CNN Indonesia
Thursday, 26 Oct 2023 13:28 IWST
Grieving journalists in Gaza who lost their families due to Israeli attacks. Photo: AFP/MAJDI FATHI
Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
The wife, son, daughter and grandchildren of Wael Dahdouh, Head of Al Jazeera Arab’s Gaza Bureau, were killed in an air strike Israel.
Video recording Al Jazeera shows Dahdouh visiting the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Hospital in Deir el-Balah on Wednesday (25/10) to see his family members who were lying stiff in the morgue.
Dahdouh squatted down and touched the face of his 15-year-old son, Mahmoud, who dreams of becoming a journalist like him.
Footage then shows Dahdouh holding the body of his 7-year-old daughter, who appears to be lying peacefully. He whispered soft words to the princess when he found her face covered in blood.
“What happened is clear. This was a series of attacks targeting children, women and civilians. I just reported events from Yarmouk about such attacks, and these Israeli attacks have targeted many areas, including Nuseirat,” said Dahdouh told Al Jazeera after being released from hospital.
“We doubted that Israel would not let the people leave without punishing them. And unfortunately, that is what happened. This is the ‘safe’ area that the Israeli army was talking about.”
Two hours later, Dahdouh’s grandson was also declared dead.
Several members of Dahdouh’s family, one of whom was his granddaughter, survived the attack on the Nuseirat refugee camp. Dahdouh’s family has lived there since their neighborhood was attacked by Israel. This camp itself is located south of Wadi Gaza.
According to Al Jazeera Arabic, Dahdouh’s son, Yehia, was injured in this incident. The doctors had to perform an emergency procedure to treat serious injuries to his head.
However, due to the lack of sufficient space, emergency treatment had to be carried out in the hospital corridor. Not only that, the doctor also couldn’t get the right medical instruments, so he had to sew up the wound using non-surgical thread.
“Indiscriminate attacks by Israeli forces resulted in the deaths of his wife, son and daughter [Dahdouh]while other family members were buried under the rubble,” read an official statement from Al Jazeera Media Network.
“Their home was targeted in the Nuseirat camp, in central Gaza, where they had sought refuge after being displaced by initial bombings in their neighborhood, following the Prime Minister’s call [Benjamin] Netanyahu ordered all civilians to move south,” Al Jazeera said in a statement.
Speaking from Gaza, Al Jazeera’s Youmma Elsayed admitted that he was powerless to report the sad news that befell Dahdouh’s family. According to him, it was very painful to see how devastated Dahdouh was after all this time Kabiro had always been a figure who tried to calm everyone down.
“It’s heartbreaking to report the incident about Wael’s family and see how devastated he is. He is [selalu] calm everyone down, talk to us like big brothers, not just as bureau heads,” he said.
“He didn’t leave Gaza City. He stayed in Gaza despite constant threats and warnings for 19 days straight. He said, ‘I have to be here, in Gaza City, to report about those who are bombed every day,’ ” he continued.
(blq/dna/bac)
2023-10-26 06:28:29
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