New Delhi

The Associated Press has won a top journalism prize for taking a photograph of Hamas militants parading the body of a 22 year-old dead woman they had killed through the streets of Gaza.

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The photograph has produced a backlash on social media. Critics say there may have been some question over whether the photograph was an appropriate one to release to the world. They also argue that the woman's image being used was ‘an insult to Jew’".

Also read: International Court of Justice orders Israel to address famine in Gaza

The photograph shows 22 year-old Shani Louk, who was abducted by Hamas on October 7, the day the militant group launched its first attack on Israel. In the picture the woman can be seen lying semi-naked in the back of a pickup truck surrounded by armed men who appear to be celebrating the killing.

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Associated Press wins award for photo of dead woman with Hamas militants.

According to media reports, Louk was at the Supernova music festival on October 7, when terrorists mowed down attendees with gunfire and grenades, killing some 360 people and abducting several of them - mostly civilians - amid horrific acts of brutality and sexual assault.

She was declared officially dead on October 30 after a part of her skull was discover. However, her body is still being kept in Gaza. The New York Post says that the mad ‘Team Picture Story of the Year’ run by the Donald W Reynolds Journalism Institute at Missouri School of Journalism has dubbed the contest as the world’s oldest photojournalism competition.

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There has been a lot of criticism of the photograph and the journalist who took the picture.

Aviva Klompas, who was earlier the Head of Speechwriting, Israel mission to the United Nations sought punishment for the photographer for taking the photo.

"The AP photographer who accompanied jihadi barbarians on their October 7 invasion of Israel has been awarded a prestigious photography prize. He is being celebrated for taking this photo of murder-rapist-terrorists with the brutalized and contorted body of Shani Louk. Seems to me he should be going to jail, not getting a prize," she wrote on X.

Several social media users said they were ‘shocked’ at the picture.

Ceasefire

Meanwhile, Palestinian militant group Hamas on Monday (Mar 25) said to the mediators that it will follow the original proposal on finalising a comprehensive ceasefire, which includes the Israeli troops' withdrawal from Gaza and the displaced Palestinians' return to the war-ravaged enclave. 

The militant group also called for "a real exchange of prisoners" as it appealed for the release of Palestinians from Israeli prisons in exchange for the Israeli hostages who have been kept in Gaza. 

Israel has rejected several appeals from Hamas for a permanent ceasefire and full military withdrawal despite the terror group claiming many more hostages will be released after Israel commits to end the war.

The demands of Hamas have been rejected by Israel as delusional and the country has emphasised that it will destroy the military and governance capabilities of the militant group and then think of any hostage-truce deal. 

Nearly 130 hostages are likely to have been kept in Gaza since the October 7 attack by Hamas. 

(With inputs from agencies)