Inside Gaza with Photographer Peter van Agtmael

3 minute read

Peter van Agtmael spent the last Gaza war taking pictures on the Israeli side. But when the fighting ended he made the surreal journey across the Erez Crossing from Israel into the Strip, home to some 1.8 million Palestinians. What he encountered changed the way he worked.

“When you’re confronted with that degree of destruction, you can’t shy away from it,” van Agtmael says. “I can’t go looking for my quirky little images in flattened neighborhoods.”

Van Agtmael’s particular gift, on rich display in his book Disco Night Sept 11, assembled from work in the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the home front, was in finding the telling image outside the main frame of daily photojournalism. And if that image was often off-balance or a bit odd, it was also immediately recognizable as where life is actually lived, even during wartime.

But a woman camping in the ruins of her home – one of 600 buildings crushed by Israeli bombs in a single neighborhood – did not lend itself to eliding understatement. That will have to come in time. Van Agtmael sees his next book in the region, and aims to spend a substantial amount of time there in the next few years. It has what he looks for in a subject. “I guess the kind of thing I keep coming back with is something kind of complex and contradictory,” he says. “Everything you learn from one picture kind of gets denied by the next picture, and you circle back around with the third.

“The end result is a cohesive mass but a perplexing one as well. In the end, photography isn’t very good at telling narratives, it’s a series of fragments. But to make a polemic, that’s not my interest.”

Van Agtmael, a Washington DC native who studied history at Yale, knows the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians has not lacked documentation. But “something clicked into place” during a 2013 assignment for the New York Times Magazine on the West Bank. He spent weeks with Palestinian activists in the village of Nabi Saleh, but also popped across the highway to visit Israelis in Halamish, the Jewish settlement the Palestinians gathered to each Friday. “I’m fascinated by the way those two worlds are incredibly intertwined, and how it easy it is to flip-flop between them, especially if you’re a journalist,” van Agtmael says. “That kind of dissonance attracts me as a photographer.”


Peter van Agtmael is a conflict photographer and member of Magnum.

Karl Vick is a TIME journalist based in New York. He spent four years as TIME’s Jerusalem Bureau Chief.


