Following the deadliest year on record for the press in 2024, CPJ asked Palestinian journalist and past awardee Shrouq Al Aila to reflect on her experience reporting from Gaza since October 7, 2023.
Unable to leave Gaza, Al Aila’s remarks were read at CPJ’s 2025 International Press Freedom Awards by Jon Williams, Fadi Mansour, Yesica Fisch, Humeyra Pamuk, and Rula Jebreal.
“When the genocide began to subside, I felt something inside me rekindle — a quiet but certain faith in the power of journalism,” wrote Al Aila. “My colleagues and I are waiting now, with our cameras and our words, to document Gaza as it rises once again from the ruins, stronger, more beautiful, and unbroken.”
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