Al Jazeera, the tears of the Gaza correspondent: the family killed in an Israeli bombing

Wael Al-Dahdouh was on Al Jazeera, of which he is a correspondent from Gaza, when he learned of the massacre of his family. His wife, daughter and son died when the house where they had taken refuge was hit by an Israeli bombardment. Wael Al-Dahdouh is Al Jazeera’s bureau chief in Gaza. The director of the Arab broadcaster called him a courageous veteran journalist.

“The indiscriminate assault by the Israeli occupation forces resulted in the tragic loss of Al-Dahdouh’s wife, son and daughter, and the rest of his family is buried under the rubble,” says the statement from Al Jazeera Media Network. According to Palestinian sources, over 20 reporters died during the war between Israel and Hamas.

In a video circulating on social media and in many photographs you can see the man’s arrival at the hospital of the martyrs of Al-Aqsa in Deir al-Balah. He is seen bending over the body of his son, who he recalled wanted to be a journalist like him, and with a lifeless little girl in his arms. “What happened is clear, it is a series of targeted attacks against children, women and civilians,” Al-Dahdouh said as he left the hospital.

Al Jazeera editor Mohamed Moawad wrote that “the wife, son and daughter of Aljazeera’s courageous veteran journalist Wael Dahdouh were killed in an Israeli air strike which hit a shelter where they had taken shelter. Wael received the news while he was on air covering the relentless Israeli attacks on Gaza.”

The journalist’s family was hit by bombs that fell on the Al-Nuseirat refugee camp, in the center of the Strip, an area considered safe. The man reportedly said: «What just happened is clear: it is part of the ongoing targeting of women and children in Gaza. I was just reporting on the Israeli attacks that targeted the Nuseirat area.” Many of the journalist’s colleagues also arrived at the hospital.