First of all, thank you for agreeing to the interview. How hard was the decision to leave Gaza after 107 days? You shared a video with your friends just before you left. You also posted a message, “I had to evacuate for a lot of reasons. You all know some, but not all of them.” What were the unknown reasons?
First, maybe I was unable to see all the reasons because I was there. It was easy for them to reach me. Like many other journalists who lost their lives because they showed everything, they tried to show everything. Sometimes it’s so dangerous for you to be everywhere, to cover the crimes they are committing, the genocide they’re waging every day. I tried my best in the capacity of a photographer. There is that we didn’t talk about. I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t think it’s like anyone. Maybe you should know it by now. Also, I didn’t decide to leave till I also found myself trying to find food. I had reached the end of my street. So, it wasn’t easy for me to leave, but it wasn’t easy for me to stay, either.
You were in Gaza for 107 days but now you are out. How do you feel? How do you process this transition?
I’m not a person of any significance. Since day one after leaving, I started to give interviews, people talk more to me. I meet officials from different places, different countries. I’ve met a lot of people and I have yet to meet many. I’m going to meet more and more, to talk more, to show more, because I feel that people have built up trust in me. So, if I am with them in their places, they will believe more, and it’s a way that maybe at least I do something for my people and my country.
You say that this is the most documented genocide ever. Why do you think that?
It’s documented at 4K. I showed the videos like 4K and the whole world saw the footage and it’s the same like World War II. Not everything was documented, but we saw horrible things. Here, we documented everything from the first minute but it’s the same. No one took action to stop it. My people are getting killed right now, in this very moment you are doing this interview and no one is acting as they should.
Are there any photos or videos that you never forget? For example, I remember a photo of you with an infant in an ambulance.
Yes, yes. Maybe it’s hard for me to talk about it and also hard for me to remember everything, because believe me, sometimes I feel like I lost my mind. It’s not easy, but there are some pictures that are stuck in my mind. It’s about babies, but babies whose brains were [spilt] out. So, yeah... I don’t know. I will never forget this. At the same time, I don’t know how I will pass through this.
Can you tell us about that shot? The ambulance with the baby
I’m a volunteer with the PRCS. There are two scenes with babies. There’s a scene in which I’m with one baby, and another video with two babies. I was in my friend’s car with the two babies. But in the ambulance, I was a volunteer with the PRCS, the Palestinian Red Crescent. Like a voluntary paramedic, first-aid provider and a photographer at the same time. So, there was a bombing near that station. We went with the ambulance to check, and there was a house full of women and babies. And there were a lot of injured people. I took this little girl in my hand; I thought she’s alive, but I was looking to check her pulse and I found that she’s very cold and she passed. I haven’t been able to hold back my tears or soothe my heart till now. I still remember; how tiny she was in my hands. And she was a newborn.
Israel is targeting journalists directly. Were you afraid for your life?
Yeah, I was afraid for my life. Especially when you get calls from the IDF, threats from settlers who call you, some of them keep cursing you. Some of them asking you to stop what you’re doing and it wasn’t easy.
Everyone says you are a hero, like Ali Jadallah. Do you think you are a hero?
No, I’m just someone who has come under a heavy genocide and you’re under occupation and you’re doing your best to show the world the reality. That’s all. I’m not a hero, but I’m not a coward, either.
You said it was a difficult decision to leave Gaza. Do you have a message for the journalists stuck in Gaza?
Stay strong, brothers. I know what you feel now. And I know you feel hopeless and you do what you do with nothing changing, like in the past. Ah, they’ll say, “oh, yeah, go and film, show the world the truth.” The world saw the truth and nothing changed. But I feel for them. I hope that they stay safe. And please don’t risk your lives anymore, because nobody cares.
Nobody cares?
Nobody cares.
It’s hard…
Yes, it’s hard and we have persons who are suffering under fire, and the people are watching what is happening through you. They are using you to watch what is happening and when you care about your life, “O, you are cowards. You should stay strong,” like it’s a movie for them. We’re not a movie. Yeah, that’s our country. We are fighting a brutal occupation before the world. And so, no, no one should risk their life to show a picture for a world that didn’t take any action to stop this.
