Motaz Azaiza is described in his X bio as "a genocide survivor, award-winning photojournalist, and an Independent Palestinian." He's also an activist who came to prominence after the October 7 Hamas terror attacks in Israel. Since then, he's spent more than 100 days documenting the war in Gaza before heading to Qatar in January 2024. His visibility and influence grew exponentially after October 7, with his Instagram account having 17-19 million followers at its peak, while his official X account has almost 1 million followers.

In January, Honest Reporting wrote that Azaiza "glorifies Hamas" and criticized Sky News for using Azaiza as a "credible voice" in its coverage of the Israel-Hamas war. This was despite documented praise for the Hamas attacks.

The post from Azaiza appears to have been made on October 7, 2023, as the attacks were happening. The following March, he wrote on Instagram that Palestinians should not be expected to condemn those terror attacks without reciprocal condemnation of Israeli actions. In January of last year, The Algemeiner also wrote about Azaiza, who said that "single Palestinian life is 'more important than a thousand Israelis.'"

Azaiza, a 25-year-old independent photographer raised in the Deir al-Balah refugee camp, has become one of the most globally recognizable spokespeople for Gazans amid the current Israel-Hamas war and perhaps the most prominent of a number of local Gazan journalists claiming to accurately report events on the ground.

“I’m in a fight with everyone who doesn’t care about the lives of Palestinians. For me, the lives of Palestinians are more precious and way more important than the lives of Israelis (the ones who occupy Palestine),” Azaiza posted on Jan. 19.

“Even sometimes I fight with Palestinians who just want to sacrifice their lives for the sake of sacrifice,” he continued. “Our lives mean the most [in Arabic: our lives are the most precious thing we have]. Our souls are precious. A single Palestinian is worth more than a thousand Israelis. Thank you.”

He also mourned the deaths of Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar.

Azaiza also minimized the plight of Israeli hostages held by Hamas, referring to them as "prisoners" who were being held in "good conditions." He also said the war was not against Hamas, but the Palestinian people, alleging that Israel wanted to "bury us or push us out" and he blamed the U.S. and U.K. for enabling Israeli actions.

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"By reframing civilians abducted in a terrorist attack as detainees treated humanely, Azaiza erased the violence of October 7 and minimized the suffering that followed," said Honest Reporting.

However, Azaiza has also made statements that could be interpreted as criticisms of Hamas or Palestinian leadership. In March 2024 he wrote on social media, ""Those who turn a blind eye to the suffering and struggles of their own people should matter nought [sic] to us. Cursed be those who profit from our blood, scorch our hearts and homes, and wreck our lives." Despite not naming Palestinian leadership or Hamas, followers condemned the statement as criticism of one or both. Last November, he also criticized both Hamas and Israel. While that does not erase his pro-Hamas statements, it does paint a more complex picture.

Throughout all of this, Azaiza has enjoyed both international recognition and platforming. Not only did Sky News use him as a credible source, but Time included one of his photographs among its Top 10 Photos of 2023, the U.N. Geneva newsroom cited Azaiza's remarks that Israeli actions psychologically harmed Gazans, and the Region of Normandy selected Azaiza for its Prize of Liberty, a move that received objections from French Jews.

Azaiza also traveled to the U.S., where he met with Rep. Rashida Tlaib and visited the Columbia University pro-Palestine encampment. In November of last year, he celebrated Zohran Mamdani's election victory and visited Gracie Mansion.

What has been built around Motaz Azaiza is a carefully crafted narrative of an activist concerned about Gaza and the Palestinian people, who uses his platform to get aid to Gaza.

Prior to October 7, Azaiza photographed daily life in Gaza and worked as a freelance photographer and content producer for UNRWA USA. And that's where things really get interesting. 

Azaiza has used his activism and large social media presence to ask for money, reportedly for the people of Gaza. Motaz.org, his fundraising website, says, "Every family in Gaza deserves food, shelter, and safety." UNRWA USA also manages that website and the donations.

This leads some to wonder why Azaiza is traveling the world right now, including a recent trip to Italy.

While his charitable organization says it is regularly audited and transparent, this is understandably raising more than a few eyebrows.

At a minimum, Motaz Azaiza sympathizes with terrorists, even if he's been mildly critical of Hamas. But Azaiza's world-traveler public profile presents a striking contrast with the humanitarian fundraising at the center of his pro-Palestine activism.

None of this proves that money donated through Azaiza's fundraising efforts is paying for his international travel, and no evidence is presented here that it is. But it does raise legitimate questions about the image being sold to the public. Azaiza has transformed the visibility he gained during the Gaza war into an enormous international platform. And that platform has brought him access to politicians like Rashida Tlaib and Zohran Mamdani as well as connections to elite media outlets, international institutions, awards, and world travel, even as he continues soliciting donations in the name of suffering Palestinians. At the very least, donors deserve transparency about where their money goes, who pays the expenses associated with Azaiza's increasingly global profile, and how much of the operation surrounding him is humanitarian work versus political activism. When millions of dollars can potentially move on the strength of one man's credibility and his influence, those aren't unreasonable questions. They're necessary ones.