Anger, Sorrow And The Children’s Innocence: This Amazing Shot Won World Press Photo Of The Year

Swedish photographer Paul Hansen won the 2012 World Press Photo award for newspaper Dagens Nyheter with this photograph of two Palestinian children killed in an Israeli missile strike being carried to their funeral.

It shows 2-year-old Suhaib Hijazi and her 3-year-old brother Muhammad, who were killed when their house was destroyed by the Israeli attack.

The picture shows a group of men marching the dead bodies through a narrow street in Gaza City.

They are being carried by grieving uncles, as their father Fouad was also killed, and his body can be seen in the background of the picture.

“The strength of the pictures lies in the way it contrasts the anger and sorrow of the adults with the innocence of the children,” said jury member Mayu Mohanna of Peru. “It’s a picture I will not forget.”

Hansen’s shot won top prize in both the spot news single photograph category and the overall competition.

The children’s mother, whose name was not provided, was in intensive care.

“This prize is the highest honour you can get in the profession,” Hansen said. “I’m very happy, but also very sad. The family lost two children and the mother is unconscious in a hospital.”