An Al Jazeera cameraman has been killed and the network’s chief Gaza correspondent wounded in an Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced people in Gaza, the broadcaster has said.
Cameraman Samer Abu Daqqa and correspondent Wael al-Dahdouh had gone to Farhana school in the southern city of Khan Younis after it was hit by a strike earlier in the day. While they were there, an Israeli drone hit the school with a second strike, the network said.
“The network holds Israel accountable for systematically targeting and killing their journalists and their families,” Al Jazeera said in a statement.
“Following Samer’s injury he was left to bleed to death for over five hours, as Israeli forces prevented ambulances and rescue workers from reaching him, denying the much-needed emergency treatment,” it continued.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Dahdouh was hit by shrapnel on his upper arm and managed to reach Nasser hospital, where he was treated for minor injuries, the network reported.
The correspondent – whose wife, son, daughter and grandson were killed in an Israeli airstrike in October – said the Al Jazeera crew had been accompanying civil defence rescuers.
“We captured the devastating destruction and reached places that had not been reached by any camera lens since the Israeli ground operation started,” Dahdouh said from his hospital bed.
The journalists were returning on foot, since the area was inaccessible by car, when “something big” happened that knocked him to the ground, Dahdouh said. He was able to walk out of the area to find ambulance workers but the medics said they could not return to the attack site to look for Abu Daqqa because it was too dangerous, he said.
“He was screaming, he was calling for help,” said Dahdouh, his right arm heavily bandaged.
Subsequent efforts to coordinate a safe passage to send rescuers for Abu Daqqa were delayed, Dahdouh said, according to Al Jazeera, adding that one ambulance that tried to reach the cameraman came under fire. Abu Daqqa subsequently died of his injuries.
Abu Daqqa, a native of Khan Younis, joined Al Jazeera in June 2004, working as both a cameraman and an editor. He leaves behind a daughter and three sons.
Al Jazeera’s managing editor, Mohamed Moawad, paid tribute to the cameraman on X (formerly Twitter), saying: “His unwavering commitment to truth and storytelling has left an indelible mark on our team.
“Samer, whose lens captured the raw and unfiltered reality of life in Gaza, was not just a skilled professional but a compassionate soul who understood the power of visual storytelling.
“In the pursuit of truth, our cameraman faced immense risks to bring viewers a deeper understanding of the human experience in Gaza.”
Earlier this month, a strike killed the father, mother and 20 other family members of another Al Jazeera correspondent, Momen al-Sharafi.
The Palestinian ambassador to the UN, Riyad Mansour, told a general assembly meeting on the war that Israel “targets those who could document [their] crimes and inform the world, the journalists”.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Abu Daqqa is the 64th journalist to be killed since the conflict erupted between Hamas and Israel – 57 Palestinians, four Israelis and three Lebanese journalists.
In a statement, the CPJ said it was “alarmed” by “the pattern of attacks on Al Jazeera journalists and their families”.
The Foreign Press Association, which represents several hundred journalists working for international news organisations, said it grieved the death of Abu Daqqa, a longtime member.
“He is the first FPA member to be killed in Gaza in the war,” the organisation said in a statement. “We consider this a grave blow to the already limited freedom of the press in Gaza and call on the army for a prompt investigation and explanation.”
