Mohammad Hussein has been glued to the tv in current weeks, watching Gaza’s destruction by Israeli air raids. And when an Israeli air raid killed the household of Al Jazeera Gaza Bureau Chief Wael Dahdouh on Wednesday, Hussein watched the story unfold.
“It’s a criminal offense,” the 45-year-old taxi driver mentioned, his left hand twiddling with prayer beads as he sat on a busy throughway in Beirut. “[And a violation] of human rights.”
On Wednesday, the information broke that Dahdouh’s household was killed in an assault in southern Gaza. His household had fled northern Gaza to the south on Israel’s recommendation however had been killed anyway.
Dahdouh misplaced his spouse, a daughter, a grandson and a 15-year-old son who wished to comply with in his footsteps into journalism. They’re among the many greater than 7,000 folks killed – 3,000 of whom are kids – in Gaza because the begin of the hostilities. The photographs of Dahdouh getting into the morgue and figuring out his members of the family had been extensively carried on Al Jazeera Arabic.
“It was surprising information,” mentioned Maan Al-Haj Ali, a journalist working for Palestine’s WAFA Information Company. “As if [he] was a member of the household, as if somebody very shut was damaged in entrance of you.”
‘They search revenge by means of your kids’
To these in Gaza, Dahdouh’s presence on their screens has been a relentless lately. Many within the media praised his work and expressed their sorrow {that a} man so used to overlaying the tragedies of others now needed to face his personal.
“As a journalist and author, Wael is a beacon of courageous reporting and genuine journalism,” Mohammed R Mhawish, a Palestinian journalist and author primarily based in Gaza, advised Al Jazeera. “I used to be listening to the reside broadcast when he obtained the information of the killing of his members of the family. It shocked me to see him break down on display.”
The assault got here solely a few weeks after US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken reportedly advised Qatar’s emir to tone down Al Jazeera Arabic’s protection of the warfare on Gaza. When he noticed his slain household, Dahdouh was recorded saying, “They search revenge by means of our youngsters.”
“The assault isn’t on Wael and his household solely, however on the whole folks of Gaza,” Ahmed al-Yazil, a pupil of media and mass communications in Gaza, mentioned. “Israel makes an attempt to close Wael’s and each Palestinian’s voice making an attempt to report on the fact of life underneath occupation and warfare. However it gained’t succeed, even when we misplaced family members alongside the best way.”
‘Why are they focusing on journalists?’
The information unfold like wildfire on social networks. Customers shared photographs of a distraught Dahdouh or a clip of the anchor who delivered the information almost breaking down in tears.
“My Instagram is full of folks sharing it since yesterday,” Aya Mhanna, 38, a Lebanese scientific psychologist now residing in Istanbul, advised Al Jazeera. Mhanna mentioned she recognised Dahdouh from his reporting and lamented that the journalist had turn into the information. “It breaks my coronary heart.”
Even those that had not identified his title earlier than Wednesday mentioned the story was on everybody’s lips. Abdulrahman Bashar Itani sat exterior his store in Beirut subsequent to 2 different males. “I watch all of the channels,” the sprightly 90-year-old mentioned. “I didn’t see the information however everyone seems to be speaking about it.”
Itani additionally introduced up Issam Abdallah, the Lebanese Reuters journalist killed in south Lebanon on October 13. “Haram,” he mentioned. “Why are they focusing on journalists?”
A minimum of 24 journalists have been killed within the newest spherical of hostilities, together with 20 Palestinians, three Israelis and Lebanon’s Abdallah.
![Al-Jazeera correspondent Wael Al-Dahdouh mourns over the body of one of his children](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/33Z67XM-highres-1698256967.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C514)
Within the West Financial institution, Palestinians have grown accustomed to Dahdouh’s presence and reporting on the decades-long occupation of Palestine and the genocide of its folks. Respect and compassion have flowed as he reels from Israel’s killing of his household within the south of Gaza.
“It’s shameful for the individuals who … see our youngsters, ladies and aged being killed whereas they’re sitting [by],” Ali, the WAFA journalist, mentioned.
‘As if the youngsters of Palestine are nugatory’
Because the eyes of the world have turned to Gaza, Syria can also be nonetheless struggling air raids, albeit from Russia. Nonetheless, many in Syria had been additionally gripped by the information and took a minute to lend their solidarity.
“The ache and sorrow felt by Wael had been felt by all of us regardless of our distance from him,” Osman al-Khader, a lawyer and activist within the Syrian revolution, mentioned. “Wael refused to do something however give us a lesson in endurance and braveness.”
The Syrian journalist, Hanin al-Sayed, from Idlib, mentioned the Israeli assault on Dahdouh’s household introduced the killing final yr of one other stalwart Palestinian journalist to his thoughts.
“He typically jogs my memory of Shireen Abu Akleh, could she relaxation in peace,” al-Sayed mentioned. He added that she was “the voice of fact that was killed by the Israeli military’s gunfire, which continues to kill kids and girls in plain view of the world”.
Dahdouh’s ache was evident for the world to see on Wednesday. Many across the area have condemned the persevering with assault and assaults on civilians and the mounting loss of life toll that has no quick finish in sight.
“Nobody is providing something to assist,” Ali mentioned. It’s “as if the youngsters of Palestine and the folks of Palestine are nugatory”.