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In the photo, the woman cradles a child in her arms, balanced on her knee. It is an image that resonates, as ancient as human history. But in a grim inversion of the familiar, we see that the child she holds close is a corpse, wrapped in a shroud. It is a quiet moment of intense grief. The woman wears a headscarf and her head is bowed. We cannot see who she is nor can we learn anything about the child - not even if it is a boy or girl. The child is one of many who have lost their lives on both sides in the Israel-Hamas war. Reuters photographer Mohammad Salem was in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Oct. 17 at the Nasser Hospital morgue, where residents were going to search for missing relatives. He saw the woman squatting on the ground in the morgue, sobbing and tightly embracing the child's body. "It was a powerful and a sad moment and I felt the picture sums up the broader sense of what was happening in the Gaza Strip," he said. "People were confused, running from one place to another, anxious to know the fate of their loved ones, and this woman caught my eye as she was holding the body of the little girl and refused to let go." REUTERS/Mohammed Salem SEARCH "SALEM GAZA WOMAN" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
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