LONDON: Gaza-based photojournalist Anas Zayed Fteiha has rejected accusations by the German tabloid Bild that some of his widely circulated images — depicting hunger and humanitarian suffering — were staged rather than taken at aid distribution sites.
Fteiha, who works with Turkiye’s Anadolu Agency, described the claims as “false” and “a desperate attempt to distort the truth.”
“The siege, starvation, bombing, and destruction that the people of Gaza live through do not need to be fabricated or acted out,” Fteiha said in a statement published on social media. “My photos reflect the bitter reality that more than two million people live through, most of whom are women and children.”
The controversy erupted after Bild published an article on Tuesday alleging that Fteiha’s photos were manipulated to amplify narratives of Israeli-inflicted suffering — particularly hunger — and citing content from his personal social media accounts to suggest political bias.
The German daily Suddeutsche Zeitung also questioned the authenticity of certain images from Gaza, though without naming Fteiha directly.
