The photojournalist
Confronting the pain of others is central to the career of Mohammed al-aloul, 36, a photojournalist who for years has framed Gaza’s strife in his viewfinder.
But Nov. 5, the pain came for him.
It was etched on al-aloul’s face as he clutched the swaddled remains of his son, killed in what Gaza authorities said was an Israeli airstrike. And that pain roared through him again that same day when he stood over the bodies of three of his other children who, it turned out, had died in the same attack.
Falling to his knees, he wept. “God help me endure this pain,” he said.
After Oct. 7, he hardly saw his own family, dashing from the scene of one bombing to another, shooting video for the Turkish state-run media agency, Anadolu. But he missed his five children badly, he said.
Before the war, they would join him after work to watch soccer games on television at home, cheering and screaming “Gooaal!” along with the commentators. Once fighting started, he wore his son Ahmed’s baseball cap to work.
“It carried his smell,” he said.
On Nov. 4, after spending a rare night at home, al-aloul said his 6-year-old son, Kenan, had begged him not to go. But he left, and as he was documenting displaced families the next day, a friend called.
There had been a strike near his home in central Gaza. What followed was a frantic blur, al-aloul said.
He scrolled through social media and called friends as fragments of news came through. Finally, at the hospital, he learned that Kenan and three of his other children — Ahmad, 13; Rahaf, 11; and Qais, 4 — were dead, as were four of his brothers and some of their children and neighbors. His wife was seriously wounded.
The sole survivor among his children was his youngest son, 1-year-old Adam, whose face was lashed by shrapnel. He’s all I have left,” al-aloul said days later, clutching the child to his chest. Now, al-aloul’s family is in Turkey, where his wife is undergoing treatment for her extensive wounds.