Khan Younis, December 15 (RHC)-- Al Jazeera cameraman Samer Abu Daqqa has died of wounds sustained in an Israeli airstrike on Khan Younis in southern Gaza, the TV network has announced.
Daqqa had been trapped in a Haifa school, where he was working on assignment when it came under fire, the network said earlier Friday. Ambulances were unable to reach the wounded cameraman, according to journalists in Gaza, and the network said he had been stuck there bleeding for five hours.
Al Jazeera aired video showing friends and family of Daqqa, including his mother, crying over his body at the Al Nasser medical complex near Khan Younis. His mother was seen being carried by two people saying, “He hasn’t seen his children, he hasn’t seen his children.”
According to Al Jazeera, he was born in 1978 and his wife and children — three boys and a girl — are in Belgium. An investigative reporter for the outlet, Tamer Almisshal, described Abu Daqqa “as a great cameraman and editor, doesn’t fear anything, and professional.”
“I spoke to him a few days ago and told him, ‘Why don’t you join your family abroad?’ And he told me they will be back soon when this war is over," the journalist said. Daqqa had told him, “I won’t leave Gaza,” Almisshal said, adding that he had worked for more than 20 years for Al Jazeera.
At least 17 people were killed and dozens of others were wounded early Friday after artillery fire struck the Haifa school and a residential home in Khan Younis.
Khan Younis has been heavily bombarded by the Israeli military since a fragile truce between Hamas and Israel broke down on December 1.
The airstrike also wounded Al Jazeera correspondent Wael Dahdouh, the Qatar-based news network said in a statement to CNN. Al Jazeera broadcast video of Dahdouh receiving treatment at a hospital for wounds in his right arm and abdomen while he cried out in pain.
In October, an Israeli airstrike killed Dahdouh’s wife, son and grandson, the network said. He received the news while he was on air covering the Israel-Hamas war.
Dozens of journalists have been killed covering the Israel-Hamas war, making it the most dangerous period for the profession in 31 years, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
