The family of an Al Jazeera journalist have been killed in an Israeli strike on Gaza, the Qatar-based network said in a statement on Wednesday as the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues to rage on.
Al Jazeera said the wife and two children of its Arabic-language channel’s Gaza correspondent Wael Al-Dahdouh were killed in a strike on the Nuseirat refugee camp in the Gaza strip.
“The Al Jazeera Media Network extends its sincere condolences and sympathy to our colleague Wael Al-Dahdouh on the loss of his family in an Israeli airstrike,” it said.
“The indiscriminate assault by the Israeli occupation forces resulted in the tragic loss of his wife, son and daughter, while the rest of his family is buried under the rubble.”
Israel launched withering strikes on the narrow Palestinian territory in response to a massive cross-border attacks by Hamas fighter on October 7 that Israeli officials say have killed more than 1,400 people. More than 220 people were taken hostage and are currently held in Gaza, Israel says.
Israel’s retaliatory strikes have killed more than 6,500 people in Gaza, a rise of more than 700 since Tuesday, according to the health ministry.
In images and footage run by Al Jazeera and shared on social media, Al-Dahdouh was shown mourning over the bodies of his wife and children at a hospital in Deir el-Balah in the southern Gaza Strip.
Al Jazeera said the family were staying in a temporary home after evacuating Gaza City following Israel’s warning for residents to move south as its forces intensified strikes targeting Hamas.
“This is the safe zone the occupation (Israeli) army was talking about,” Al-Dahdouh said on Al Jazeera.
The media organisation said “their home was targeted in the Nuseirat camp in the centre of Gaza, where they had sought refuge after being displaced by the initial bombardment in their neighbourhood”.
“Al Jazeera is deeply concerned about the safety and well-being of our colleagues in Gaza and hold the Israeli authorities responsible for their security,” it added.—AFP
