An image of a young woman's naked and mutilated body being paraded by Hamas has won a top photo award - sparking outrage from many people online.
The disturbing picture shows the half-naked corpse of Shani Louk, a German-Israeli dual citizen, being transported in the back of a van on Saturday, October 7. Out of respect for Shani, The Mirror has chosen to pixelate the photo. Photographer Ali Mahmoud captured the bone-chilling moment and has since picked up the Team Picture Story of the Year from the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute at the Missouri School of Journalism.
The category recognises "the collaborative effort of photography staff covering a single topic or news story". It is one of 20 photos which were captured by Associated Press (AP) staff to document the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
READ MORE: Israeli woman describes being sexually assaulted by Hamas in harrowing hostage ordeal
Ali Mahmoud's gruesome picture of 22-year-old Shani's body was the first photo in the selection and was captioned: “Palestinian militants drive back to the Gaza Strip with the body of Shani Louk, a German-Israeli dual citizen, during their cross-border attack on Israel, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023.”
In the collection there are photos of both Israelis and Palestinians in the days following. These were posted on Instagram as part of the competition and were quickly slammed by several people who claimed the photographer and agency "disrespected" Shani and her family by taking the photo, the Jewish Chronicle reports.
One person fumed: “I am horrified. This is a picture of terrorists parading a dead body of a Jewish woman after they murdered her. Shame on you.” While another added: "So the ‘reporter’ who stood there while Shani got raped and murdered and took a photo of it is getting rewarded?”
A third, as per the NY Post, wrote: "This is how we choose to remember the beautiful Shani Louk. We will not allow her memory to be trampled by the inhuman thugs celebrating the AP photo of her tragic murder.”
HonestReporting - a media watchdog set up and devoted to exposing anti-Israel media bias - previously said there were "serious ethical questions" about why AP and Reuters based in Gaza were so quick to arrive at the scenes of the massacre in October.
For all the latest news, politics, sports, and showbiz from the USA, go to The Mirror US
Addressing the fact the photo won the Team Picture Story of the Year category, the organisation wrote on Twitter: “Congratulations to AP for winning a Pictures of the Year award. How does it feel to do so on the back of Palestinian photojournalists who infiltrated Israel on Oct. 7 and took photos like the one below of Shani Louk's dead body in a Hamas pickup? Was RJI bothered about that before bestowing the award?”
Back in February, the families of Shani and other Nova massacre victims sued AP and Reuters over what they alleged to be the involvement of photojournalists employed by those agencies in the atrocities of October 7.
A statement from AP responding to the accusations said it had the deepest sympathies for those affected in the attacks but the lawsuit claim was "baseless". It added: “AP had no advance knowledge of the October 7 attacks, nor have we seen any evidence — including in the lawsuit — that the freelance journalists who contributed to our coverage did. Allegations like this are reckless and create even more potential danger for journalists in the region. Documenting breaking news events around the world — no matter how horrific — is our job. Without AP and other news organisations, the world would not have known what was happening on October 7.”