DaysofPal- The World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) has announced that the 2026 Golden Pen of Freedom Award will be presented to photographers and video journalists from Gaza working for the world’s three major international news agencies: Agence France-Presse (AFP), Associated Press (AP), and Reuters.
The prestigious international award recognizes the journalists who have documented the ongoing Israeli war in Gaza, often risking their lives to bring images and footage from the conflict to the world amid restrictions that have largely prevented foreign journalists from entering the territory.
The award ceremony is scheduled to take place next Monday in the southern French coastal city of Marseille, on the sidelines of the 77th World News Media Congress.
Representing their colleagues on the ground, three Palestinian journalists have been selected to receive the award on behalf of Gaza’s media community: Mohammed Salem of Reuters, Fatima Shbair of the Associated Press, and Mohammed Al-Baba of Agence France-Presse.
In an interview with Al Jazeera, Mohammed Al-Baba, who spent seven months documenting the war and its aftermath in Gaza before leaving the territory, said the award carries profound professional and humanitarian significance.
“This award is not only for the journalists who survived,” Al-Baba said. “It belongs to everyone, the journalists who were killed and stand at the forefront of this honor, the wounded, the detained, the missing, and those who remain in Gaza. They are the spearhead of this work.”
Reflecting on the impact of the images and videos captured by Gaza’s journalists, Al-Baba emphasized their role in shaping global awareness of the conflict.
“Without the photographs and video footage, this change in world opinion would not have happened,” he said. “These works have contributed to changing how the world thinks and how international journalism approaches this story.”
In presenting the award, the World Association of News Publishers described Gaza’s journalists as “chroniclers of a war raging around them, as much as they are victims of it.”
According to reports by the organization Reporters Without Borders, the Palestinian press corps has paid a heavy price since the war began in October 2023, with more than 260 journalists killed by Israeli occupation forces during the genocide.
Shortlink for this post: https://daysofpalestine.ps/?p=75382