You’re out now. What’s your plan for the future?
Let’s say, my plan till this war ends, until Gaza is rebuilt. I’m planning to travel here and there, make more noise, talk to the people, talk to the masses and through my pictures, my videos, I’ll give talks. I just want to respect the trust people give me, so I need to reach everyone in the whole world to tell them what is happening there and what we should do. To talk to officials. But at the same time, I don’t trust officials. Actually, I don’t trust in governments because they are so tricky. But at the same time, I’ll do what I have to do. And then I’m just a single person from Gaza, a young guy who was trying his best. Now I’m independent. I kept myself independent because I don’t want anyone to think that I’m working with someone who’s influencing me or something. No, I’m independent. I’m a pure Palestinian from the Gaza Strip who wants his country to be free from occupation. That’s all.
What particular things do you believe Muslims should do now under the given geopolitical circumstances but they are not doing?
Believe me, if this happened in any place, any other Muslim country, Palestinians would be the ones who would act more. But for sure, since 1948, we have been getting attacked and killed and murdered and thousands are put in prisons, Israeli prisons. And nothing changed. We hear words. Okay, thank you, thank you brother for those words, but at the same time, we need something to change. I’m the kind of person who’s looking for someone, something that will change something right now, not just keep saying words, and I’ll merely hear words. I’m not looking for this. We need changes.
What particular things have disturbed or troubled you in any way since leaving Gaza?
Processing where I was, what was happening, the friends I lost. Families lost, places lost, and people will judge you just because you survived and you left. I don’t know. I once felt that people like to see us in war, see us under attacks and not being able to find anything to eat. But at the moment you show the real Palestinian, the real human, like any human being around the world. I feel like they didn’t use to see this.
Yeah, while eating ice cream.
Yeah, eating ice cream. Is there hope for Gaza in the future? Can Gaza be rebuilt in a short time?
No.
So, what will people do in Gaza?
Gaza has been destroyed. 90% of the buildings in Gaza have been destroyed and the people are very hopeless. Me? I’m very hopeless. I don’t think it’s going to be rebuilt soon. We hope to get a ceasefire. This is what I’m seeking, this is what I’m calling for, but I don’t know. Maybe I’m wrong, maybe I’m right. I don’t know.
After you left Gaza, you went to Qatar first and you are in Türkiye now. Why these two countries?
Actually, I was waiting for this question; why Türkiye and Qatar? I didn’t know that I was going to Qatar when I left Gaza. But the first country that opened their doors for me and said “you are welcome to come and stay safe here” is Qatar. Türkiye also welcomes and gives access to come to their country. Easy for Palestinians, not like other countries. There are no agendas, but it’s the only countries that deal with Palestinians like any humans around the world, that give access without keeping you waiting months to get a visa, or something like this. They’re like, you’re welcome. So for me, I just like I found these two countries, the first countries that welcomed me. This is what I found. And believe me, if I had to choose, I would choose the same countries because they deserve you to show respect as they respect you, because even before the war, Qatar was the country that was always rebuilding Gaza, providing financial aid to people, doing something for Gaza.
Final question. Are you a war journalist or a war photographer?
No, I’m just a photographer. I take beautiful pictures. I was with my friend Mustafa. We always like to go to the port in Gaza and take pictures of the sunset. This is Motaz. But his country left him no choice but to be a photojournalist. I don’t like this actually, because I don’t like wars. I don’t like to take the pictures of people who are dying, getting killed, bombed. I’m just a photographer of beauty, but sorry, this is my situation, this is my country. And it’s because of the occupation. And I did what I had to do. I didn’t choose to do this, but I didn’t have the choice even to not do this. And this is the latest incursion, the latest war on Gaza. But this time was different maybe. I used all my power, all that I have; my language, my camera, my body, everything; just to do something at least. And there’s Motaz, there’s thousands of youths, thousands of Gazans. They are doing something for their country. Everyone. He’s trying his best, right? So, I’m not the only one, and there’s a lot of amazing guys in Gaza who just want to build a future, live in peace, and enjoy their free country, not the occupied, not the besieged Gaza Strip.
