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| We published a photo of a malnourished child in Gaza. It made an impact globally – and created controversy | We published a photo of a malnourished child in Gaza. It made an impact globally – and created controversy |
| (30 minutes later) | |
| Initially, we did not know that Muhammad Zakariya Ayyoub al-Matouq had existing health needs. But his medical details do not diminish his suffering, or that of other children in Gaza | Initially, we did not know that Muhammad Zakariya Ayyoub al-Matouq had existing health needs. But his medical details do not diminish his suffering, or that of other children in Gaza |
| Between April and mid-July this year, more than 20,000 children in Gaza were admitted to hospital for treatment for acute malnutrition, 3,000 of whom were severely malnourished, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a global initiative whose members include UN agencies such as the World Health Organization, World Food Programme and Unicef, as well as NGOs and research institutes. | Between April and mid-July this year, more than 20,000 children in Gaza were admitted to hospital for treatment for acute malnutrition, 3,000 of whom were severely malnourished, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a global initiative whose members include UN agencies such as the World Health Organization, World Food Programme and Unicef, as well as NGOs and research institutes. |
| Over this period, and in the weeks since, the Guardian has published many images of hungry children, among them at least 20 shown in an emaciated condition. (It does so working to an editorial code that gives special protection to children, publishing on matters that may intrude into their welfare only when there is a strong public interest to do so.) But one photograph, which appeared on the homepage of the website on 23 July and on the front of the print edition the next day, prompted fierce controversy. | Over this period, and in the weeks since, the Guardian has published many images of hungry children, among them at least 20 shown in an emaciated condition. (It does so working to an editorial code that gives special protection to children, publishing on matters that may intrude into their welfare only when there is a strong public interest to do so.) But one photograph, which appeared on the homepage of the website on 23 July and on the front of the print edition the next day, prompted fierce controversy. |
| The picture was powerful and pitiful: an 18-month-old boy, Muhammad Zakariya Ayyoub al-Matouq, cradled in his mother’s arms; his bare back skeletal, his diaper a black plastic bag. This image, as well as others of the same child, were published widely by major news organisations. | The picture was powerful and pitiful: an 18-month-old boy, Muhammad Zakariya Ayyoub al-Matouq, cradled in his mother’s arms; his bare back skeletal, his diaper a black plastic bag. This image, as well as others of the same child, were published widely by major news organisations. |
| Freelance journalist and antisemitism campaigner David Collier accused the media that published the photos of doing so “to push a lie about famine”. He said a May 2025 medical report he had seen stated the boy had cerebral palsy. This was not the face of famine, Collier wrote in his blogpost on 27 July, but a child who “has needed specialist medical supplements since birth”. | Freelance journalist and antisemitism campaigner David Collier accused the media that published the photos of doing so “to push a lie about famine”. He said a May 2025 medical report he had seen stated the boy had cerebral palsy. This was not the face of famine, Collier wrote in his blogpost on 27 July, but a child who “has needed specialist medical supplements since birth”. |
| “What we can see from [unpublished] pictures is that both Mohammed’s mother and his older brother look healthy and are not suffering from any type of starvation that would be necessary to cause the thinness suffered by Mohammed,” he said. | “What we can see from [unpublished] pictures is that both Mohammed’s mother and his older brother look healthy and are not suffering from any type of starvation that would be necessary to cause the thinness suffered by Mohammed,” he said. |
| A reader who contacted me directly decried the image as “a fake”. Another said: “Definitely this poor child is suffering. But is it from starvation? It is from several medical conditions Muhammad was born with … You need to make sure your readers know the real ‘WHY’ behind this picture.” | A reader who contacted me directly decried the image as “a fake”. Another said: “Definitely this poor child is suffering. But is it from starvation? It is from several medical conditions Muhammad was born with … You need to make sure your readers know the real ‘WHY’ behind this picture.” |
| It seems unarguable that readers want to know the “real why” in whatever they are seeing. But its availability is not always as straightforward. War is chaotic and individual circumstances invariably complex. | It seems unarguable that readers want to know the “real why” in whatever they are seeing. But its availability is not always as straightforward. War is chaotic and individual circumstances invariably complex. |
| Foreign journalists are barred by Israel from entering Gaza, meaning they rely on local journalists, including photographers, working in difficult and dangerous conditions. The Guardian receives about 1,000 images a day from Gaza, provided by or via major picture agencies. The pictures of Muhammad came through Getty Images from the Turkish state-run Anadolu agency. | Foreign journalists are barred by Israel from entering Gaza, meaning they rely on local journalists, including photographers, working in difficult and dangerous conditions. The Guardian receives about 1,000 images a day from Gaza, provided by or via major picture agencies. The pictures of Muhammad came through Getty Images from the Turkish state-run Anadolu agency. |
