Gaza: Why the star defends itself against allegations to its cover picture

Few topics polarize like the Middle East conflict. It has always been like that. But rarely the debate was as heated as in the past almost two years. Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 shaked the world – and also us. And there is no justification and no relativization for this.

That Israel has the right to defend itself – that too is undisputed for us. However, what is increasingly controversial is what Israel understands by his right to self -defense. Large parts of the Gaza Strip have been destroyed, countless people are most needed. The terrorist disaster in Israel was followed by the humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip.

And that is the background that the star has decided on his current cover story. “Let’s take a look!” is on the cover in large letters. You can see a mother who holds a recognizable malnourished child in his arms.

Hardly any war can do without propaganda, not even the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Because the location in the Gaza Strip is so precarious, there are also many photos that show people’s suffering. A recording has achieved special celebrity in the past few days.

The child is similar to the child on the star-Titel photo. But – and that is important: it is not the same.

Why is that crucial? The picture that has made headlines worldwide in the past few days shows Muhammad Zakariya Ayyoub al-Matuk. Muhammad looks out.

Strictly speaking, however, it is unclear whether this is due to the hunger crisis in Gaza. In the past few days, researching various media has shown that Muhammad has suffered from a disability since birth that is probably genetically determined. Many media, including the “New York Times”, initially spread the picture in connection with the humanitarian disaster. Because when the photo was spread, the information about Muhammad’s disability was missing.

She reported on Thursday and accused the media of being victims of propaganda. The “Bild newspaper” expressly also called the star And his current cover picture. There is also a lot of criticism from users on social media.

The boy on the star-Cover is, according to the Turkish news agency Anadolu, which spread the image of photographer Ali Jadallah via the photo agency Getty Images, but the two -year -old Palestinian Yezen (sometimes also written Yazan) Abu Ful. Anadolu describes the picture as follows: “The picture shows the two-year-old Palestinian Yezen, whose health has deteriorated due to the lack of access to food and food supplements, on July 24, 2025 with his mother in the al-Shati refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. Threaten the life of two-year-old Yezen Abu Ful.

If you are accused of using a picture on the cover, but you did not use it, then the accusation is incorrect. On the reference from us, the “Bild newspaper” published a transparency reference under your text: “In an earlier version of the article, we wrote that the ‘Stern’ printed the photo of the diseased Muhammad on its front page. It is correct that the ‘star’ printed a photo of the disabled boy in the issue-as the most important photo of the cover story about hunger in Gaza.

One could also say: The “Bild-Zeitung” takes back a big reproach, but immediately raises another, if smaller. But we also defend ourselves against this accusation. It is true that we used the photo for the cover story itself (for print and in digital).

The context of history in the “Bild newspaper” is crucial. In it she quotes the investigative journalist David Collier, “who first revealed the true history of Muhammad”, and his accusation, the child’s illness mentioned. They even ignored important information or context – for example why Muhammad’s mother Hedaya or his older brother Joud (3) don’t look so malnourished.

This allegation is in the case of star However, wrong. that Muhammad suffers from a previous illness. The caption for the photo in star And on stern.de reads: “Muhammad is 18 months old, only skin and bone, six kilograms light. Instead of a diaper, it wears a plastic bag. The physiotherapy that the little one received against his developmental disorder can no longer take place. Mother Hedaya, 31, has no baby food, lives with her badly malnourished son in a tent in Gaza City, which photographer Ahmed al-Arini reminded of a grave. Muhammad is just one of thousands of Palestinian children who share this fate – a face of this war, the end of which he may no longer experience “

The photo criticized in the “Bild newspaper” has the star used for used last week. There describes one star-Collegin what the pictures from Gaza trigger with her as a mother. The article was published on July 24th. The Turkish news agency Anadolu had spread the photo on July 21.

Only after July 24 did several media, including the “New York Times”, report about the previous illnesses of Muhammad. That is why we have now supplemented the information about a developmental disorder in the caption. In order to give our readers more context to the photo, there is a transparency note: Since the publication of this picture by the Turkish news agency Anadolu on July 21, several media, including the New York Times, have reported on previous illnesses of the child in the photo. We have the information about a developmental disorder that was not yet known at the time of the publication of the text on July 24th in the caption in order to give our readers more context for the photo.

Does that mean that we always do everything right? No, of course not. At the star People work. And despite all duties of care, mistakes happen to them. If these happen to us, we stand and make them transparent. In the case described here, however, we are not aware of any mistakes and defend ourselves against allegations that do not apply.