“Let it bring a tale”: Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha wins Pulitzer Prize for Gaza writings
Palestinian poet and essayist Mosab Abu Toha, has won the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary. He evacuated Gaza with his family in 2024 to Syracuse, New York, after receiving a visa permitting him to teach at Syracuse University.
Known for his poetry, like 'What a Gazan Should Do During an Israeli Air Strike', 'Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear'—which earned him the 2022 Palestinian Book Award—and 'my grandfather and home'.
He writes of his experiences in essays to The New Yorker, of which the Pulitzer Committee recognised four essays: 'The Gaza We Leave Behind', which talks about the destruction of Gaza, 'Requiem for a Refugee Camp', in which Abu Toha recounts his experience in the Jabalia Refugee Camp, 'My Family’s Daily Struggle To Find Food In Gaza', detailing his accounts of starvation his family suffered, and 'The Pain of Travelling While Palestinian', recounting his experience of evacuating Gaza and his resettlement to the US.
Mosab's win is especially significant, as in recent months, Israel has intensified its blockade, barring humanitarian aid to Gaza in their attempts to force the terrorist organisation Hamas to surrender. This move has garnered widespread condemnation from leading aid groups citing malnutrition and the spread of diseases like dysentery, faced by the starving Gazans.
Catherine Russell, the Executive Director of UNICEF, in her statement on the situation of children in the Gaza strip, said that “for two months, children in the Gaza Strip have faced relentless bombardment while being deprived of essential goods, services and life-saving care. With each passing day of the aid blockade, they face a growing risk of starvation, illness and death—nothing can justify this.”
“International humanitarian law requires authorities to ensure that the population under their control is treated humanely. This not only includes ensuring that civilians have the food, medicine, and essential supplies they need, but also ensuring sufficient hygiene and public health standards. All parties to the conflict must allow and facilitate the rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian assistance. And they must allow and facilitate all relevant UN entities to carry out those activities for the benefit of the local population.”
On X, Mosab Abu Toha tweeted: “I have just won a Pulitzer Prize for Commentary. Let it bring hope. Let it bring a tale.”
He later followed it up with a tweet thanking numerous people in his life, and urging an immediate and permanent ceasefire.
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