Motaz Azaiza
معتز عزايزة
Born: Deir al-Balah, Israeli-occupied Gaza
Domain: Journalism & Media
Recognition: GLOBAL
Biography
Motaz Azaiza (born 1999) is a Palestinian photojournalist from Gaza who became one of the most influential citizen journalists of the social-media age, bringing the realities of the 2023-2024 Gaza war to a global audience of tens of millions. Raised in the Deir al-Balah refugee camp, he turned a personal Instagram account into one of the most consequential independent news feeds of the conflict. A 2021 graduate in English studies from Al-Azhar University in Gaza, Azaiza was working with the UN agency UNRWA when the war erupted in October 2023. As international reporters were largely barred from entering Gaza, he and a small group of local journalists became the primary eyes on the ground, documenting airstrikes, casualties, and survival with raw immediacy. His following exploded from roughly 25,000 Instagram followers before the war to over 18 million within months, making him one of the most-followed news sources on the planet during that period. His photographs combined photojournalistic skill with profound personal proximity to the events, and one image of a girl trapped in rubble was named among Time magazine's top ten photos of 2023. Azaiza's work earned wide international recognition: he was named GQ Middle East's Man of the Year in 2023, honored at the Lucie Awards and TRT World Citizen Awards, included on Time's 2024 list of the 100 most influential people, and nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. He came to embody the rise of citizen photojournalism as a force capable of shaping global perception of a war. After evacuating Gaza in early 2024, Azaiza became a prominent public speaker and advocate, addressing audiences and institutions worldwide. His blend of photographic talent, courage, and digital reach has made him a defining figure in contemporary Palestinian media and a model for a new generation of journalists working outside traditional newsrooms.
Why This Person Matters
A Gaza photojournalist whose images reached tens of millions and reshaped global perception of the war, making him the defining citizen journalist of the social-media era.