Ibrahim Hamdi Hacicaferoglu and Serdar Dincel |07.02.2025 - Update : 07.02.2025

ISTANBUL
Anadolu journalists were honored five times in Pictures of the Year International, one of the world's most prestigious press photography contests, including several photos spotlighting the 15-month Israeli offensive on the Palestinian Gaza strip.
The annual program is held by the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute at the University of Missouri School of Journalism in the US Southern state.
In the 82nd annual contest, Anadolu photojournalist Ali Jadallah won first prize in the General News category with his photo of an Israeli army attack on the house of the Abu Aisha family in the central Gaza city of Deir al Balah.
Another photo by Jadallah, of the destruction of streets and alleys in the city of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, and freelance journalist Belal Khaled's photo of Palestinians preparing for Ramadan in the Tel Sultan area of Rafah, also in Gaza, were also finalists in in the General News category.
Jadallah was also a finalist in the Spot News category for his photo of an Israeli army attack on the Zagout family's building in Gaza’s Nuseirat Refugee Camp.
Since October 2023, the Israeli offensive in Gaza has killed over 47,000 people.
Anadolu's Visual Archive News Manager Esra Hacioglu Karakaya also won the Award of Excellence in the Portrait Series category for her work on the Ankara Women’s Orchestra in the Turkish capital.
Each year, Pictures of the Year International awards prizes in various categories following an open-session evaluation by a jury of experts in the field of press photography.
Voting in other categories for this year's competition will continue through Feb. 24.