LONDON — Gaza-based photojournalist Anas Zayed Fteiha has dismissed accusations by German tabloid Bild that his widely circulated images of hunger and humanitarian suffering were staged.
Fteiha, who works with Türkiye’s Anadolu Agency, called the allegations “false” and “a desperate attempt to distort the truth.”
“The siege, starvation, bombing, and destruction the people of Gaza live through do not need to be fabricated,” he wrote on social media. “My photos reflect the bitter reality faced by more than two million people, most of them women and children.”
The controversy began after Bild claimed that some of Fteiha’s work was manipulated to amplify narratives of Israeli-inflicted suffering, citing his social media posts as evidence of political bias. German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung also questioned certain Gaza images, though without naming him directly.
Bild further alleged that the photos amounted to “Hamas propaganda,” a charge Fteiha labeled “ridiculous” and an attempt to “criminalize journalism.”
Several agencies — including AFP and the German Press Agency — have since cut ties with Fteiha. Reuters, however, stood by his work, saying it met standards for “accuracy, independence, and impartiality.”
Media experts have urged caution. “Photographers sometimes guide subjects to tell a story, but that doesn’t make the suffering less real,” said Christopher Resch of Reporters Without Borders, warning that branding journalists as propagandists could put their safety at risk.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar also weighed in, labeling one of the contested images — featured on Time magazine’s cover — as “Pallywood.” But Israeli fact-checking group Fake Reporter disputed Bild’s claims, noting the cover photo was taken by a different photographer and that food distribution was indeed taking place where the image was shot.
The case has intensified debate over the ethics and challenges of reporting from conflict zones like Gaza, where foreign press access is limited and local journalists are often the primary source of visual documentation.
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