Ali Jadallah has lost four relatives in Gaza. He’s still taking pictures

The Economist: Anaolu Agency photographer Ali Jadallah working in Gaza for 1843 Magazine: I m used to being the person behind the camera. Then on October 11th I was taking a photo of a house that had been bombed. It was near the street where my parents lived with my two brothers and sister. I heard an explosion and realised my family house had been hit. I ran towards it and saw it had been reduced to rubble. The whole world suddenly died. There were no feelings, there were no colors, there was nothing. I tried to call out to my brothers, but I knew they were under the rubble. Then I heard my mom’s voice – and I felt that there was still hope in this world. I managed to get her out. She was the only one who survived. We never found my sister’s body.
▪️ I left my wife and children in southern Gaza and moved to Al-Shifa Hospital to stay with my wounded mother. I have become a body without a soul. I have almost no contact with my children – only very short phone calls every day. All I do is work. I am part of a team of six photographers who live and work together in the hospital.
▪️ In the mornings we go outside to photograph the aftermath of the bombings from the day before. It is dangerous to be on the streets, so I give my team no more than seven minutes to shoot before we go back to the hospital. I’m always worried about them.
▪️ The most important thing right now is to report what’s going on. My team and I hardly eat and sleep no more than a couple hours a night. We are eating dates because they have a lot of sugar in them. I feel numb. I’m a work machine.