An Israeli strike killed a Palestinian cameraman for the television network Al Jazeera and injured its chief Gaza correspondent, according to the network as per reports.

After a strike earlier in the day, cameraman Samer Abu Daqqa and correspondent Wael Dahdouh visited the school in the southern city of Khan Younis. According to the network, an Israeli drone launched a second strike on the school while they were there.

Advertisement

Abu Daqqa collapsed to the ground, bleeding profusely, and Dahdouh sustained severe injuries to his arm and shoulder. Speaking to Al Jazeera from a hospital bed, Dahdouh said he managed to escape the school while bleeding and managed to locate multiple ambulance drivers.

He asked them to find Abu Daqqa, but they told him it would be too dangerous and that they would send another ambulance to get him, according to Dahdouh.

Dahdouh, whose right arm was heavily bandaged, said, “He was screaming, he was calling for help.”

Al Jazeera reported later that evening that an ambulance attempted to reach the school in order to evacuate Abu Daqqa, but was forced to reroute due to roads being blocked by the debris from the destroyed homes.

According to a statement from the network, Abu Daqqa bled for a few more hours before being discovered dead on Friday night by a civil defense team.

Since the conflict between Hamas and Israel broke out on October 7, Abu Daqqa is the 64th journalist to be killed, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. There are three Lebanese journalists, four Israelis, and 57 Palestinians in that number.

The native of Khan Younis, 45-year-old Abu Daqqa began working for Al Jazeera in June 2004 and held the positions of editor and cameraman. He leaves a daughter and three sons behind.

A request for information regarding Abu Daqqa’s passing was not immediately answered by the Israeli army.

Israel is “accountable for systematically targeting and killing Al Jazeera journalists and their families,” according to a statement released by the Qatari-owned media outlet Al Jazeera.

Dahdouh’s wife, son, daughter, and grandchild perished in a strike on their central Gaza home where they were taking refuge in late October. At the time, the network charged Israel with deliberately going after his family.

The father, mother, and twenty additional family members of Momen Al Sharafi, another Al Jazeera correspondent, were slain in a strike earlier this month.

Dahdouh is renowned for having represented the Palestinian people in numerous wars. In his home Gaza, he is highly regarded for sharing tales of adversity and suffering with the outside world.

The Health Ministry in Gaza reports that over 18,700 Palestinians have died as a result of Israel’s air and ground assault during the last ten weeks. After Hamas launched a vicious attack on southern Israel, the war broke out. Approximately 240 people were taken hostage and 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed in that attack.