In 2009, Hamra was recognized by the Overseas Press Club of America with its 2010 Robert Capa Gold Medal for his series covering the war in Gaza.
[1] In 2002, a year after graduating from the Islamic University of Gaza with a degree in journalism, Hamra took work as a freelancer with the Associated Press, based in Rafah.
[citation needed] In 2004, Hamra's work was featured in a group exhibition of AP photojournalists in the annual international Visa Pour L'image festival in Perpignan, France; that same year, he received a 2nd prize from Editor & Publisher for photographs he had taken of a tank strike in Israel.
[1] The Overseas Press Club praised his images as "close up, powerful and direct and taken at considerable risk due to the nature of the conflict which had combatants mingling amongst the civilian population.
"[3] In February 2011, Hamra himself made news when he was injured documenting demonstrations in Tahrir Square, Alexandria during the 2011 Egyptian revolution.