When you think of Israeli photojournalism, the name Ziv Koren immediately comes to mind. The photojournalist has spent decades focusing on humanitarian issues in Israel and around the world.
He covered the tsunami in Southeast Asia, the earthquake in Haiti and AIDS in South Africa. He spent weeks in Ukraine, almost a year and a half documenting COVID 19 wards in hospitals and of course, he has documented the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.
But October 7, he said, was very different.
“You cannot even compare [October 7] to any war, because killing, assassinating, brutally murdering kids in their beds, that’s not warfare,” Koren told The AJN over zoom from Israel, as we discussed his new book The October 7 War.
“When I was in Ukraine, I wanted to photograph a soldier who was wounded. He looked up to me and he said ‘killing a soldier in war, is not a war crime. But literally assassinating children in their homes, it is’. It’s a completely different story and it’s this kind of atrocity that took place against civilians in their homes, in their beds, burning them to death, killing, them, raping and cutting limbs off people. It’s these kinds of scenes that we’ve never seen before.”
The first images Koren saw on the television were Hamas terrorists in pick-up trucks gunning people down as they made their way to Sderot.
By noon, Koren was in the Gaza Envelope.
“We didn’t know much about the kibbutzim, we had no idea about Nova,” he recalled. “I started by photographing here in Tel Aviv, because there were missiles and direct hits on buildings and then I understood that the big story was happening down south. I just grabbed my bulletproof jacket and helmet and stuff, and rushed down.”
Koren explained that he had to bypass police barricades because the roads were already closed. He also recalled getting into a gunfight with terrorists before the army arrived.
“I was lying under cars and the cars are full of bullets,” he explained. “I almost did not survive that day, and ever since I’ve been photographing everywhere from the kibbutzim to the families of the hostages to the wounded.”
“This is documentation of history, in the books that my grandchildren will study in school in 50 years’ time. This is what will shape our knowledge for future generations.”
Koren said what he does is not a job. Rather he describes it as his mission. “Someone that wakes up in the morning and goes to do his thing, comes back at 5pm. This is a job. I never, ever say I’m going to work.” Koren explains that since October 7, he has been photographing images 18-20 hours a day, seven days a week, but says he needs to do it. “[It’s a] deep understanding of the necessity of telling the story of what happened here as a witness, as someone who was there. And if I have an hour that I’m not photographing anything, or I’m not giving a lecture, I’m going to the hospital to visit wounded soldiers or people who came back after spending months in underground in Gaza in captivity as hostages. So, this is my daily routine. This is what I do. And I think it’s, it’s a very, very important story to tell.”
While he acknowledges that his mission is ongoing, he said it came to a point where it all needed to be collated. The result is the second version of The October 7 War.
In the preface to the book, Koren writes, “after such inconceivable events, I think that without authentic documentation, we could one day struggle to believe that this happened, that in 2023, the State of Israel experienced the most dramatic tales of horror and heroism since the Holocaust.”
And indeed, that’s exactly what the book does, using heart-wrenching photos from October 7 and since, and essays from contributors, including survivors, hostages – Danielle Aloni, Mia Shem, Ofir Engel – ZAKA volunteers, international activists such as Noa Tishby and Yoseph Haddad, as well as head of IDF Spokesperson Unit, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, and many more.
Koren explained that he is an independent photographer meaning he doesn’t have a television channel, production company or newspaper backing him up. He forms the relationships with those he photographs, and he organised every essay written. He said every single person he approached agreed to do it.
“It’s just me calling them and asking if they’re willing to write. I got no refusals. Most of them are really important or famous people; I wanted their point of view telling their story, not me interviewing them,” he said.
For many of the survivors and hostages photographed, Koren took them back to the place where they experienced October 7.
He shared with me the story of Danielle Aloni, who returned to her sister’s home on Kibbutz Nir Oz. Danielle expressed that she knew Koren’s work and understood the importance of it, but she was at first reluctant to go back.
“I said that I wanted to photograph her in the house of her sister, where she was kidnapped. And she said ‘I promised myself I will never go back to this house, but I do understand the importance and I really appreciate what you do.’ And she said yes,” Koren recalled, explaining that everything about their trip back together was triggering for Danielle.
“She was terrified. Every boom in the background was triggering for her. But she said yes.”
Koren juxtaposes the images of horror and heartache with the positive stories that have come out of October 7.
Like those of the heroism of everyday Israelis, those who have mobilised to volunteer, the hostages returning home, a wedding between two Nova survivors who both lost their legs and another wedding at an IDF staging area on the Lebanese border.
“I think we have to have some hope inside the book as well,” Koren said, explaining that the country has been holding its breath since October 7, especially with hostages still being held captive. “There is a future for these people, we can overcome things and show some optimism.”
There’s also a section dedicated to the IDF in Gaza, including never-before-seen images of the Hamas tunnel network, which Koren said is quite surreal, given he was in Gaza when Israel withdrew from the strip.
Koren acknowledges that while many news outlets use his images for current-day purposes, he is actually doing this for future generations.
“It’s insane that we somehow live in an era that even after Israel going through probably the worst atrocity since the Holocaust, there are still people who are so uneducated. It’s a truly historical event. I do not document this just for tomorrow’s newspaper. This is documentation of history, in the books that my grandchildren will study in school in 50 years’ time. This is what will shape our knowledge for future generations.”
The October 7 War is currently available through Amazon.
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