After 108 days spent risking his life documenting the war in Gaza, one of the last remaining and well-known Gazan journalists has left the besieged strip for safety.
Motaz Azaiza announced on Tuesday he would be evacuated.
"This is the last time you'll be seeing me with this heavy, stinky, (press) vest," the Palestinian photojournalist told his millions of followers on social media.
"I decided to evacuate today. I'm sorry, but Inshallah (God willing) hopefully soon [I can] come back and build Gaza again."
Azaiza is then shown with a group of his media colleagues removing his press vest before hugging them and saying his goodbyes.
"I'll miss you guys," he says.
Who is Motaz Azaiza?
Azaiza is a 24-year-old photojournalist who has been using his social media platforms to document the war in Gaza and the impact of .
From a video of himself comforting children being rushed to hospital in an ambulance, to drone footage showing the scale of destruction, Azaiza's posts have been praised by his online followers for showing what was happening in his home region.
He's amassed millions of followers including over 18 million on Instagram and one million on X (formerly Twitter).
One of Azaiza's photographs, titled Seeing Her Through My Camera, was among Time's top 10 photos of 2023. It showed a young girl trapped under rubble at the Al Nusairat refugee camp following an Israeli airstrike.
He's also been routinely documenting the killing of his media colleagues. Earlier this month, he posted on Instagram pictures of himself with two of his friends with the caption: "I lost two more of my colleagues and friends in an Israeli air strike".
According to news organisation Al Jazeera, 15 members of Azaiza's family have been killed, most of them women and children.
Following his announcement some of his followers said they were concerned about reportage of Gaza being lost now that he would be leaving.
"You were everything to us. Our eyes and ears," one said on X.
How many journalists have been killed in Gaza since 7 October?
Many of his online followers had frequently expressed concern about his safety and welfare as Azaiza filmed himself rushing to the scene following the aftermath of Israeli airstrikes.
it was now "about life or death" and that "the stage of risking everything to bring you the news has ended" and it was the "stage of trying to survive".
He's not the only one who's fled Gaza for safety in recent weeks. Fellow Gazan journalist Plestia Alaqad left last year and is now understood to be living in Australia.
Wael Dahdouh, Al Jazeera's Gaza bureau chief, made it to Qatar last week for medical treatment after reportedly being wounded in an Israeli attack while on the job.
Several members of Dahdouh's family have been killed since 7 October, including his sons Hamza and Mahmoud, wife Amna, daughter Sham and grandson Adam.
As of Monday, the Committee to Protect Journalists said 83 journalists and media workers were confirmed dead: 76 Palestinian, four Israelis, and three Lebanese.
