At just 23, Zaher Wael Saleh has already built a career as a Channel 4 journalist, photographer, and filmmaker. Originally from Gaza City, he is now in Jordan preparing for his next move: South Africa.
Speaking exclusively with The New Arab in the heart of Amman, he cannot hide his frustration about the endless cycle of violence unfolding back home.
“There is no such thing as peace if the killings and the genocide continue,” he says, referring to what he calls “the so-called peace plan,” which he says has been repeatedly violated by Israel, most recently with the bombing of Nuseirat camp.
“They [Israel and the US] always break their promises, leaving Palestinians with nothing but brutality, torture, starvation, and displacement,” he adds.
As he speaks, Zaher quietly scrolls through photos on his phone, sharing them with The New Arab.
The images range from Gaza City’s colourful sunsets and people enjoying the beach or riding horses, all taken before 7 October 2023, to harrowing pictures of blackened corpses of Palestinian prisoners, some with amputated limbs or missing eyes, clearly showing signs of torture.
There’s a pause and a choked smile as he studies one photo in particular: a picture of his friends.
“All of them are no longer alive. They have been killed by Israeli strikes,” Zaher tells The New Arab.
Hard decisions
Zaher never considered leaving his hometown until last July, when he sustained a serious injury to his left leg.
“My mother and my sister went through a similar experience, with no medicine or proper treatment for their wounds,” he recalls, referring to the events of that month.
That day, along with three colleagues, Zaher was documenting Israel’s bombing of Gaza’s only Catholic church when three people were killed and dozens were injured, including himself.
“I was sending all the materials to Channel 4, working on our laptops near Mamadani Hospital and the Ataba Tower, when military drones suddenly hit us. At the hospital, they told me my leg injury was critical — the bullet had hit the main veins carrying blood to my heart, and I was at high risk of losing the leg,” he says.
He adds, “I was ready to document every single aspect of this genocide, even if it meant risking my life. But when I woke up from intensive care, they told me I had two choices: either lose my leg permanently or go abroad for treatment, because my wound couldn’t be treated in Gaza due to a complete lack of medical capacity.
“I felt besieged, trapped, just like everyone else in Gaza. I thought many times about my friends and fellow journalists who had already died. Leaving my family and my life behind in Gaza was the hardest choice I’ve ever had to make."
With the help of friends and connections, Zaher set up a fundraising campaign to support his family, which is still active and aims to provide assistance while they remain in desperate need, like many others in Gaza. He was later selected for an international humanitarian aid programme sponsored by Jordan.
But as Zaher puts it, leaving Palestine and reaching Jordan was far from easy. Most of his anger resurfaces as he recalls the humiliation he endured at the King Hussein Bridge while crossing the border.
“The long hours of waiting, the insults, and the confiscation of my belongings — they took my laptop and, most of all, my camera, which I’ve had for the past two years,” he explains.
In sharing this, Zaher notes that his attachment to his camera is so strong that he calls it his “baby.”
International recognition
Beyond Channel 4, Zaher’s visual reporting has reached audiences worldwide, with his work appearing in The Washington Post and The New York Times. His work has also been recognised by the Rory Peck Trust Foundation, which included him in its 2025 Awards in the News and Feature section.
He was among the first journalists to cover the siege of Al-Shifa Hospital in October 2023, where he documented the dire conditions faced by doctors, including British surgeon Ghassan Abu Sitta.
“They struggled to find basic medical supplies, painkillers, and ointments. It was clear that Israel’s objectives were far beyond targeting Hamas. They have been killing innocent civilians since the very beginning. Their intention to destroy trees, houses, stones — everything in Gaza — has been clear since the day after 7 October,” he reveals.
For Zaher, pictures and videos are a universal language that transcends linguistic barriers.
Scrolling through his Instagram page — like those of other Gazan journalists and citizens — is to go through an archive of evidence of the two-year genocide, officially recognised as such by the UN only last September, despite independent and UN experts warning of the atrocities much earlier.
Despite his work for renowned international media outlets, Zaher says Western media have failed to report the reality in Gaza.
“Social media played a more 'vital role' in amplifying Palestinian messages and images, despite Israeli attempts to limit their reach and, especially, to silence and kill journalists,” he notes.
Many of those journalists were his close friends, including Al Jazeera’s Anas Sharif, who was killed along with four others by an Israeli strike on a tent housing journalists near Al-Shifa Hospital on 10 August 2025.
Zaher remembers him clearly: “He was a daily source of inspiration for us. The claims by Israel that he was a member of Hamas are completely false. They wanted to silence his courageous, professional, and passionate reporting, and they use this excuse all the time. But how can they explain the kids and women slaughtered recklessly in the streets, the people shot while seeking aid, those who died from hunger and illness, and the prisoners who were brutally tortured?”
Journalists under fire
To date, since October 2023, more than 270 journalists have been killed since Israel launched its genocide in Gaza, and targeting journalists has continued even after the ceasefire.
For example, just two days after the ceasefire came into effect, on 12 October, Saleh al-Jafrawi, a prominent journalist covering Israel’s latest offensive on Gaza, was killed in southern Gaza City while reporting on clashes in the al-Sabra neighbourhood. Zaher knew him well, as they had often worked together.
“All this pain is meant to stop the truth from being told — that is what they want. Many times, I felt it might be my turn too. As a journalist, I have been constantly working under bombing and continuous threats. Lately, death hasn’t seemed so frightening — I could sense it in every moment, despite always wearing my press vest and working with international news agencies,” he says.
Looking forward
Far from home, Zaher says he still feels “besieged” and “in a cage,” facing the difficult reality of the international treatment of Palestinian passports and a widespread reluctance to support people from Gaza.
“There are very few countries willing to host us as asylum seekers,” he shares, as he prepares for a new life in South Africa, which maintains historic solidarity with Palestinians and, in December 2023, denounced Israel under the Genocide Convention at the International Court of Justice.
But despite his understandable worries, Zaher remains optimistic, and at a solidarity event in Amman last September, he displayed photographs of Gaza City taken before 7 October, capturing the city’s life and beauty before the devastation.
“I was drawn to the beauty of our shores and the joy people felt at the beach. Life was beautiful in Gaza, and I began my journey in photography to capture that beauty,” he says.
With the help of friends, he also had a logo printed on T-shirts and hoodies, which he feels represents both his work and, more broadly, the role of journalists.
“A dove wearing a press vest, carrying an olive branch, and bringing peace,” he explains, adding that despite claims that Gaza will no longer exist, he is determined to return as a journalist and filmmaker in the Strip.
“Gaza will stay. We will rebuild it again. And I will be back documenting its rebirth,” Zaher concludes.
Stefano Nanni is a freelance writer with a background in the aid sector. Based in Amman, he has lived in Iraq, Lebanon, and Jordan for the past 12 years. He is also the author of a book about the Iraqi poet Latif Al Saadi
Follow him on Instagram: @stef.nanni