Wael Dahdouh, Al-Jazeera’s Gaza bureau chief has faced a series of personal tragedies, each one hitting him hard. Almost half of his family has been lost to Israeli aggression, but he is determined to stand firm until he can.

Wael’s 27-year-old son, Hamza Dahdouh, became one of the latest Palestinian journalists to fall

victim to an Israeli airstrike on Sunday, adding to the grief of the veteran reporter. Despite the heart-wrenching loss and the emotional scenes of mourning, Wael, a symbol of personal tragedy and unwavering determination for many in this war, pledged to continue his work.

During a televised address after his son’s funeral, he said that journalists in Gaza would persist in their work, undeterred by the challenging conditions they were forced to navigate.

“All the world needs to see what is happening here. Hamza was everything to me, the eldest boy, he was the soul of my soul… these are the tears of parting and loss, the tears of humanity,” he said.

Global silence, lack of protection hurt ‘more than killing itself’, says Wael Dahdouh

“It is true that the pain of losing someone is very difficult and when it is about your eldest son after the death of the family, then it becomes even more difficult,” he told NBC News from Gaza later on Sunday as he comforted Hamza’s daughter, who kept weeping on his shoulder.

Describing his son as ‘chivalrous’, ‘tender’ and ‘generous’, Mr Dahdouh vowed not to give up on reporting.

“In the end, this does not change anything of reality, and will not change any of our decisions. We

are going to proceed as long as we are alive and breathing. As long as we are able to do this duty and deliver this message,” he said.

A massacre

“Journalists are facing a massacre, a bloodbath in Gaza,” Mr Dahdouh told NBC News.

He further expressed that the global silence and absence of safeguarding for journalists operating in Gaza “hurts us more than the killing itself.”

“We are not a part in any conflict. We have a duty the world has promised to protect and we demand the entire world to guarantee the safety of the Palestinian journalists. We hope that Hamza’s killing is the last killing that happens,” he said.

The journalist gained widespread recognition beyond the region when, in October, he discovered during a live broadcast that his wife, 15-year-old son, 7-year-old daughter, and grandson had lost their lives in an Israeli airstrike on Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza. Astonishing many viewers, he returned to the airwaves the next day.

In December, Mr Dahdouh suffered injuries, and his cameraman lost his life in a drone strike while they were reporting on the aftermath of an airstrike on a school in southern Gaza. He has been the prominent face of his network’s continuous coverage of the war, earning a place in the hearts of viewers for his unwavering reporting despite the tragic loss of his family.

Since the start of the war, a minimum of 79 journalists have lost their lives — 72 were Palestinian, four Israeli, and three Lebanese, TIME Magazine reported. However, according to Al Jazeera and AFP figures, so far 109 journalists have been killed. This marks the deadliest period for media workers since the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) started recording journalist deaths in 1992.

Both the CPJ and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) have expressed increasing concern that journalists are becoming deliberate targets for the Israeli military. United Nations (UN) has also expressed serious concerns over the rising count of journalists’ deaths in Gaza. Media workers across the globe have also condemned the brutal murders.

Published in Dawn, January 10th, 2024