KOCHI
In an ode to brave journalists reporting from the Israel-Hamas battle zone in Gaza, the Kerala Media Academy (KMA) has adjudged Wael Al-Dahdouh, the Gaza bureau chief of Al Jazeera news channel, winner of the ‘Mediaperson of the Year’ award.
Mr. Al-Dahdouh’s wife, two children, and a grandchild were killed in the bombing of Gaza by Israel. He had also lost his cameraman to an Israeli missile attack. He himself sustained injury and is undergoing treatment at a hospital in Qatar.
The award comprising ₹1 lakh, a citation, and a sculpture, will be presented by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, the KMA said in a release. Mr. Al-Dahdouh has termed the award an invaluable honour, the release quoting KMA chairman R.S. Babu as saying.
Mr. Al-Dahdouh was selected on the basis of the recommendations by an association of investigative journalists and a committee of editors of media magazines, the release said.
Over 27,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli defence force’s retaliatory attack in response to Hamas militants’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. Among the victims were mostly women and children.