The son of Al Jazeera’s Gaza bureau chief has died in what seems to be an Israeli strike

Wael Al-Dahdouh, the Gaza bureau chief for Al Jazeera, tragically lost his son in what appears to have been an Israeli airstrike this past Sunday. This sorrowful event follows mere months after the deaths of his wife, two other children, and a grandchild in a separate strike, which Al-Dahdouh had reported on before discovering they were among the casualties.

Al Jazeera reported that Hamza Wael Al-Dahdouh, aged 27 and a photojournalist, was killed in the area west of Khan Younis, along with Al Jazeera colleague Mustafa Thuraya. Additionally, their driver was killed and another person critically injured, as confirmed by local journalists to CNN.

Al-Dahdouh expressed his profound grief during a live Al Jazeera broadcast on Sunday, reflecting on the deep loss of his son. “There is nothing more painful than losing your own blood, especially your eldest son. Hamza was me, my soulmate, and everything,” he said, emphasizing the depth of his anguish but not his fear.

Prior to these incidents, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) had already reported a record number of journalist deaths in the first 10 weeks of the Israel-Hamas conflict, exceeding any previous yearly total in a single country.

During Hamza’s funeral on Sunday, Al-Dahdouh, visibly distraught and wearing his press vest, was seen holding and kissing his son’s hand. He expressed a hope that his son’s death would mark the end of such losses. “I wish that the blood of my son will be the last of those journalists killed and those killed in this massacre,” he stated during the broadcast.

Al-Dahdouh himself was injured in a previous attack that killed his colleague Samer Abu Daqqa in December.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have not provided an immediate response to CNN’s inquiry regarding the airstrike. The IDF has historically stated that it does not intentionally target journalists.

However, the CPJ notes that 77 journalists and media workers, including 70 Palestinians, four Israelis, and three Lebanese, have been killed in Gaza from October 7 to December 31.

Wael Al-Dahdouh’s family tragedy in October involved the loss of his wife, son, daughter, and grandson in an explosion at the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza. The IDF confirmed conducting an airstrike in that area, targeting what it described as “Hamas terrorist infrastructure.”