An Al Jazeera correspondent for Gaza has lost his entire immediate family in the air strikes conducted by Israel on a relief camp on Tuesday. Wael al-Dahdouh, Al Jazeera’s bureau chief in Gaza, is mourning the loss of his wife, son, daughter and grandson who were killed when an Israeli missile aimed for the Nuseirat camp was launched in the south of Gaza.
The family was moved to the Nuseirat camp in the south, which is sheltering many displaced Gazans, after Israeli warnings to evacuate the northern part of the region immediately and that those that remained would be considered as ‘terrorists’ and targets. The missiles however have been aimed at relief camps in the south which were declared as safe from attacks by the Israeli army.
Al Jazeera, in an empathetic statement with their correspondent have commented, “Their home was targeted in the Nuseirat camp in the centre of Gaza, where they had sought refuge after being displaced by the initial bombardment in their neighborhood, following Prime Minister Netanyahu’s call for all civilians to move south.
“The network strongly condemns the indiscriminate targeting and killing of innocent civilians in Gaza, which has led to the loss of Wael Al-Dahdouh’s family and countless others.”
The footage coming out from Gaza shows Wael Al-Dahdouh weeping before the bodies of his family at Al- Aqsa Martyrs Hospital at Deir Al-Balah. Other members of his family are expected to be under the rubble.
Al-Dahdouh has responded to this tragedy by saying, “What happened is clear. This is a series of targeted attacks on children, women and civilians. I was just reporting from Yarmouk about such an attack, and the Israeli raids have targeted many areas, including Nuseirat.
“We had our doubts that the Israeli occupation would not let these people go without punishing them. And sadly, that is what happened. This is the ‘safe’ area that the occupation army spoke of.”
Israeli strikes have killed more than 6,500 people of which nearly half are children in Gaza. More than 22 journalists have been killed in the strikes according to the Palestinian journalists’ union.
