Key Takeaways:
- Gazan photographer Saher Alghorra won the 2026 Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News Photography. The photos in the profile include one of Hamas discovering a hostage’s body and a child said to be starving.
- The Pulitzer Prize has a history of awarding photographers and journalists with problematic histories or explicit biases.
- By awarding these stories, the Pulitzer has shifted to platforming Hamas-crafted and aligned narratives, prioritizing emotional appeal over the objective truth.
There is a new and increasingly troubling genre steadily embedding itself into mainstream media: the transformation of the Palestinian narrative into a dominant, emotionally driven category, often built on sympathetically framed and manufactured Hamas-aligned storytelling.
Nowhere is this shift more visible than in the Pulitzer Prize.
HonestReporting has previously raised concerns about the Pulitzers for:
- Honoring Mosab Abu Toha, a Gazan poet who excused the kidnapping of Israeli civilians on October 7.
- Awarding Yasser Qudih, a photographer who infiltrated Israel on October 7.
- Honoring Hamas terrorist Anas al-Sharif, who worked for Reuters at the time of his award.
- Honoring the New York Times’ biased war coverage.
- Awarding Mohammed Jadallah Salem, a Gazan photographer who accepted an award from Hamas on behalf of his brother.
One questionable recipient might be dismissed as coincidence.
But taken together, a pattern emerges — one that suggests this is no longer happenstance, but part of a broader shift in what, and who, is deemed worthy of journalism’s most prestigious honors.
That trajectory came into sharper focus this year, when Palestinian photographer Saher Alghorra was awarded the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography.
Like several recipients before him, Alghorra’s record raises serious concerns.
On October 7, he posted images of rockets fired toward Israel, captioning them as a response to “settlers’ attacks and incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque” — language lifted directly from Hamas and its justification for mass terror attacks.
Months later, in February 2025, while covering hostage release ceremonies in Gaza, he referred to the murdered Bibas babies and Oded Lifshitz as “prisoners.”
The photographer bylined is Saher Alghorra. @nytimes used his pictures as recently as yesterday to cover the return of the murdered Bibas babies and Oded Lifshitz to Israel.
Does @nytimes agree that an elderly peace activist, 10 month old, and four-year-old are “prisoners?” https://t.co/8XG224VEVZ pic.twitter.com/58mFSYWUk5
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) February 21, 2025
More troubling still are the images for which he was honored.
One features 2-year-old Yazan Abu al-Foul, widely circulated as the face of a supposed Israeli-caused starvation crisis.
Yet the original wire photos from the same day show other children in the background who appear healthy. One caption even notes that “malnutrition is often worsened by preexisting conditions and compounded by illnesses.”
2/
One of the winning photos shows 2‑year‑old Yazan Abu al‑Foul, turned by the NYT into the face of children “starving” because of Israel.Yet the original wire copy notes that Yazan has four older siblings – none of whom appear in the Pulitzer portfolio – and the same mother… pic.twitter.com/LfyaXvQGLp
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) May 5, 2026
Similar photos of Yazan appeared elsewhere, but did not appear in Alghorra’s Pulitzer portfolio. Why were other images that provided more context – including those of healthy family members – left out of his portfolio? And were these photos of Yazan as authentic as they seemed, or were they curated to reinforce the claim of starvation?
Throughout the Israel-Hamas war, photos of children with skeletal frames have been used to demonize Israel and weaponize the accusation of starvation in Gaza. In much of the media coverage, the crucial context of the children’s pre-existing medical conditions was entirely omitted.
Related Reading: The Media’s Starving Gazan Images: Narrative & Reality
Another award-winning image shows Hamas terrorists in Khan Younis carrying what is reportedly the body of an Israeli hostage on October 28, 2025.
How does a photographer gain access to such a moment without close proximity — and cooperation — with Hamas?
3/
Another Pulitzer‑winning image shows Hamas terrorists in Khan Younis reportedly carrying the remains of an Israeli hostage – a glossy, carefully composed shot that by definition required close coordination and trust with an internationally‑designated terror group.And this is… pic.twitter.com/xVnlmVUmav
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) May 5, 2026
There were countless images documenting hostage releases in 2025. Why elevate one framed from Hamas’ perspective?
We’ve looked behind the lens at Alghorra’s Pulitzer-winning portfolio here.
Related Reading:
Other images in Alghorra’s winning portfolio include the aftermath of a targeted strike at Al-Baqa Cafe, a strike on a high-rise building used by Hamas, scenes of Ramadan, and images from a Gazan charity kitchen with outstretched arms holding pots.
Each image, in isolation, tells a story.
But the selection of which stories to elevate is never neutral.
Taken together, these images construct a singular, emotionally charged narrative that systematically omits Hamas’ role in the war, including its use of civilian infrastructure and its exploitation of humanitarian suffering.
Alghorra’s Pulitzer is not merely recognition of photography. It is the validation of a misleading narrative built on staged scenes and shaped as much by omission as by inclusion.
The Pulitzer is not alone. Just last month, Alghorra was also a finalist in the World Press Photo contest, using many of the same images.
When such work is elevated as definitive truth, it does not document reality, it redefines it.
This is not an isolated case, but part of a rapidly expanding genre, one that increasingly casts Israel as a global scapegoat across journalism, culture, and the arts.
The Pulitzer Prize has chosen its direction.
And if that trajectory continues, truth itself risks becoming collateral damage.
UPDATE
The New York Times reached out after reading our related article on Alghorra’s Pulitzer-winning portfolio with a comment. The spokesperson’s statement is presented here in full:
Saher Alghorra has documented hundreds of starving and malnourished children in Gaza, conducting intrepid photojournalism at personal risk so readers can see the consequences of war. This attack on his work is baseless. Pulitzer jurors called Saher’s work a “distinguished example” of breaking news photography for his spontaneous coverage of these scenes in Gaza.
“Spontaneous coverage?”
There’s nothing spontaneous about Alghorra’s photo of Naeema Abu al-Foul and her son Yazan. A rudimentary internet search reveals that the two-year-old was also photographed by other Gazan photojournalists for other agencies, including:
- Jehad Alshrafi, Associated Press
- Omar al-Qattaa, AFP/Getty Images
- Haitham Imad, EPA
- Yousef Zaanoun, ActiveStills
Doesn’t sound like our exposé is “baseless,” does it?
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