GAZA: Al Jazeera Arabic journalist Samer Abudaqa has been killed and his colleague Wael Dahdouh was wounded in an Israeli attack in Khan Younis, southern Gaza.
Cameraman Abudaqa and correspondent Dahdouh were reporting at Farhana school in Khan Younis when they were hit by an Israeli strike on Friday.
Rescue teams were unable to immediately reach Abudaqa and others at the site due to Israeli bombardment.
“Rescuers just managed to retrieve the cameraman Samer Abudaqa’s body,” a spokesperson for the media network said.
Dahdouh was hit by shrapnel on his upper arm, and managed to reach Nasser hospital where he was treated for minor injuries.
Witnesses said earlier there was heavy shelling in the area around the school.
Many Palestinians from the central and northern parts of Gaza have sought shelter in Khan Younis since the war began in October. Many have now been pushed further south towards the strip’s southernmost city of Rafah after Israel intensified its military operations in Khan Younis.
The attack comes amid violent clashes between Palestinian fighters and the Israeli army in locations across Gaza. Residents reported fighting in Shujayea, Sheikh Radwan, Zeitoun, Tuffah, and Beit Hanoon in north Gaza, east of Maghazi in central Gaza and in the centre and northern fringes of Khan Younis, according to the Reuters news service.
His family had been seeking refuge in Nuseirat camp in the centre of Gaza when their home was bombed by Israeli forces, killing his wife, Um Hamza, his 15-year-old son, Mahmoud, his seven-year-old daughter, Sham, and his grandson, Adam, who died in hospital hours later.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said it was “shocked” at the attack.
“We condemn the attack and reiterate our demand that journalists’ lives must be safeguarded,” it said in a post on X.
#Palestine🇵🇸: We are deeply shocked to learn that journalist @WaelDahdouh and camera operator Samer Abu Daqqa have been injured while covering an earlier Israeli attack on a school. We condemn the attack and reiterate our demand that journalists' lives must be safeguarded. https://t.co/mjJvgEXJ3z
— IFJ (@IFJGlobal) December 15, 2023
An IFJ report published last week found that 72 percent of journalists who died on the job this year were killed in the Gaza war.