2014.  Gaza.  Palestine.  Schoolchildren head to class at the Sobhi Abu Karsh School in the Shujai'iya neighborhood. Operation Protective Edge lasted from 8 July 2014 – 26 August 2014, killing 2,189 Palestinians of which 1,486 are believed to be civilians. 66 Israeli soldiers and 6 civilians were killed.  It's estimated that 4,564 rockets were fired at Israel by Palestinian militants.
Schoolchildren head to class at the Sobhi Abu Karsh School in the Shujai'iya neighborhood of Gaza. Peter van Agtmael—Magnum Photos
2014.  Gaza.  Palestine. A child with an Israeli mortar shell in a neighborhood destroyed near Rafah in southern Gaza.  Operation Protective Edge lasted from 8 July 2014 – 26 August 2014, killing 2,189 Palestinians of which 1,486 are believed to be civilians. 66 Israeli soldiers and 6 civilians were killed.  It's estimated that 4,564 rockets were fired at Israel by Palestinian militants.
A child with an Israeli mortar shell in a neighborhood destroyed near Rafah, southern Gaza. Peter van Agtmael—Magnum Photos
2014.  Gaza.  Palestine.  A caged path leads into and out of Gaza from the Erez crossing in Israel.  When I left, the Israeli border official gave me an Ebola handbook and the only question she asked was whether I'd been to Africa in the previous six months.
A caged path leads into and out of Gaza from the Erez crossing in Israel. Peter van Agtmael—Magnum Photos
2014.  Gaza.  Palestine.  Children salvage scrap from a destroyed building in the Shujai'iya neighborhood.  Operation Protective Edge lasted from 8 July 2014 – 26 August 2014, killing 2,189 Palestinians of which 1,486 are believed to be civilians. 66 Israeli soldiers and 6 civilians were killed.  It's estimated that 4,564 rockets were fired at Israel by Palestinian militants.
Children salvage scrap from a destroyed building in the Shujai'iya neighborhood, Gaza. Peter van Agtmael—Magnum Photos
2014.  Gaza.  Palestine.  Fishermen look at the daily catch on the beach in Gaza. Operation Protective Edge lasted from 8 July 2014 – 26 August 2014, killing 2,189 Palestinians of which 1,486 are believed to be civilians. 66 Israeli soldiers and 6 civilians were killed.  It's estimated that 4,564 rockets were fired at Israel by Palestinian militants.
Fishermen look at the daily catch on a beach in Gaza. Peter van Agtmael—Magnum Photos
2014.  Gaza.  Palestine. Two men warm themselves by a fire in the destroyed Shujai'iya neighborhood.  Operation Protective Edge lasted from 8 July 2014 – 26 August 2014, killing 2,189 Palestinians of which 1,486 are believed to be civilians. 66 Israeli soldiers and 6 civilians were killed.  It's estimated that 4,564 rockets were fired at Israel by Palestinian militants.
Two men warm themselves by a fire in the destroyed Shujai'iya neighborhood, Gaza. Peter van Agtmael—Magnum Photos
2014.  Gaza.  Palestine. Hamas militants pose for a picture in an undisclosed location.  Operation Protective Edge lasted from 8 July 2014 – 26 August 2014, killing 2,189 Palestinians of which 1,486 are believed to be civilians. 66 Israeli soldiers and 6 civilians were killed.  It's estimated that 4,564 rockets were fired at Israel by Palestinian militants.
Hamas militants pose for a picture in an undisclosed location. Peter van Agtmael—Magnum Photos
2014.  Gaza.  Palestine. Motaz Abu Aser, who badly injured both hands in an airstrike in the destroyed Shujai'iya neighborhood.  Operation Protective Edge lasted from 8 July 2014 – 26 August 2014, killing 2,189 Palestinians of which 1,486 are believed to be civilians. 66 Israeli soldiers and 6 civilians were killed.  It's estimated that 4,564 rockets were fired at Israel by Palestinian militants.
Motaz Abu Aser, who badly injured both hands in an airstrike in the destroyed Shujai'iya neighborhood, Gaza. Peter van Agtmael—Magnum Photos
2014.  Gaza.  Palestine. An injured man and his child in the Shujai'iya neighborhood.  He didn't want to show his face or be named.  He complained of a steady parade of journalists and dignitaries appearing to document him or be photographed with him but no one had offered assistance.  Operation Protective Edge lasted from 8 July 2014 – 26 August 2014, killing 2,189 Palestinians of which 1,486 are believed to be civilians. 66 Israeli soldiers and 6 civilians were killed.  It's estimated that 4,564 rockets were fired at Israel by Palestinian militants.
An injured man and his child in the Shujai'iya neighborhood, Gaza. He didn't want to show his face or be named. He complained of a steady parade of journalists and dignitaries appearing to document him or be photographed with him but no one had offered assistance. Peter van Agtmael—Magnum Photos
