Mariam Abu Daqqa was a freelance photographer and mother of a 13-year-old boy, Ghaith. Mariam worked with several international outlets, including the Associated Press and Independent Arabia, and was known among her peers for her relentless drive to document the suffering of Palestinians, often from the front lines. Abu Daqqa is a recipient of the 2025 World Press Freedom Hero award, presented by the International Press Institute in partnership with International Media Support (IMS). She was working at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis when she was killed on 25 August 2025, in Israeli attacks that struck the Hospital and other locations in the southern Gaza Strip. She was 33 years old. She was murdered together with four other colleagues: Mohammed Salama, Ahmed Abu Aziz, Hussam Al-Masri and Moaz Abu Taha. Their deaths underscored the peril faced by those who continued to report from Gaza after nearly two years of relentless war. Together, they represented the courage, resilience, and humanity of a generation of reporters who risked everything to document the suffering of their people and to keep truth alive amid devastation.