‘Israel’ Massacres Family Of Al Jazeera’s Gaza Bureau Chief

By Staff, Agencies

The wife, daughter, son and grandson of Al Jazeera Arabic’s Gaza bureau chief were martyred in an ‘Israeli’ airstrike on Wednesday.

Wael al-Dahdouh, the face of Al Jazeera’s Gaza coverage, received the news while on air covering another ‘Israeli’ attack elsewhere in Gaza.

The veteran journalist was seen in footage published online tearfully saying his goodbyes to his son, Mahmoud, after his body arrived at the hospital.

"You wanted to be a journalist," Dahdouh said while kneeling on the floor next to Mahmoud's dead body. 

"They take revenge on us with our children?" he added, referring to the ‘Israeli’ army. "It's okay. To God we belong and to him we return."

He later said his tears were not out of "fear or cowardice" but rather of humanity.

"This is the occupation’s policy, and this is our destiny and our choice, and we will not deviate," Dahdouh told Al Jazeera.

In addition to Mahmoud, Dahdouh's daughter Sham, his wife Umm Hamza and several others were martyred in the strike. Dozens of others were wounded, including other members of the reporter's family.

The family had been sheltering in a relative's home in southern Gaza when they were hit.

The Zionist onslaught in Gaza has so far left more than 6,500 Palestinians martyred, with more than 1,500 missing and presumed trapped under rubble with no means of rescuing them, according to the health ministry. More than 70 percent of those martyred are children, women and elderly people.

The bombing campaign has killed also dozens of journalists, doctors, first responders, writers, artists, and footballers - among others.