Aljazeera said that the family of its chief correspondent in the Gaza Strip, identified as Wael Dahdouh, was killed by an Israeli airstrike in the region while he was helping broadcast live images of the embattled territory.
Dahdouh heartbreakingly found out that his wife, son, and daughter were all caught in the airstrike on Wednesday and lost their lives. Moments after discovering the news, the Qatari-based satellite channel switched to footage of Dahdouh as he entered al-Aqsa Hospital in Gaza.
Death of Aljazeera Gaza Correspondent's Family
They then gave way to grief as he peered over the lifeless body of his son. While kneeling over his son's bloodied body, Dahdouh said, "They take revenge on us in our children?" as he still wore the protective press vest he used while working that day.
The correspondent's grandson was also declared dead two hours later and the video was expected to reverberate across the Arab world. The 53-year-old journalist is a well-known face of Palestinians during many wars throughout history, as per PBS NewsHour.
The media outlet said Dahdouh's family died after an Israeli airstrike struck Nuseirat Refugee Camp. The camp was located in an area of Gaza where the military had encouraged people to go if they needed to be safe. It added that several other relatives were still missing and it was unclear how many others were killed by the assault.
The correspondent's family were among the more than 1 million Gaza residents displaced by the Israel-Hamas war. Gaza's Health Ministry said that Israeli's retaliatory strikes have killed more than 6,500 Palestinians, which is a number that has not been independently verified.
The fighting between Israel and the Hamas militant group has resulted in the death of more than 1,400 in Israel. Most of these were civilians killed during the group's initial assault in the Middle Eastern country's southern region.
Israeli Airstrikes on Gaza
The situation comes as Jerusalem's leaders have vowed to completely wipe out Hamas in response to the group's attacks. According to CNN, the weeks-long siege on Gaza has resulted in a humanitarian crisis inside the enclave, which has not been cut off from the rest of the world by a near-total blockade.
Drone footage from Monday showed the level of destruction across several parts of the Gaza Strip. They showed entire streets flattened in the al-Rimal neighborhood in Gaza City and lines of buildings that were destroyed, known as al-Zahra towers in central Gaza.
Dahdouh said that the attack that killed his family was part of the ongoing targeting of women and children in Gaza. He added that he was reporting about the Israeli airstrikes targeting the Nuseirat area.
Aljazeera said that it was deeply concerned about the safety and well-being of its colleagues in Gaza. It also held Israeli authorities responsible for their security. The network urged the international community to intervene immediately and end the violence, especially the attacks on civilians to safeguard innocent lives, said the Daily Beast.