2014.  Gaza.  Palestine. Achmed Hassan and his daughter.  Hassan lost both his legs in the 2008 war with Gaza and is still in recovery.   The destroyed vehicle in the background is an ambulance destroyed in the most recent war.  Operation Protective Edge lasted from 8 July 2014 – 26 August 2014, killing 2,189 Palestinians of which 1,486 are believed to be civilians. 66 Israeli soldiers and 6 civilians were killed.  It's estimated that 4,564 rockets were fired at Israel by Palestinian militants.
Achmed Hassan and his daughter. Hassan lost both his legs in 2008 and is still in recovery. The destroyed vehicle in the background is an ambulance destroyed in during Operation Protective Edge.Peter van Agtmael—Magnum Photos
2014.  Gaza.  Palestine. A child in the ruins of his home in the destroyed neighborhood of Beit Hanoun .  Operation Protective Edge lasted from 8 July 2014 – 26 August 2014, killing 2,189 Palestinians of which 1,486 are believed to be civilians. 66 Israeli soldiers and 6 civilians were killed.  It's estimated that 4,564 rockets were fired at Israel by Palestinian militants.
A child in the ruins of his home in the destroyed neighborhood of Beit Hanoun, Gaza. Peter van Agtmael—Magnum Photos
2014.  Gaza.  Palestine. A man salvages scrap from a destroyed building in the Shujai'iya neighborhood.  Operation Protective Edge lasted from 8 July 2014 – 26 August 2014, killing 2,189 Palestinians of which 1,486 are believed to be civilians. 66 Israeli soldiers and 6 civilians were killed.  It's estimated that 4,564 rockets were fired at Israel by Palestinian militants.
A man salvages scrap from a destroyed building in the Shujai'iya neighborhood, Gaza. Peter van Agtmael—Magnum Photos
2014.  Gaza.  Palestine. A woman in the ruins of the Shujai'iya neighborhood.  Operation Protective Edge lasted from 8 July 2014 – 26 August 2014, killing 2,189 Palestinians of which 1,486 are believed to be civilians. 66 Israeli soldiers and 6 civilians were killed.  It's estimated that 4,564 rockets were fired at Israel by Palestinian militants.
A woman in the ruins of the Shujai'iya neighborhood, Gaza. Peter van Agtmael—Magnum Photos
2014.  Gaza.  Palestine. A man injured during the Israeli ground invasion into Gaza.  Operation Protective Edge lasted from 8 July 2014 – 26 August 2014, killing 2,189 Palestinians of which 1,486 are believed to be civilians. 66 Israeli soldiers and 6 civilians were killed.  It's estimated that 4,564 rockets were fired at Israel by Palestinian militants.
A man injured during the Israeli ground invasion into Gaza. Peter van Agtmael—Magnum Photos
A temporary camp for displaced people in a neighborhood destroyed near Rafah, southern Gaza. Peter van Agtmael—Magnum Photos
2014.  Gaza.  Palestine. A runaway horse by a destroyed mosque in southern Gaza.  Operation Protective Edge lasted from 8 July 2014 – 26 August 2014, killing 2,189 Palestinians of which 1,486 are believed to be civilians. 66 Israeli soldiers and 6 civilians were killed.  It's estimated that 4,564 rockets were fired at Israel by Palestinian militants.
A runaway horse is seen near a destroyed mosque in southern Gaza. Peter van Agtmael—Magnum Photos
2014.  Gaza.  Palestine.The Najar family in their destroyed home.    Operation Protective Edge lasted from 8 July 2014 – 26 August 2014, killing 2,189 Palestinians of which 1,486 are believed to be civilians. 66 Israeli soldiers and 6 civilians were killed.  It's estimated that 4,564 rockets were fired at Israel by Palestinian militants.
The Najar family in their destroyed home. Peter van Agtmael—Magnum Photos
2014.  Gaza.  Palestine. A UNRWA school in Beit Hanoun has war damage repaired.  Operation Protective Edge lasted from 8 July 2014 – 26 August 2014, killing 2,189 Palestinians of which 1,486 are believed to be civilians. 66 Israeli soldiers and 6 civilians were killed.  It's estimated that 4,564 rockets were fired at Israel by Palestinian militants.
War damage is seen on a U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) school in Beit Hanoun, Gaza. Peter van Agtmael—Magnum Photos
2014.  Gaza.  Palestine. A crowd watches as a destroyed home is knocked down in Beit Hanoun.  Operation Protective Edge lasted from 8 July 2014 – 26 August 2014, killing 2,189 Palestinians of which 1,486 are believed to be civilians. 66 Israeli soldiers and 6 civilians were killed.  It's estimated that 4,564 rockets were fired at Israel by Palestinian militants.
A crowd watches as a destroyed home is knocked down in Beit Hanoun, Gaza. Peter van Agtmael—Magnum Photos

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