8:20 PM @alijadallah66 Palestinians emerge from the rubble and dust after an Israeli attack hit the Abu Aisha family’s house in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, on June 14.Ali Jadallah—Anadolu/Getty Images
‘Desperate Search for Signs of Life’
On June 14, Ali Jadallah, a Gaza-based photographer with the Anadolu Agency, heard the sound of an explosion in Deir al Balah, a city in the central Gaza Strip. Arriving before any ambulances and civil defense teams, he captured this image of civilians helping each other out of the rubble following an explosion from an Israeli strike. “Capturing the photo just minutes after the event was far from easy,” recalls Jadallah. “Thick smoke filled the air, people were in a state of panic, and screams echoed all around.”
Even after more than a year of war, doing such work remains shocking for the photographer. “I’ve never grown used to witnessing such devastation, and I doubt I ever will. No one can truly accept the sight of death, destruction, and blood. Each time I photograph the injured, the dead, and the aftermath of destruction, or inhale the acrid smoke still lingering after an attack, I am flooded with a familiar, haunting feeling,” says Jadallah. “It takes me back to the moment my family’s home was bombed and they were killed—a memory that has become a recurring nightmare. I relive it with every similar scene I witness. It’s a pain I cannot escape, made worse by seeing others endure the same agony.” @time 