| In the wake of the accusations, Anadolu published an article that quoted Suzan Marouf, a doctor treating the boy at the Patient’s Friends hospital in Gaza City, saying doctors there had diagnosed him the previous month with “moderate malnutrition on top of congenital health problems, including brain complications and muscle atrophy” but that these issues were “not significantly affecting his weight” until the hospital’s nutritional supplements became depleted. Since then, he had developed severe malnutrition, she said. | In the wake of the accusations, Anadolu published an article that quoted Suzan Marouf, a doctor treating the boy at the Patient’s Friends hospital in Gaza City, saying doctors there had diagnosed him the previous month with “moderate malnutrition on top of congenital health problems, including brain complications and muscle atrophy” but that these issues were “not significantly affecting his weight” until the hospital’s nutritional supplements became depleted. Since then, he had developed severe malnutrition, she said. |
| Separately, Anadolu distributed an image from Muhammad’s bedside showing a picture of him before he lost weight. Muhammad’s mother said he dropped from 9kg to 6kg in recent weeks. | Separately, Anadolu distributed an image from Muhammad’s bedside showing a picture of him before he lost weight. Muhammad’s mother said he dropped from 9kg to 6kg in recent weeks. |
| The Guardian was not aware until after it published the images (the first was in a picture gallery on 22 July) that the boy had other medical conditions. Should they have sought to ask? The relevant editors I have spoken to here each told me that seeing his wasted frame did not stand out as unusual; they had “consistently seen similar pictures for months”. | The Guardian was not aware until after it published the images (the first was in a picture gallery on 22 July) that the boy had other medical conditions. Should they have sought to ask? The relevant editors I have spoken to here each told me that seeing his wasted frame did not stand out as unusual; they had “consistently seen similar pictures for months”. |
| In a hunger crisis, they point out, experts attest to how children and those with existing medical conditions are among those most at risk. According to the WHO, of the 63 malnutrition‑related deaths recorded in July, 24 were children under five. That is 38%, when under-fives make up around 15% of the total population of Gaza. | In a hunger crisis, they point out, experts attest to how children and those with existing medical conditions are among those most at risk. According to the WHO, of the 63 malnutrition‑related deaths recorded in July, 24 were children under five. That is 38%, when under-fives make up around 15% of the total population of Gaza. |
| Children with developmental disorders can have special nutritional needs. One paediatrician, speaking to me for background, said diagnosis was frequently challenging in settings without access to early identification tools, which meant that with cerebral palsy, for example, definitive diagnosis is sometimes not made until the age of two. | Children with developmental disorders can have special nutritional needs. One paediatrician, speaking to me for background, said diagnosis was frequently challenging in settings without access to early identification tools, which meant that with cerebral palsy, for example, definitive diagnosis is sometimes not made until the age of two. |
| Editors say reference to Muhammad’s existing health issues would have been included if known – and the picture captions have now been amended – but they consider that the images still stand, saying a sick child who is starving is “not any less deserving of our attention than any other child”, as previous reporting featuring malnourished infants with underlying feeding conditions has demonstrated. In other words, the face of malnourishment is most often the face of the already vulnerable. | Editors say reference to Muhammad’s existing health issues would have been included if known – and the picture captions have now been amended – but they consider that the images still stand, saying a sick child who is starving is “not any less deserving of our attention than any other child”, as previous reporting featuring malnourished infants with underlying feeding conditions has demonstrated. In other words, the face of malnourishment is most often the face of the already vulnerable. |
| For my part, I agree that the missing information was relevant to a fuller reading of the picture. But the Guardian has not, as some claim, relied on this image alone to illustrate reporting of what the IPC days later termed (though Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, rejects the assessment) an “unfolding” famine. And if we recognise that it is the most vulnerable who are most impacted by lack of food and health services, publication of this picture of real suffering did not, in my view, act to deceive. | For my part, I agree that the missing information was relevant to a fuller reading of the picture. But the Guardian has not, as some claim, relied on this image alone to illustrate reporting of what the IPC days later termed (though Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, rejects the assessment) an “unfolding” famine. And if we recognise that it is the most vulnerable who are most impacted by lack of food and health services, publication of this picture of real suffering did not, in my view, act to deceive. |
| Elisabeth Ribbans is the Guardian’s global readers’ editorguardian.readers@theguardian.com | Elisabeth Ribbans is the Guardian’s global readers’ editorguardian.readers@theguardian.com |
| Elisabeth Ribbans is the Guardian’s global readers’ editorguardian.readers@theguardian.com | Elisabeth Ribbans is the Guardian’s global readers’ editorguardian.readers@theguardian.com |
| The subheading of this article was amended on 6 August 2025. An earlier version referred to the child having cerebral palsy; as the article indicates, this was a claim but not a diagnosis stated by doctors treating him in recent weeks in Gaza City. | |
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