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Wael Al-Dahdouh

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Wael Al-Dahdouh
وائل الدحدوح
Dahdouh in May 2024
Born
Wael Hamdan Ibrahim Al-Dahdouh

(1970-04-30) 30 April 1970 (age 55)
Gaza City
NationalityPalestine
Other namesAbu Hamza
Alma materIslamic University of Gaza
Al-Quds University
OccupationJournalist
EmployerAl Jazeera
AwardsPeace Through Media Award (2013)

Wael Hamdan Ibrahim Al-Dahdouh (Arabic: وائل حمدان إبراهيم الدحدوح, romanized: Wāʾil Ḥamdān Ibrāhīm al-Daḥdūḥ; born 30 April 1970[1]) is a Palestinian journalist and the bureau chief of Al Jazeera in Gaza City.[2][3]

His career, beginning in 1998, also spanned working for Al-Quds newspaper, acting as a correspondent for Voice of Palestine, in the Second Intifada against the Israeli occupation, and as a correspondent for Al Arabiya, with his role with Al-Jazeera starting in 2004. He received the Peace Through Media Award in 2013.

Numerous members of Al-Dahdouh's family have been killed by the Israeli military during the Gaza war. His wife, seven-year-old daughter, and 15-year-old son were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Nuseirat refugee camp on 28 October 2023, in addition to eight of his other relatives. On 15 December 2023, while Al-Dahdouh and his cameraman Samer Abu Daqqa were covering the Haifa School airstrike in Khan Yunis, they were hit by an Israeli missile, injuring Dahdouh and fatally wounding Abu Daqqa. Despite the death of many family members and his injury, he quickly returned to reporting on the war after both incidents.[4] His son, journalist Hamza al-Dahdouh, was killed by an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis on 7 January 2024,[5] and two of his nephews were killed in an airstrike the following day.[6]

On 11 November 2024, the National Press Club announced him as the 2024 International John Aubuchon Press Freedom Award winner, the highest honor for press freedom from National Press Club.[7]

Biography

Wael Hamdan Al-Dahdouh was born on 30 April 1970 in the Zaytoun neighborhood, the oldest neighborhood of Gaza City in the Israeli-occupied Gaza Strip. He grew up in a well-off Gazan family who originally came from the Arabian Peninsula.[1] He has eight siblings.[8][9] He received his primary and secondary education in several schools in Gaza City.[1]

In 1988, Al-Dahdouh earned his high school diploma and was given a scholarship to study medicine in Iraq, but the start of the First Intifada in 1987 prevented him from leaving. He was arrested by the Israeli army and charged with stone-throwing, with a sentence of 15 years in prison.[8][9] Al-Dahdouh spent seven years in Israeli prisons. He again obtained a high school diploma in an Israeli prison, and received a BA in journalism and media from the Islamic University of Gaza in 1998. After Israel prevented him from traveling to study abroad, he received a master's degree in regional studies from Al-Quds University, Abu Dis, in 2007.[1][8]

As of February 2025, Al-Dahdouh lives in Doha, Qatar.[9]

Career

Al-Dahdouh started working as a journalist in 1998. He worked for the Palestinian newspaper Al-Quds as a correspondent in Gaza,[8] and wrote for other Palestinian magazines, then worked as a correspondent for the radio Voice of Palestine, as well as for Sahar satellite channel at the beginning of the Second Intifada in 2000. He also worked as a correspondent for Al Arabiya in 2003, then moved to work as a reporter and official at Al Jazeera's office in the Gaza Strip since 2004.[10]

Killings of family and colleagues

See also: Killing of journalists in the Gaza war

Al-Dahdouh was broadcasting live during the Gaza war when he learned that several of his family members had been killed in an Israeli airstrike in October 2023.[11] His wife, his daughter Sham (aged 7), his son Mahmoud (aged 15),[12] and a grandchild were killed, along with 21 other people. They were residing in Nuseirat refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.[13][14] They had moved there following a warning from Israel to evacuate from the north of Gaza.[15] His other son, Yehia, was seriously wounded,[16] and Al Jazeera reported that at least eight of his other relatives were also killed in the air raid.[17] In video footage uploaded by Gaza photojournalist Motaz Azaiza, Al-Dahdouh is seen holding his deceased grandson while three relatives mourn.[18] When he saw his dead son, Al-Dahdouh stated, "They took revenge on us through our children."[19]

On 15 December 2023, while Dahdouh and his colleague cameraman Samer Abu Daqqa were covering the Haifa School airstrike in Khan Yunis, they were hit by an Israeli missile. Dahdouh was evacuated and treated for shrapnel injuries, but Abu Daqqa, who was seriously wounded, was unreachable as Israeli forces prevented ambulances from reaching him; he bled to death many hours later. Despite the death of many family members and his injury, Al-Dahdouh quickly returned to reporting on the war after both incidents.[4][20][21]

