Swedish photographer wins World Press Photo 2012

THE HAGUE - Swedish photojournalist Paul Hansen won the World Press Photo 2012 for a picture of a burial in Gaza, the World Press Photo foundation in Amsterdam announced on Friday.

Hansen has worked for Swedish daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter since 2000. His spot news winning picture was taken on November 20 in Gaza, the Palestinian territories.

Paul Hansen of Sweden, a photographer working for the Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter, poses holding his picture that won the World Press Photo of the year for 2012, at Dagens Nyheter's office in Stockholm Feb 15, 2013. The photograph, which Hansen took on Nov 20, 2012, shows a group of men carrying the bodies of two dead children, who were killed in an Israeli missile strike on Gaza City, and won the top World Press Photo prize on Friday. [Photo/Agencies]

On the photo two-year-old Suhaib Hijazi and his older brother Muhammad, who were killed when their house was destroyed by an Israeli missile strike, were carried to the mosque for the burial ceremony.

"It's a very powerful image," explained jury chairman Santiago Lyon. "It shows a group of men carrying the bodies of two small children. It's the combination of the small size of the bodies with the variety of expressions, pain, rage and sadness. It's just an incredible collection of powerful images. It all comes together in this picture."

An international jury selected the winners of the 56th World Press Photo Contest. Among the other winners was Rodrigo Abd from Argentina in the category General News. A total of 48 photographers were awarded a prize in nine categories.