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Asharq Al-Awsat
Asharq Al-Awsat
World
Asharq Al-Awsat

Gaza Images on Display in France Show Resilience

Photojournalist Khalil Hamra speaks to students during his 'Why Gaza' exhibition at the 30th annual Visa Pour L’Image photo festival in Perpignan, France. (AP)

Khalil Hamra, a Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer for The Associated Press, is exhibiting his work in a show titled "Why Gaza?" at the 30th annual Visa Pour L'Image photojournalism festival in Perpignan, France.

The exhibition runs through September 16.

In 30 photos on display, Hamra shows the resilience of people in his native Gaza, a sliver of land on the Mediterranean Sea that measures just 360 square kilometers (140 square miles).

Gaza's 2 million residents have endured 11 years of border blockade, imposed by Israel after the takeover of the territory by the Hamas movement in 2007.

Hardships have worsened with each year of the blockade, including power cuts for most of the day, soaring unemployment and a health system on the brink of collapse, reported the AP.

The festival highlights photojournalism from around the world in exhibits, screenings, lectures and workshops.

The event, held in the Mediterranean town of Perpignan near Spain, draws photographers, editors and industry celebrities.

Hamra won the Robert Capa Gold Medal Award in 2009. He shared the 2013 Pulitzer Prize with three Associated Press photographers for his work in Syria.

"Khalil Hamra's work shines a light on the human condition in places most of us will never have the chance to visit," said Maya Alleruzzo, the AP's Middle East regional photo editor. "He often does so at great personal risk."

Hamra joined AP in 2002. He has covered the so-called Arab Spring in Egypt, civil war in Syria and the ongoing Israel-Palestinian conflict.

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