Gaza journalist’s son killed in Israeli attack
GAZA CITY: The eldest son of media outlet Al Jazeera’s Gaza bureau chief, Wael Dahdouh, has been killed by an Israeli missile strike in the western part of Khan Younis, Gaza.
Hamza Dahdouh and journalist Mustafa Thuraya were killed when the vehicle they were travelling in near al-Mawasi was struck by the missile. A third passenger, Hazem Rajab, was seriously injured.
According to reports by the Doha-based channel, Hamza and Mustafa’s vehicle was targeted as they were trying to interview civilians displaced by previous bombings. Hamza, 27, was a journalist like his father. Mustafa was also in his 20s.
Speaking from the cemetery where his son had been laid to rest, Wael seemed subdued yet resigned, saying he was one of the droves of people in Gaza today who are bidding bitter farewells to their loved ones every day.
He vowed to remain on his path of showing the world what is happening in Gaza, despite the pain of one loss after another.
“Hamza was everything to me, the eldest boy, he was the soul of my soul… these are the tears of parting and loss, the tears of humanity,” he said.
The Al Jazeera Media Network strongly condemned the attack, adding: “The assassination of Mustafa and Hamza … whilst they were on their way to carry out their duty in the Gaza Strip, reaffirms the need to take immediate necessary legal measures against the occupation forces to ensure that there is no impunity.”
Hamza was extremely attached to his family and was devastated when he heard on October 25 that an Israeli raid had hit the house his family was sheltering at in the Nuseirat refugee camp. He found out shortly after that his mother Amna, brother Mahmoud, 15, sister Sham, 7, and nephew Adam, 1, had been killed in the Israeli attack.
As news of Hamza’s killing spread, his wife of one year rushed to the cemetery, as did his surviving siblings, for one last look before he was buried. Wael stood by his son’s head, consoling the rest of his family as they tried to comprehend the sudden loss.
Wael Dahdoud is much more than the Al Jazeera Arabic bureau chief in Gaza. He is the face of the channel’s coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza and a symbol of the resilience of Gaza’s people.
He lost his wife, son, daughter, and grandson to the Israeli air raid at the end of October. In mid-December, he was badly injured in an attack that killed his colleague Samer Abudaqa.
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate has documented the killing of 102 journalists and the injury of 71 others by Israeli forces since hostilities began in October. The list of Al Jazeera journalists and staff who have lost members of their families or have died themselves is also growing.