"I Decided To Evacuate Today", Says Motaz Azaiza (image@azaizamotaz9)
Motaz Azaiza dropped his latest post on social media breaking millions of hearts. The Palestinian journalist-photographer has decided to evacuate from Gaza today. Taking to his Instagram handle, Motaz Aziza said he is evacuating for reasons that may known to everyone, though not all reasons. He said, “I had to evacuate for a lot of reasons you all know some of it but not all of it”.
In the video shared, with heavy heart, Motaz said this is the “last time you will see me in this heavy, stinky vest… I decided to evacuate today…sorry, Insha Allah will come back soon, and help to built Gaza again”. He was seen hugging his friends with whom he said he spend all days.
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It is pertinent to note that, no external journalists were allowed to Gaza independently. Without journalists like Motaz, it will become extremely difficult for the outside world to get an understanding on what is happening inside the besieged coastal enclave.
Motaz Azaiza is the name world has been paying close attention to, since the war between Hamas and Israel has started. He is a photojournalist from Palestine, who works for UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency). He is among the very few journalists from the war battered grounds of Gaza, who has been sharing raw realities of the horrendous scenes from Gaza. As days passed, he became the beloved journalist from the tiny enclave, to whom the world has their eyes glued on. Lack of his posts made public anxious about his life.
Children, women, and men bathed in blood, amputated, burned, and buildings, schools, and hospitals powdered to bloodied ashes filled his stories and posts. His strong words made onlookers question how much truth is being spilled from media, and what actually is happening in Gaza. Azaiza is not the only one, but he is among the very few journalists and influencers from the land of Palestine, who stood strong in the battle field and tried to help the world witness the unfurling of vicious brutality of the Israeli occupation force against the innocent civilians, though his coverage only showed a drop in the sea.
In one of his post, he shared a video of a man holding on to a colorful towel. The man was at the sight where Jabalia refugee camp was levelled down by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF). The man revealed what was inside the towel, which was dusted internal organ of one of the civilian who was killed in Israeli bombing, Azaiza bravely revealed the atrocious realities forced upon Gazans without filters.
During the earlier days, he showed a drone video of destruction caused by the Israeli occupation force’s bombarding on Gaza, which has levelled down an entire neighbourhood.
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A few days back, he reported his friend who used to help him with drone visuals was killed by Israeli bombing. In his post on X (formerly twitter), “Israel killed my friend; the drone camera operator so there will not be aerial footage to show the massive destruction on the main way in the middle area. Israel killed all the journalists with drones or intercepted and stole their drones as you saw before. But I’m trying to show you with my phone and camera. It’s all about destruction, it will take years to rebuild all of this. People are exhausted everyone is tired, we’ve lost a lot,”.
Israel killed my friend, the drone camera operator so there will not be aerial footage to show the massive destruction on the main way in the middle area. Israel killed all the journalists with drones or intercepted and stole their drones as you saw before. But I’m trying to show… pic.twitter.com/sllaRxAk4P
— MoTaz (@azaizamotaz9) January 17, 2024
Over time, his Instagram followers has surged over 18 million, which was only 25,000 before the beginning of current war. While Motaz is leaving his beloved land with his heart weighing tons, unbeknownst to him, those who have been keeping a close watch on him feel the same.
(Timeline has used several images shot by Motaz Azaiza for its stories.)
