khan Younis; endless columns of displaced people returning north; old men waiting to fill their jerrycans with water; women desperately holding out their mess tins to obtain food during charity distributions. And this heartbreaking image: a mother offering a final caress to her child killed in the bombing of their home, a poignant Gazan Pieta.
His powerful and sensitive images convinced the jury of the 15th edition of the ICRC's Humanitarian Visa d'Or, whose theme was "civilians, the first victims of armed conflicts."
Without sugarcoating the devastation and tragedy, the photographer also strives to reveal the resilience and tenacious perseverance of his compatriots. Through his work, he bears witness to "ṣumūd," a term that emerged in the 1970s to describe the desire to remain on their land and the daily resistance to Israeli colonization .
It is this desire to bear witness to this "ṣumūd" that pushed the young man, born in Gaza in 1997, to become a photojournalist. After studying public relations and media at university, Saher Alghorra began his career as a freelance photojournalist in 2021. His photos began to be published in the international press and agencies, particularly Anglo-Saxon ones such as the Guardian , Time Magazine , The Telegraph .
Reached by telephone on June 19, Saher Alghorra, deeply moved by the announcement of his award, emphasized the importance of continuing to bear witness: " The humanitarian situation here is extremely catastrophic . Receiving the ICRC's Humanitarian Visa d'Or means that what we are experiencing is not being ignored. I am deeply grateful for this support."
The jury, composed of photography, media, and humanitarian professionals, also recognized his commitment on the ground, paying tribute to the exceptional courage of journalists covering conflict zones around the world: in Gaza, of course, but also in Ukraine, Haiti, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. According to Reporters Without Borders, nearly 200 journalists have been killed in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023.
Saher Alghorra's report will be exhibited from August 30th to September 14th at the Visa pour l'Image festival in Perpignan. The photographer will officially receive his €8,000 prize on the evening of September 3rd, with the hope that he will be able to collect it in person. His work will then be presented in Paris from November 27th, 2025 to January 31st, 2026, at the Fait&Cause gallery.
La Croıx
