Al Jazeera reported that its Gaza bureau chief, Wael Al Dahdouh, lost his wife, son, daughter and grandson in what it said was an Israeli air strike on Wednesday (25).
The explosion hit a house in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, where the family was taking shelter after being displaced, according to the news channel
“Family members of our colleague Wael Al Dahdouh, including his wife, son and daughter, were martyred in an Israeli bombing raid,” Al Jazeera wrote in an on-air message.
Al-Jazeera reported that Al-Dahdouh’s grandson, Adam, was pronounced dead two hours later.
A CNN cannot independently confirm the origin of the explosion at the house and Al Jazeera has not provided evidence directly linking it to an Israeli attack.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has not yet responded to requests for comment from the CNN .
See also: CNN Brazil reporter shows destruction on the border with Gaza
Al Dahdouh was seen on video crying as he stood over his son’s body, wrapped in a white sheet. The journalist was also seen carrying his grandson’s small body through Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Hospital in Gaza.
His son Mahmoud was 15 and his daughter Sham was 7, Al Jazeera reported.
Al Jazeera anchor Abdisalam Farah announced the deaths on air, visibly struggling to maintain his composure and crying.
The Al Dahdouh family was moved from Tal El Hawa to the Nuseirat refugee camp, which they felt would be a safe place for them to stay, Al Jazeera’s Ramallah office told CNN .
Israel’s leadership has vowed to end Hamas, the radical Islamic group that controls Gaza, in response to its deadly terrorist attacks and the wave of kidnappings on October 7, in which 1,400 people, mostly civilians, were killed and more than 200 taken hostage.
The weeks-long siege of Gaza has resulted in a humanitarian crisis within the strip, now cut off from the world by a near-total blockade, aid groups say. Israeli airstrikes decimated entire neighborhoods, destroying homes, schools and mosques.
Drone images from CNN Monday showed the level of destruction in parts of the strip, with entire streets leveled in the al-Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City and a row of destroyed buildings known as al-Zahra towers in the center.
More than 6,400 people have been killed and another 17,000 injured in Israel’s ongoing aerial bombardment of the crowded enclave, according to the latest figures from Hamas-controlled health authorities in Gaza, published by the Palestinian Health Ministry in Ramallah.
“Horrible news”
Advocacy groups condemned the killing of Al Dahdouh’s family members on Wednesday. The International Press Institute (IPI) classified it as “horrible and outrageous news” in a statement.
“We condemn the killing of civilians and offer our deepest condolences to Wael Dahdouh.”
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), at least 24 journalists have died since the start of this conflict until Wednesday. Twenty of the dead were Palestinians, three were Israelis and one was a Lebanese journalist, CPJ said.
The number includes Palestinian journalist Roshdi Sarraj, according to Palestinian news agency WAFA, which said he was killed in an Israeli airstrike.
Sarraj has worked at French national public radio broadcaster Radio France with its correspondents since May 2021, according to Radio France.
When the CNN contacted the IDF for comment on Sarraj’s death, said on Monday that “in stark contrast to Hamas’ intentional attacks on Israeli men, women and children, the IDF follows international law and takes feasible precautions to mitigate the damage civilians.”
(Mihir Melwani, from CNN Pierre Meilha and Sophie Jeong contributed to this text)
Source: CNN Brasil
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