Time defended its use of an image of hungry Palestinians in Gaza City on its Aug. 1 cover Wednesday, telling TheWrap that reports of similar images out of Gaza being staged were not related to the cover story, as Ali Jadallah is not among the photographers accused.
The news outlet declined, however, to clarify with certainty that the Getty image was not similarly staged as calls for owner Marc Benioff to address the allegations mounted on social media.
“The photographer referenced in the Bild story did not take the photograph that appeared on the cover of Time,” a spokesperson said. “The photograph that appeared on the recent Time cover, dated Aug. 1, 2025, was taken by photographer Ali Jadallah in Gaza City on July 22 and licensed by Time from Getty Images.”
Further responding to the report from German news site Bild, titled “This Gaza Photographer Stages Hamas Propaganda,” the spokesperson directed TheWrap to the Getty landing page for Jadallah’s work from July 22.
“Photos taken by Jadallah on the same day at a charity food distribution site can be found here, and provide greater context for the photograph by Jadallah that appeared on Time’s cover.”
The latest cover of Time features crowds lining up in Gaza City to receive food amid a reported famine and mass starvation while the military action between Israel and Hamas continues to impact the area. The authenticity of that image by Jadallah, however, was brought into question this week after a Bild report found that similar images may have been “deliberately staged.”
Photographer Anas Zayed Fteiha was shown in the report allegedly staging an image of Gazans waiting at a food distribution site similar to the one shown on the Time cover. “Gaza photographer Anas Zayed Fteiha stages the real suffering of Palestinians for the world public – to the benefit of Hamas and its propaganda,” the lead image’s caption (translated from German) read.
The report also alleged that in the Gaza Strip, “almost exclusively Palestinian photographers are now taking photographs – quite a few with Hamas connections.” Gerhard Paul, who Bild cited as a historian and photography expert, was also quoted: “In southern Gaza, Hamas controls 100% of image production.”
“The goal: to generate sympathy in the West and stir up anger against Israel,” the report read.
The Bild story, published Tuesday, soon circulated internationally across social media, which led to rising public pressure for Time owner Benioff to address the authenticity of the magazine’s cover image from photographer Jadallah. Some readers noticed similarities between the cover and the allegedly staged photo from Fteiha, who Bild said was pro-Palestine.
“I know you’re not involved in editorial decisions Benioff, but this is worth your attention. Millions of people will see this image and take it at face value, but it turns out it was all staged,” one user wrote on X, apparently conflating the Bild report on Fteiha with photographer Jadallah.
Meanwhile, nearly all of the top comments on Time’s Instagram post featuring the cover are questioning when the outlet will either confirm or deny whether or not the Jadallah image was staged. Time did not respond to a second request from TheWrap to clarify whether the Getty photo was staged.
These photographs are in part a result of Israel controling the flow of foreign journalists and photographers into Gaza, as reported by The New York Times — meaning most, if not all, journalists documenting the famine would be Palestinian, as stated in Bild’s report.
President Donald Trump acknowledged July 28 that the state of affairs in Gaza had grown increasingly dire as its people appear to be starving to death: “That’s real starvation stuff … You can’t fake that.”
Time editor-at-large Karl Vick wrote in the Aug. 1 cover story that the images coming out of Gaza encapsulate “the elemental power of mass starvation.”
“Its specter can, overnight, reframe a conflict that already has cost 60,000 lives, and fueled tense global debates on morality, antisemitism, the laws of war,” Vick wrote. “When children are starving, the enemy is hunger.”
