A Gaza-based photographer has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize in photography for his stark images of the Gaza War, including an image of a “starving” boy later found to be suffering from pre-existing health conditions.
Saher Alghorra won the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for photography for his work for the New York Times, which the award committee described as “haunting” and “sensitive”.
Among the 28-year-old’s most well-known images was a 2025 front-page photograph of an emaciated boy, Mohammed al-Mutawaq, cradled by his mother.
The original image caption in the New York Times suggested that Mohammed had been diagnosed with malnutrition and the picture appeared in papers worldwide, including in the UK’s Daily Mail, the Times of London, The Guardian, and Sky News. It is not clear whether Alghorra or the New York Times was responsible for writing the caption.
However, it was revealed in the days after the photograph’s publication that the child suffered from cerebral palsy and hypoxemia, conditions linked to a suspected genetic disorder affecting his development.
The picture was criticised by those who argued that it misrepresented the wider situation in Gaza, including by the Israeli government which rejected the claim that it was intentionally causing hunger.
The revelation prompted The New York Times to amend its report to reflect the boy’s medical condition.
We have appended an Editors' Note to a story about Mohammed Zakaria al-Mutawaq, a child in Gaza who was diagnosed with severe malnutrition. After publication, The Times learned that he also had pre-existing health problems. Read more below. pic.twitter.com/KGxP3b3Q2B
— NYTimes Communications (@NYTimesPR) July 29, 2025
Freelance journalist David Collier uncovered the boy’s pre-existing health conditions in a report, which also noted that Mohammed’s mother and his older brother looked to be of normal healthy weight in other pictures from the same sets.
Other photographs for which Alghorra was recognised by the Pulitzer committee include snapshots of Gazans bringing wounded children for medical care, marking Ramadan inside bombed buildings, and queues for food.
According to Pulitzer’s biography of Alghorra, he has a degree in public relations, media and photography from the University of Palestine.
He received his first camera in 2017 and “immediately began chronicling the fragile existence of everyday Palestinians”.
In 2023, an image of Alghorra’s was chosen as one of TIME magazine 100 best photos of the year. In 2024, he won Best in Show at the Communications Arts Photography Annual, for his coverage of the Gaza war for ZUMA.
To get more news, click here to sign up for our free daily newsletter.