'A loss to the world of photography': Gazan known for baby portraits killed in Israeli strike

Yahia Barzaq, a 35-year-old photographer who captured babies' first moments in Gaza, was killed in an Israeli air strike in Deir Al Balah on Wednesday while sitting inside a coffee shop.

His wife Nahrawan said she has not only lost her husband, but her survival partner.

“Our life was so beautiful before the war … Yahia’s presence made everything easier to bear," she said. "But his loss has left us broken, wondering how life can possibly continue.”

As Israeli tanks and troops drew closer to Gaza city, the couple made the decision to leave, thinking it would save their lives. But instead, like hundreds of other Gazans, it led them towards death.

“We thought we were evacuating to a safe place, but instead we displaced ourselves to death,” she told The National, her voice breaking. They fled their home carrying their two children, Mohammed, 10, and Ali, six, to what was described as a “humanitarian zone”.

Mr Barzaq, once a sound engineer, had built a thriving photography studio where he captured images of newborns wrapped in soft blankets. Nahrawan recalls the joy that filled the studio and how every child’s portrait carried with it a fragment of her husband's own joy.

Israel's eviction order to all Palestinians in Gaza city placed civilians in an impossible position, forcing families to leave their belongings behind and pay a hefty price to move to an area where safety is not even guaranteed. Israel's military repeatedly bombs areas including Al Mawasi, which it has called "safe". Eviction orders force people to travel long, risky routes on foot to reach overcrowded and under-resourced places.

Mr Barzaq’s friend and fellow journalist, Noor Al Labbabidi, remembers his early career. The photographer had first worked in radio mixing sounds, then he found his passion behind the lens. In 2016, he opened a photography studio, choosing to take pictures of newborns. His gift was not just in capturing faces but in preserving moments of love.

As the war raged in Gaza, Mr Barzaq shifted his attention to capturing the heartbreaking realities of children stuck in a cycle of violence. At times he published photos of dead children alongside images he had taken when they were alive – once smiling infants, now with lifeless faces.

“Their photos remain a testament to their existence and their love of life before the occupation killed them in cold blood,” his wife recalled.

Israel systemically targets journalists in Gaza, which has become the deadliest place in the world for the profession, with more than 200 killed since the start of the war in October 2023. In August, Israel admitted to targeting and killing five Al Jazeera journalists.

Although Mr Barzaq feared death, avoiding dangerous streets as much as he could and worrying constantly about Israeli attacks, he could not escape it.

Nahrawan has held on to the photographs he took. His lens had given so many Palestinians a way to be seen. His camera is now unused, but his photographs remain – portraits of infants in his studio, images of life amid rubble, memories of children once full of life. His art, like his memory, is difficult to erase.

“Losing Yahia is not something ordinary, nor will it be easily overcome. His loss is for the entire Palestinian journalistic family, and for the world of photography," said his friend, Bilal Mortaja.