Al Jazeera says Israeli strike killed another child of Gaza bureau chief


Wael al-Dahdouh, the Al Jazeera Gaza bureau chief whose wife, 15-year-old son, 7-year-old daughter and 1½-year-old grandson were killed during an Israeli attack in October, has lost another of his children in an Israeli airstrike, Al Jazeera Arabic reported Sunday.

Hamza al-Dahdouh was killed west of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, the Qatari-based news outlet said in a tweet, with footage of Wael al-Dahdouh wearing his press vest, holding his son’s hand and crying.

The younger Dahdouh, a journalist like his father, was killed alongside Mustafa Thuraya, the Palestinian government media office said in a statement on Telegram, adding that the pair were traveling in a vehicle during press coverage when the car was attacked.

“Nothing is harder than the pain of loss. And when you experience this pain time after time, it becomes harder and more severe,” Wael al-Dahdouh told Al Jazeera on Sunday.

“I wish that the blood of my son Hamza is the last of journalists and the last of people here in Gaza and for this massacre to stop,” he said, adding that like him, his son had been working for Al Jazeera to document the suffering inside the enclave. “The entire world should see what is happening here in the Gaza strip.”

The Israel Defense Forces did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the death of Dahdouh’s son.

In December, Wael al-Dahdouh was treated for shrapnel wounds after an Israeli drone strike on Khan Younis that killed Al Jazeera cameraman Samer Abu Daqqa.

The October strike also killed eight members of Dahdouh’s extended family. He found out about the bombing while reporting live.

At the time, the Israeli military said it “targeted Hamas terrorist infrastructure in the area” without providing further details or evidence.

Dahdouh has now lost three of his eight children, Hamza, Sham and Mahmoud. In a message to his father the day before he died, Hamza al-Dahdouh wrote on social media: “You are patient, father. Don’t lose faith in God’s mercy. Be certain that God will reward you because of your patience.”

At least 77 journalists and media workers have been killed since Hamas’s Oct 7. attack on Israel, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Shuruq As’ad, spokeswoman for the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate, based in the West Bank, said in a WhatsApp message that she was “shocked, sad and angry” over the killing of Hamza al-Dahdouh and Thuraya and said the vehicle they were traveling in to report on the conflict Sunday was clearly marked with press stickers.

Niha Masih contributed to this report





Source link

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *