The Qatari news network ‘Al Jazeera’ confirmed the death of the wife, son, daughter and grandson of the agency’s chief correspondent in the Gaza Strip, Wael Dahdouh. The journalist’s family would have moved to the center of the territory by order of the Israeli Army, with the promise of greater security in the face of the imminent intensification of attacks in northern Gaza. On the other hand, the Committee to Protect Journalists reports on 24 journalists murdered since last October 7.
First modification:
4 min
Press freedom is under siege in the Palestinian territories. Although the Israeli Army has not yet commented on the death of Dahdouh’s relatives, its journalistic house regretted the death of those close to him and held Israel directly responsible for his death when the experienced reporter was covering another bombing that ended with the lives of at least 26 people.
“‘Al Jazeera’ is deeply concerned about the safety and well-being of our colleagues in Gaza and holds the Israeli authorities responsible for their safety,” the channel said in a statement to the public, in which they also condemned “the indiscriminate attack and the murder of innocent civilians in the Gaza Strip.
Upon the death of his wife Amna, 44 years old; his son Mahmoud, 16 years old; his 7-year-old daughter Sham; and his grandson Adam, just over a year old, is added to the death of eight other members of his extended family, including uncles, nephews and cousins.
“Are they taking revenge on us with our children?” the correspondent shouted while holding his son’s body outside al-Aqsa Hospital, where it was recorded by dozens of spectators who also mourned the death of their relatives. A funeral was later held for Dahdouh’s loved ones.
The family of Al Jazeera’s Gaza bureau chief Wael Dahdouh has been killed in an Israeli attack at the Al Nuseirat Camp in central Gaza, where they had forcibly evacuated to shelter from Israeli bombardments ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/ya64Lgunbp
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) October 25, 2023
According to the Arab channel, the relatives of the Gazan journalist were instructed by the Israeli Army to leave Gaza City, north of the enclave, to go to the Nuseirat refugee camp, in the center of the territory, in order to evade the Israeli missiles that hit the north with greater intensity every day. Even so, inside a refugee camp, the Dahdouh family was hit by a lethal projectile from Israel.
“They were all gathered at home, and now they are all gone”
Bisan Dahdouh, Dahdouh’s eldest daughter, learned from her father that most of her family had been killed by Israeli forces. She described the pain of seeing the lifeless bodies of her loved ones inside the Gaza hospital to which they were transferred.
“The first body I saw in the hospital was that of Adam, the first and only child of my sister Sondos,” Bisan explained to ‘Al Jazeera’, also mentioning that his mother was “praying” along with the rest of her family. before eating, when the bomb fell that took their lives.
On the other hand, Ali Dahdouh, the journalist’s brother-in-law, assured that his mother, Hanan Dahdouh, had been injured during the bombing and was unconscious, expressing concern about the impression that the bad news would generate on her when she woke up.
“We live next to each other in Tal al-Hawa, southwest of Gaza City, and we all evacuated to Nurseirat following Israeli orders (…) Here everyone is a target. No place is safe,” Ali said .
At least 24 journalists killed in the last 20 days
In addition to facing the lack of water, energy, fuel and food that the Israeli blockade on Gaza imposes on the entire civilian population, journalists have to face Israel’s harsh attacks on the enclave.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported 24 journalists killed since the Hamas attack on Israeli territory increased a violent response from Israel on October 7. At least 20 of those killed were Palestinians and at least 10 of them died covering the conflict, according to another NGO, Reporters Without Borders, which verified CPJ data.
“We are working on our land and we have two duties: one with our people and the other with our family. I live it in that order. I go out to work and do everything possible to convey the truth of what our people are suffering. And also “I dedicate part of the day to trying to reassure and keep my family safe,” explained ‘Hassan B’, a Palestinian journalist who anonymously shared his testimony for the Spanish newspaper ‘El País’.
At the beginning of October, the British agency Reuters reported the death of one of its journalists in Lebanon, Issam Abdallah, who was working as a cameraman near the border with Israel when a bomb, denied by Tel Aviv, hit his shelter.
Abdallah’s death also follows that of Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American journalist for ‘Al Jazeera’, who was killed by an Israeli bullet in a raid inside the West Bank city of Jenin. It was the first time that the Israeli Army “accepted” responsibility for the death of a journalist in the Palestinian territories.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has spilled violence into all sectors of society and journalists have also been hit. Foreign journalists have to face the secrecy and obstacles of the Israeli State to enter Gaza, and those inside the enclave have to endure bombs and bullets while doing their work.
With Reuters, AP and local media
#safe #place #Gaza #family #Jazeera #correspondent #dies #Israeli #bombing