“Same child but with bigger power,” Motaz Azaiza

Renowned Palestinian journalist and photographer Motaz Azaiza recently reminisced about his childhood and his longing to relive it,  but the profound human suffering he witnessed in his Gaza irrevocably transformed him.

Taking to  Instagram, Azaiza posted a childhood photo alongside recent pictures to illustrate the drastic changes in his life.

The childhood photo showed little Motaz dressed in an army uniform and holding a microphone, exuding a youthful innocence. "Same child but with a bigger power," he wrote in the caption.

Other photos depicted him alongside Palestinian children, who, like him, have witnessed Israeli atrocities in Gaza at a tender age.

One particularly moving picture showed Azaiza carrying a child with an amputated leg on his shoulders.

 “I truly appreciate myself more when a child stops me to take a picture or give me a drawing of me. What they don’t know is that I was the same as them, I was a child who really just wanted to play,” Motaz said.

“But I don’t know what happened,” he added, conveying the irreversible impact of war on his life.

Motaz Azaiza, a 25-year-old journalist from Gaza, gained international recognition for his fearless reporting on the Israeli genocide in Gaza. 

Risking his life, he extensively documented the devastation, making him a global symbol of Palestinian resilience and representation.

Evacuated from Gaza in January this year, Azaiza continues to advocate for his people. 

Recently, he was honored alongside Waled al-Dadoh and four other journalists at the Doha Forum for political dialogue, in recognition of their sacrifices in reporting from the conflict zone.