An image of Mahmoud Ajjour, 9, who was severely wounded in an Israeli strike, won the 2025 World Press Photo of the Year award.
A Palestinian child who was severely wounded in an Israeli drone attack on Gaza last year, and who was pictured in an image that won the 2025 World Press Photo of the Year award, says he has been struggling to adapt to life since losing both his arms in the explosion.
Speaking to Al Jazeera from Doha, Qatar, where he has been receiving treatment, nine-year-old Mahmoud Ajjour recalled the moment the bomb exploded, targeting his home in March 2024.
At first, Ajjour, who hails from Gaza City’s old town, said he did not realise he was wounded.
“I thought I had simply fallen. But I found myself on the ground, exhausted, and wondering what had happened,” he told Al Jazeera.
In reality, one arm “flew off, and one flew and fell right beside me”, he added.
Still unaware that he had sustained serious wounds – wounds that mutilated his entire body – Ajjour said he looked around and saw his arms. Although they looked familiar, his brain still could not comprehend that they had been blown off.
“My mother then told me that I lost my arms,” Ajjour recalled. “I started crying. I was very sad, and my mental state was very bad.”
His mental health deteriorated further when he, like many others in Gaza, had to undergo surgery without anaesthetics due to a severe lack of medical supplies. Throughout the war, Israeli forces have largely kept vital border crossings shut, preventing the entry of much-needed medical supplies, as well as food and other aid, including fuel.
“They performed surgery on me while I was awake,” Ajjour said, the shock still evident in his voice.
“I couldn’t bear the pain, I was screaming very loud. My voice filled the hallways.”
‘Everything is difficult’
Ajjour is one of thousands of children in Gaza who are suffering life-changing injuries due to relentless, indiscriminate Israeli bombardment.
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund, more than 10 children each day have lost one or both of their legs since October 7, 2023, when Israel launched its ongoing genocide in Gaza.
That is more than 1,000 children.
“Gaza now has the highest number of children amputees per capita anywhere in the world – many losing limbs and undergoing surgeries without even anaesthesia,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in December.
Ajjour is now learning to write, play games on his phone, and dress himself using his feet – but still needs special assistance for most daily activities.
He now longs for the days when his arms were still intact.
Before the attack, Ajjour said he used to go to the market and buy his mother vegetables and food she needed.
“Now, everything is difficult, including feeding myself, helping myself to the bathroom … but I try my best,” he said. “I manage my life like this. I make it work.”
Ajjour dreams of a future where he can return to Gaza and help rebuild the devastated enclave.
He hopes the world can “end the war on Gaza”.
“We want to live on our land. We don’t want the Israelis to take it,” he said.
“People are dying there [in Gaza]. And my home was bombed. How could I live like this?”
Israel’s ongoing assault on the besieged and bombarded territory has so far killed more than 51,000 Palestinians and wounded at least 116,505 others, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.
It has also forcibly displaced most of its 2.3 million strong population, ravaged most of the land, damaged basic infrastructure and dismantled its already-struggling healthcare system.
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