The “Press Photo of the Year” award found its recipient in 2025 as well. Samar Abu Elouf, a photographer for the New York Times, won the award with a portrait of a Gazan child who lost his arms in the war. The jury commented on the winning photo for 2025 as “a quiet photo that speaks loudly.” The sad portrait of a nine-year-old Palestinian child whose arms were shattered in Israel’s attack on Gaza won the “World Press Photo Award” for 2025. The photo entitled “Aged Nine” capturing Mahmoud Ajjour, deserving of the award, was taken by journalist Samar Abu Elouf for The New York Times.

ASKED HIS MOTHER “HOW WILL I HUG YOU”

Elouf, the photographer, said, “One of the hardest things Mahmoud’s mother told me was that the first thing he said to her when he realized his arms were amputated was ‘How will I hug you?'” The young child, amidst the shadow of attacks in which he lost his arms and at least 51,000 Palestinian compatriots, was evacuated to the capital of Qatar, Doha, for treatment. It was reported that the award-winning photographer is also from Gaza and is currently capturing photos of severely injured Palestinians in Doha.

“A QUIET PHOTO THAT SPEAKS LOUDLY”

The jury commented on the winning photo for 2025 as “a quiet photo that speaks loudly.” Joumana El Zein Khoury, the managing director of the World Press Photo Foundation, said of the photo, “It tells the story of a child, but also narrates a broader war that will have an impact for generations to come.” Last year’s winning photo also depicted a woman in a hospital morgue in the Gaza Strip, embracing the shrouded body of her 5-year-old nephew in tears.