RSS
‘A Single Palestinian More Important Than a Thousand Israelis,’ Says Prominent Gaza Journalist
Motaz Azaiza. Photo: Screenshot
Motaz Azaiza, a leading Gazan photojournalist and activist boasting 17.2 million followers on Instagram, recently posted a story sharing his opinion that a single Palestinian life is “more important than a thousand Israelis.”
Azaiza, a 25-year-old independent photographer raised in the Deir al-Balah refugee camp, has become one of the most globally recognizable spokespeople for Gazans amid the current Israel-Hamas war and perhaps the most prominent of a number of local Gazan journalists claiming to accurately report events on the ground.
“I’m in a fight with everyone who doesn’t care about the lives of Palestinians. For me, the lives of Palestinians are more precious and way more important than the lives of Israelis (the ones who occupy Palestine),” Azaiza posted on Jan. 19.
“Even sometimes I fight with Palestinians who just want to sacrifice their lives for the sake of sacrifice,” he continued. “Our lives mean the most [in Arabic: our lives are the most precious thing we have]. Our souls are precious. A single Palestinian is worth more than a thousand Israelis. Thank you.”
Azaiza’s content, which frequently features graphic images, is high-quality, bilingual in Arabic and English, carefully edited and polished, and designed to produce sympathy from viewers with special focus on the human cost of the war among Gaza’s population.
To supporters of the Palestinian cause, Azaiza represents a “beacon of resistance” in photographing the dead and wounded, along with his livestreams amid unfolding airstrikes that garner thousands of viewers. Azaiza’s photo of a girl under rubble was named one of Time‘s Top 10 Photos of 2023. He was also nominated as GQ Middle East’s Man of the Year 2023, and was among those nominated for the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize, together with fellow Gazan journalists Bissan Owda, Wael Dahdouh, and Hind Khoudary (a documented collaborator of Hamas).
Azaiza’s image as an intrepid civilian reporter has elevated him to the status of journalistic hero for pro-Palestinian activists. However, critics have questioned his integrity and ultimate motives — particularly after he chose to leave Gaza in January 2024 (with some lack of clarity on how and why he was allowed to leave via the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt), when he was welcomed with open arms by Qatar via a military plane. He currently resides in Qatar.
Aziza has spent much of 2024 on a speaking tour in the United States, where he has met with US Rep. Rashida Tlaib, an outspoken critic of Israel, and visited the pro-Hamas encampment at Columbia University to praise demonstrators.
Azaiza has come under fire for reposting footage shot by Hamas terrorists during their October 2023 attack in southern Israel, which he praised before deleting the post. On Oct. 7, 2023, the day of the Hamas invasion, he posted to social media using the hashtag #PalestineGenocide attached to a video of Hamas fighters holding Israelis hostages. The post came during the Hamas assault, before the onset of Israel’s response the following day.
The Gaza journalist also publicly mourned he deaths of Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar, the latter of whom masterminded the Oct. 7 massacre.
The post ‘A Single Palestinian More Important Than a Thousand Israelis,’ Says Prominent Gaza Journalist first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Iran’s Supreme Leader Says Trump Is Lying When He Speaks of Peace
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting with government officials in Tehran, Iran, April 15, 2025. Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused Donald Trump on Saturday of lying when the US president said during his Gulf tour this week that he wanted peace in the region.
On the contrary, said Khamenei, the United States uses its power to give “10-ton bombs to the Zionist (Israeli) regime to drop on the heads of Gaza’s children.”
Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One after departing the United Arab Emirates on Friday that Iran had to move quickly on a US proposal for its nuclear program or “something bad’s going to happen.”
His remarks, said Khamenei, “aren’t even worth responding to.” They are an “embarrassment to the speaker and the American people,” Khamenei added.
“Undoubtedly, the source of corruption, war, and conflict in this region is the Zionist regime — a dangerous, deadly cancerous tumor that must be uprooted; it will be uprooted,” he said at an event at a religious center in Tehran, according to state media.
Earlier on Saturday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Trump speaks about peace while simultaneously making threats.
“Which should we believe?” Pezeshkian said at a naval event in Tehran. “On the one hand, he speaks of peace and on the other, he threatens with the most advanced tools of mass killing.”
Tehran would continue Iran-US nuclear talks but is not afraid of threats. “We are not seeking war,” Pezeshkian said.
While Trump said on Friday that Iran had a US proposal about its nuclear program, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in a post on X said Tehran had not received any such proposal. “There is no scenario in which Iran abandons its hard-earned right to (uranium) enrichment for peaceful purposes…” he said.
Araqchi warned on Saturday that Washington’s constant change of stance prolongs nuclear talks, state TV reported.
“It is absolutely unacceptable that America repeatedly defines a new framework for negotiations that prolongs the process,” the broadcast quoted Araqchi as saying.
Pezeshkian said Iran would not “back down from our legitimate rights”.
“Because we refuse to bow to bullying, they say we are source of instability in the region,” he said.
A fourth round of Iran-U.S. talks ended in Oman last Sunday. A new round has not been scheduled yet.
The post Iran’s Supreme Leader Says Trump Is Lying When He Speaks of Peace first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Hamas Confirms New Gaza Ceasefire Talks with Israel in Qatar on Saturday
Doha, Qatar. Photo: StellarD via Wikimedia Commons.
A new round of Gaza ceasefire negotiations between Hamas and Israel is underway in Qatar’s Doha, Hamas official Taher al-Nono told Reuters on Saturday.
He said the two sides were discussing all issues without “pre-conditions.”
Nono said Hamas was “keen to exert all the effort needed” to help mediators make the negotiations a success, adding there was “no certain offer on the table.”
The negotiations come despite Israel preparing to expand operations in the Gaza Strip as they seek “operational control” in some areas of the war-torn enclave.
The return to negotiations also comes after US President Donald Trump ended a Middle East tour on Friday with no apparent progress towards a new ceasefire, although he acknowledged Gaza’s growing hunger crisis and the need for aid deliveries.
The post Hamas Confirms New Gaza Ceasefire Talks with Israel in Qatar on Saturday first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Report: ICC’s Khan Goes on Administrative Leave Amid Sexual Misconduct Probe
International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan speaks during an interview with Reuters in The Hague, Netherlands, Feb. 12, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw
i24 News – Chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Karim Khan has stepped down temporarily as an investigation into his alleged sexual misconduct by United Nations investigators is nearing its final phase, Reuters reported on Friday citing sources from the international court.
Khan allegedly forced sexual intercourse upon a member of staff on multiple occasions, the Wall Street Journal reported last week, linking the allegations to Khan’s decision to issue arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-defense minister Yoav Gallant.
A statement is expected later today announcing that Khan is going on administrative leave, according to a source in the prosecutor’s office.
The post Report: ICC’s Khan Goes on Administrative Leave Amid Sexual Misconduct Probe first appeared on Algemeiner.com.