The immediate family of Al Jazeera Gaza bureau chief Wael Dahdouh were killed on Wednesday from what several news outlets are reporting was an Israeli airstrike into a building in Gaza City.
Footage aired on Al Jazeera Arabic showed Dahdouh entering the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah on Wednesday to see his dead wife, son and daughter in the morgue.
Aljazeera’ s brave veteran journalist Wael Dahdouh’s wife, son and daughter were killed in an Israeli airstrike which targeted a shelter house they had fled to. Wael received the news while on air covering the nonstop Israeli strikes on Gaza! pic.twitter.com/G2Z8UreboU
Advertisement— Mohamed Moawad (@moawady) October 25, 2023
Dahdouh’s grandson was reportedly declared dead two hours later.
The Israeli military has said it is looking into the Al Jazeera report.
The National Press Club, an eminent professional organization for journalists, noted the horrific event via statement below:
“We were shocked and heartbroken to hear of the terrible death of the family of Wael Al Dahdouh, the Al Jazeera Bureau Chief for Gaza. He was broadcasting live reporting about the very Israeli airstrike believed to have hit the building where his wife, son and daughter were seeking shelter. He learned while on the air that all three had died.
“This incident brings into sharp relief the reality that journalists are often part of the communities they are covering and that their own families suffer the same dangers as all members of those affected communities. When bombs are dropped on communities like Gaza, they kill and injure civilians including journalists and their families.
“The death of Wael Al Dahdouh’s family will not be recorded among the casualties of journalists killed in the war, but we know they supported him and were his life and their loss is immeasurable and unimaginable. Our thoughts are with him and with all his colleagues at Al Jazeera.”