Associated Press wins prestigious photojournalism award for photo of Shani Louk's corpse

The Associated Press has won the prestigious Pictures of the Year International competition in the "Team Picture Story of the Year" category for its photo essay "Israel and Hamas War," which includes a photo of Shani Louk's half-naked corpse as Hamas terrorists were driving it away on October 7.

According to the Pictures of the Year program's website, the category "recognizes the collaborative effort of a photography staff covering a single topic or news story."

The winning "team" consisted of a group of Palestinian photographers who accompanied Hamas terrorists during the breach of Israel's borders, kidnappings, murders, and rapes of Israeli citizens on October 7. The nominated entry featured a photograph of armed Hamas militants sitting on the half-naked dead body of Shani Louk in a pickup truck. The 22-year-old German-Israeli was officially declared dead on October 30 after a piece of her skull was identified. Her body is still being held in Gaza.

AP photojournalists, including the photographer of the image, Ali Mahmud, accompanied the terrorists from the start of the attack. However, the agency claims they were unaware of the intentions of the Hamas operatives.

The compilation also includes photographs depicting the suffering of Gaza residents, such as explosions over the sector, ruins, bloodied children, bodies of infants with weeping women leaning over them, rockets flying towards Israel, a Red Cross vehicle transporting released Israeli hostages to the Rafah crossing, released terrorists in Hamas headbands, and bodies of young children. Hamas militants are shown only in the Shani Louk photograph.

Hosted by the Missouri School of Pictures of the Year International is the oldest photojournalism competition in the world.