"Fear and Terror": Gaza Photographer Ahmed Zakot on Documenting the Carnage of Israel's Assault

this is democracy Now democracynow.org The War and Peace report I'm Amy Goodman Israeli war planes bombed areas in B lahia in the northern Gaza Strip as well as the jabalia refugee camp in Gaza City over the last day killing at least four people meanwhile Al jazer reports the Israeli military has deployed more troops in areas adjacent to Rafa the Southernmost city of Gaza where some 1.3 pal million Palestinians more than half of gaza's population are seeking shelter Israeli air strikes have been pounding agricultural land in eastern parts of Rafa this morning the official death toll in Gaza is nearly 34,000 Palestinians killed over 14,000 of them children thousands more are missing and presumed dead under the rebel nearly 77,000 have been wounded that's a 100,000 Palestinians killed or wounded since October 7th this comes as a picture by the Gaza based Reuters photo journalist Muhammad Salam has been chosen as the 2024 World Press photo of the year it shows a Palestinian woman in Abu mamar caressing the WRA body of her dead n in the Nasser Hospital morg in Kan yunes in October well today we're joined by a Palestinian photographer who was able to leave Raza 10 days ago with his family amedot is a photographer who's documented Gaza for the past 25 years two of his photographs are featured in a un Ocha project Ahmed Zak joins us now from Cairo Egypt Ahmed welcome to democracy now you've just recently left Gaza can you talk about the journey you took and why as a photographer who's documented Gaza for the last quarter of a century you decided to leave with your family thank you so much and I'm very happy to join you today uh actually what what what forced us to leave Gaza is to be safe and to keep our family lives safe as you know it's a war ongoing since seven months and it's a very very hard War it's I'm I'm working since 25 years this is the first war that I faced it's a a very very strong war and we don't know how we are be patient to to keep to still alive uh during this seven months uh actually this this war is keeping and still uh ongoing on gaza's STP so uh each month we talk to us that this war will stop and the International Community will stop this war but actually no one nothing changed and the the war is still ongoing until this moment AED you left but you have two brothers their wives and children where are they in Gaza right now what circumstances are they living in yeah of course uh I left two brothers wives and their childrens in khun at maasi area that the Israeli Army said it's it it is hum humanitarian area but actually nowhere no place in Gaza Strip are safe because uh I was there and uh we are all of us were lived in a tents on this area this area it's like a desert no water no no food no useful food and it's a danger areas because the Israeli Army by time to time targeted uh tents and targeted many targets over there so we are seeking and we are trying to evacuate them from Gaza Strip as soon as soon as possible to follow us here in Egypt to be safe because as I said this war are still ongoing the situation they my family and all the Palestinians situation are very very catastrophic and very very bad over there no one can lives and no one can guarantee that he will wake up at the next morning he is alive or he is not wounded ahed zot so many of your photographs feature children also ambulances can you talk about your focus right now uh as you photographed in Gaza these last six months yes of course uh our coverage this war is different about many last Wars in G as you know Gaza STP occurred for four Wars at least and I covered them but this war was special and because of it's special about me as a a photojournalist for 25 years because the Intensive hits the Intensive heavy attacks on the the neighborhoods the cities the buildings and also it hits the civilians the innocent people actually so it's different this is the first time I felt fear and Terror this war on me and on my my brothers my my family completely actually so it's I can't explain this wall because it's a very very big big war we can say each area that we went it and cover it we can say it it's like an earthquake hit this area not bomb bomb and bombs hit this area there are a lot of distraction area buildings or in each single piece and place in Gaza Strip so we are focusing on children women and on the ambulances uh teams and all and all of of the civilians that were Hur on this wall Ahmed Zak two of your photographs are featured in an OA project that's the UN office for coordination of humanitarian Affairs um there it's a project called gaza's Carnage Through The Eyes of Palestinian photojournalists one of them was taken on October 9th the other on November 10th can you describe these photographs that you chose for this project in your description of the photograph from October 9th it says it was as if Flames were spewing from the jaws of Israeli tanks and the F-16 missiles I took this picture from the 19th floor of a skyscraper in Gaza in my 25e career as a photographer I never felt such fear and distress I felt that I was filming a cinematic movie scene I had to remind myself it is all too real I don't have the words to describe this picture but I know the terror I felt watching The Flame lighting up Gaza in a night drowned in darkness with the electricity cut offs on Gaza where Ahmed what looking at your picture as you talked to us about it that picture you took in October yes of course this is the first time that I C that I captured such this picture because as I said and I and I as explained it's I thought myself that I'm shooting or capturing uh a cinematic H scene because this is the first time I saw a heavy of air attacks on a symol area it was a remal neighborhood it's it is the beautiful uh neighborhood in Gaza and this night it was because of the the the heavy and the Intensive attacks from the air strikes they are lighting the area we uh a middle a mid of this Darkness as you know Gaza are suffering from power cut for many years since 2006 but this time I felt that Gaza is lighting but not with electricity by the the the lights comes from the the bombs of uh and air strikes from the F-16 war planes so this picture are still stuck on my mind my mind until now and will still stuck on my mind mind for for forever because I felt that really I'm in a cinematic scene not in a real war that hitting the areas and the buildings over there this picture are still stuck and has a story with me Amed I wanted to end with your other photograph from November um it is a photograph of thousands of displaced Palestinians fleeing South you wrote as I was taking this picture I remembered my grandfather telling me about alaka and how he was displaced I started crying yes tell us about because I remember this picture so I was crying I stopped my capturing pictures at that day especially because I remembered my grandfather's story that he told me before he passed away in 2002 he told me about AA stages while when the Israeli forces forced them to lift the original cities in Israel to the southern cities in Gaza STP so he told me one word that this sin will not get back at this time so when I captur this scene I remember this word from him that when he told me this sentence with that when he told me before he he he passed away that this SC will will not give back but now we are shooting this picture we are shooting this situation this displacement for this people for those people who are suffering as you see in the picture they are carrying their belongings at their help and weak hands so they are flooding from the sou the norn cities for of Gaza Strip to the nor to the southern cities so it reminds me what my grandfather told me about this displacement it's the same happened since to 1948 now we are in 2024 and 20 or 23 by the way so this remind me and stuck my heart I stopped my work and keep crying away from my friends that we are together at that day Ahmed can you talk about how you got out of God with your family can you talk about what a an adult has to pay something like7 8,000 it's $2500 for a child explain the circumstances how you get out as the Israeli military says it is intent on now attacking Rafa where people leave from so yes we I'll leave go we are left Gaza by I coordinating with the Egyptian press Syndicate and the arranging that to me and to my family because I'm a journalist so they helped me to do that I it's really really I I appreciated that for them and very thankful for them because they helped me to leave Gaza to Egypt to to at least stay for maybe one or two months until the the war will stop so I will get back to my to my my city to Gaza to to the Gaza Strip to to keep working and to keep sending messages and to keep covering the suffers of my people in Gaza Street ahed Z we want to thank you so much for being with us Palestinian photographer forced to leave Gaza with his family 10 days ago

Channel: Democracy Now!

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Keywords: Democracy Now, Amy Goodman, News, Politics, democracynow, Independent Media, Breaking News, World News

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Length: 12min 58sec (778 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 19 2024