Becoming the story: Injured journalists battle to leave Gaza for treatment

Gaza City — Every morning, photojournalist Mohammed al-Qahouji tries to piece together a life that the war nearly took from him.The 40-year-old freelance photographer says returning to journalism has become as much a physical challenge as an emotional one, every assignment interrupted by pain that shoots through his jaw, hand and back.He has lived with this pain since he narrowly survived an Israeli air raid on January 7, 2024, when he reported on the recovery of the bodies in southern Gaza with Al Jazeera’s Hamza al-Dahdouh and Mustafa Abu Thuraya.They were making their way back to their car when an Israeli warplane targeted the media crew, killing al-Dahdouh and Abu Thuraya, and seriously injuring al-Qahouji.“We survived and kept driving because we never imagined that journalists documenting the aftermath would themselves become targets,” al-Qahouji told Al Jazeera.“The paramedics placed me on top of Hamza al-Dahdouh’s body because they thought I had already died. Only later did they realise I was still alive.”Stuck in GazaThe blast tore his face from his eye to a major artery, requiring surgeons to implant titanium plates into his cheeks. His right hand sustained severe tendon a...