A surviving son, journalist Hamza al-Dahdouh, was killed by an Israeli airstrike alongside colleague Mustafa Thuraya in Khan Younis on 7 January 2024.[5] Hamza was 27, and was Dahdouh's eldest son.[22] The IDF bombed Hamza's car because Thuraya had been using a camera drone to film the aftermath of an earlier airstrike, stating they had "struck a terrorist who operated an aircraft that posed a threat".[6] Al Jazeera condemned the attack as an assassination and alleged that the IDF has "systematically targeted" Dahdouh's family.[22] The IDF claimed that Hamza was an operative of PIJ.[23] The accusation was not independently verified and was rejected by the families of Hamza and Mustafa, as well as by Al Jazeera who described it as "false" and a "fabrication".[24] One other journalist was seriously injured in the bombing.[24] The day after the airstrike, two of Wael al-Dahdouh's nephews—brothers Ahmed al-Dahdouh, 30, and Muhammad al-Dahdouh, 26—along with a third man were killed when their car was bombed.[6]

At the request of the Egyptian Journalists' Syndicate in Cairo, Al-Dahdouh was granted permission to evacuate to Egypt via the Rafah Crossing and then Doha via Al-Arish Airport for medical treatment on 16 and 17 January 2024.[25] Four of his children had crossed to Egypt the week prior.[26]

Awards and honors

  • International John Aubuchon Press Freedom Award (2024) by the National Press Club[7]
  • Peace Through Media Award (2013) by the International Media Awards in London[27]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Wael Al-Dahdouh, The Palestinian Journalist Lost His Entire Family To 'Targetted' Israeli Attacks: Who Is He?". Outlook. 10 January 2024. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
  2. ^ "Al Jazeera Gaza office destroyed". South China Morning Post. 17 May 2021. Archived from the original on 28 June 2021. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  3. ^ "وائل الدحدوح". Archived from the original on 28 June 2021. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Two Al Jazeera journalists wounded in Israeli attack in southern Gaza". Al Jazeera. 15 December 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  5. ^ a b "War on Gaza: Son of Al Jazeera's Gaza bureau chief killed by Israeli air strike". Middle East Eye. 7 January 2024. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  6. ^ a b c "Israeli strike kills Al Jazeera journalist's nephews". Dawn. 9 January 2024. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  7. ^ a b "National Press Club hands Al Jazeera's Wael Dahdouh press freedom award". Al Jazeera. 12 November 2024. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
  8. ^ a b c d Malik, Nesrine (31 October 2024). "'I couldn't cry over my children like everyone else': the tragedy of Palestinian journalist Wael al-Dahdouh". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
  9. ^ a b c Minisini, Lucas; Mraffko, Clothilde (4 February 2025). "The bitter exile of Wael Al-Dahdouh, the journalist who embodies the tragedy of Gaza". Le Monde. Archived from the original on 18 March 2025. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
  10. ^ "Israel wants to control media output from Gaza, but can't". Middle East Monitor. 15 June 2021. Archived from the original on 28 June 2021. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  11. ^ Boyle, Cash (28 October 2023). "Al Jazeera journalist who lost his family in Gaza airstrike returns to work". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 30 October 2023. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  12. ^ Suleiman, Ali Haj; Salhani, Justin. "Arab world speaks out on killing of Al Jazeera journalist's family". Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 26 October 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  13. ^ "Israel-Hamas live updates: 6,500 Palestinians killed by Israel in Gaza". Al Jazeera. 24 October 2023. Archived from the original on 26 October 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  14. ^ Salam, Erum (25 October 2023). "Family of Al Jazeera correspondent killed in Israeli airstrike in Gaza". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 26 October 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  15. ^ Scott, Liam (27 October 2023). "Gaza Journalist Continues Reporting After Family Dies in Israeli Airstrike". Voice of America. Archived from the original on 31 October 2023. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  16. ^ "Al Jazeera journalist grieves loss of 3 generations of his family in Gaza". CBC. 26 October 2023. Archived from the original on 31 October 2023. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  17. ^ "The Take: Wael Dahdouh's family was killed in Gaza. He kept reporting". Al Jazeera. 27 October 2023. Archived from the original on 30 October 2023. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  18. ^ Karanth, Sanjana (25 October 2023). "Israeli Airstrikes Kill Al Jazeera Reporter's Family In Gaza". HuffPost. Archived from the original on 15 November 2023. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  19. ^ Malik, Nesrine (31 October 2024). "'I couldn't cry over my children like everyone else': the tragedy of Palestinian journalist Wael al-Dahdouh". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  20. ^ "Al Jazeera's Wael al-Dahdouh injured in Israeli Gaza strike". The New Arab. 15 December 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  21. ^ "Two Al Jazeera journalists wounded in Gaza missile strike - reporter". Reuters. 15 December 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  22. ^ a b Salam, Yasmine (8 January 2024). "Palestinian vows to keep reporting after losing another son in an Israeli strike". NBC News. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  23. ^ "Al Jazeera 'journalists' in Gaza were terrorists, IDF proves in document". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. 10 January 2024. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  24. ^ a b Khalil, Shaimaa; Gritten, David (11 January 2024). "Gaza journalists' families reject Israeli military's 'terrorist' claims". BBC News. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  25. ^ "Al Jazeera's veteran journalist Wael Al-Dahdouh arrives in Qatar for medical treatment". Arab News. 17 January 2024. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  26. ^ "Al Jazeera Bureau Chief Leaves Gaza". Agence France-Presse. 16 January 2024. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  27. ^ ""وائل الدحدوح" يفوز بجائزة دولية". 12 May 2013. Archived from the original on 28 June 2021. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
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