Early career Prior to the
Gaza war, Azaiza's online posts mostly focused on photographing daily life in his native
Gaza Strip. His dream was to become a travel photographer according to
Grazia UK, but he could not yet afford the visa expenses. Although he covered the
2014 Gaza War and the
2021 Israel–Palestine crisis, his social media accounts did not gain much attention at the time. On 13 October, his Instagram account was restricted, but access was restored the following day. His follower count had increased to one million by 17 October, nine million by October 30, with the number reaching over 18 million by January 2024. In January 2024, Azaiza appeared on
Mehdi Hasan's final show with
MSNBC to discuss the
dangers of reporting from Gaza under Israel's bombardment. Later that month, after 108 days of reporting, Azaiza and some of his family evacuated to Egypt and then
Doha,
Qatar via
Al-Arish Airport, their first time on a plane. Azaiza subsequently began meeting with ministers, diplomats, and media figures to share his accounts, frustrated that his attempts to broadcast what was happening in Gaza had not changed things. He then went to
Geneva, Switzerland on 8 March for the
FIFDH, appearing on a panel with
Farah Nabulsi and Mohamed Jabaly at the premiere of Jabaly's film
Life is Beautiful. Azaiza visited American universities for talks in April, including a
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) panel, and went to
London in May, where he joined protests and gave a speech on Nakba Day. In August, English band
Massive Attack invited Azaiza to speak on stage at their
Bristol concert, which garnered an audience of over 30 thousand. He also paid visit to
Derry, where he was welcomed by mayor
Lilian Seenoi-Barr and interviewed by actress
Jamie-Lee O'Donnell. In September, he featured on the
BBC News programme
HARDTalk. == Personal life ==