Israeli photojournalist shares UNICEF Photo of the Year prize with Palestinian colleague

Avishag Shaar-Yashuv, a photographer whose work regularly appears in The New York Times, wins prize for image of Israeli child who survived October 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack

By Jessica Steinberg 26 December 2024, 1:29 pm Edit

Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center

The two winning UNICEF Photo of the Year picks; on the left, Stav, a survivor of the October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack, by Avishag Shaar-Yashuv and on the right, Dareen, 11, and her brother, Kinan, five, the only survivors of a family killed by an Israeli airstrike during the war against Hamas in Gaza, by Samar Abu Elouf (Courtesy UNICEF)
The two winning UNICEF Photo of the Year picks; on the left, Stav, a survivor of the October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack, by Avishag Shaar-Yashuv and on the right, Dareen, 11, and her brother, Kinan, five, the only survivors of a family killed by an Israeli airstrike during the war against Hamas in Gaza, by Samar Abu Elouf (Courtesy UNICEF)

Israeli photojournalist Avishag Shaar-Yashuv won first prize in UNICEF’s 2024 Photo of the Year, with her photo of 8-year-old Stav, a survivor of the October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack.

Shaar-Yashuv photographed Stav and other children in a hotel where they were evacuated after surviving the attack on their unnamed kibbutz.

The photo of Stav, along with those of other survivors, was initially published on the front page of The New York Times on November 23, 2023.

“This achievement is not just mine—it belongs to the brave children who trusted me to tell their stories, share their realities, and shine a light on their resilience and hope,” said Shaar-Yashuv in a statement.

She shared the first prize with a New York Times colleague, Samar Abu Elouf, who documented the wounded children of Gaza. Both photographers regularly have their work featured in the newspaper.

Abu Elouf photographed Dareen, 11, and her brother, Kinan, 5, the only survivors of a family killed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza during the war against Hamas.

It is the first time in the 25-year history of the UNICEF Photo of the Year that the jury awarded two first prizes.

In a statement announcing the prizes last week, UNICEF, the UN’s Children Fund, said the jury was well aware of the different numbers of victims in Israel and Gaza, and did not presume to establish a ranking of suffering.

The two photographers on both sides of the front contributed equally to painting a universal picture of the fate of children during the war, stated UNICEF, noting that the pictures show no blood but still constitute a striking portrait of a serious trauma.

“These haunting images will continue to serve as a warning to us even when the guns hopefully fall silent one day,” stated UNICEF.

Shaar-Yashuv’s photos appear daily in different digital and print media, both Israeli and international.

Since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, she has been documenting all aspects of the war, including scenes from the Nova desert rave and kibbutz communities that were attacked, released and rescued hostages, survivors and bereaved families.

At the “Southern Album” exhibit shown earlier this year at the Petah Tivkah Museum, Shaar-Yashuv told The Times of Israel that she went south on October 8, searching for friends of hers from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, only to find out that the entire family, Livnat and Aviv Kutz and their three children, were murdered by Hamas terrorists as they huddled in the parents’ bed.

Shaar-Yashuv wrote on Instagram that when she first photographed Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg-Polin, parents of hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin on December 29, 2023, Rachel asked her to return and take a family photo when Hersh returned home.

“I promised you I would,” wrote Shaar-Yashuv.

After Hersh Goldberg-Polin was killed in captivity on August 31, 2024, Shaar-Yashuv wrote on Instagram, “I prayed for the return of Hersh in every one of my prayers. Rachel, Jon, I’m so sorry that I didn’t succeed in my promise.”

Shaar-Yashuv’s photos were published as a three-page spread in The New York Times this summer, first in the digital and then in the print edition.

The New York Times photo spread included photos of the Goldstein-Almog family, whose father and daughter were killed by Hamas terrorists in their home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7, 2023.

Chen Goldstein-Almog and her three surviving children were taken hostage and then released at the end of November 2023.

Shaar-Yashuv photographed Chen Goldstein-Almog at the graves of her husband and daughter, and one of her surviving children being hugged by his grandfather.

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