Wael al-Dahdouh is Al Jazeera Arabic’s bureau chief in Gaza and a familiar figure to viewers of that channel around the world. Like many other Gazans, he evacuated his loved ones from the north of the territory shortly after Hamas’ horrific attack on Israel. His hope was that the Nuseirat refugee camp offered them safety.
In recent days, however, Israeli rockets have landed on targets that are much further south – including persistent strikes on Kahn Yunis, the city from where most of Gaza’s journalists now work. A rocket that struck the Nuseirat camp on 24 October killed al-Dahdouh’s wife, son, daughter and grandson.
Other members of his extended family are still unaccounted for. That single airstrike is known to have killed more than 20 people.
Speaking on Al Jazeera, al-Dahdouh said: “What happened is clear. This is a series of targeted attacks on children, women and civilians. I was just reporting from Yarmouk about such an attack, and the Israeli raids have targeted many areas, including Nuseirat.”
The IFJ’s response has been two-fold.
First, we have worked with our affiliate, the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS), to support the 1,000 or so reporters who are working in the Gaza Strip. The IFJ’s international Safety Fund has paid for individual wound kits for reporters, and portable battery packs for their equipment. Dr Tahseen al Astall, vice-president of the PJS and the union’s leader in Gaza is a familiar figure to news crews as he tours Kahn Yunis delivering help.
“The usual instinct of reporters is to go to where the shelling is happening, but the danger here today is extreme,” Al Astall told me, “PJS is advising camera crews to stay in the south of Gaza for their own safety.”
Tragically, we now know that nowhere in Gaza is safe. Indeed there have been reports that journalists in the Gaza are being targeted.
Contributions have flooded into the IFJ’s International Safety Fund. One affiliate sent €20,000 last week, €500 was received from journalists in Brussels. Smaller donations have been received from many, many individuals and organisations.
In time the IFJ hopes to plan more substantial help for Gaza’s journalists, possibly providing facilities for an international newsroom in Kahn Yunis, in co-operation with one of the UN agencies. Such provision, however, would rely upon moving equipment in an aid convoy into Gaza. The operation of these, to date, has been far too restricted to allow this.
Second, we have launched an international petition among journalists unions and associations to draw attention to the shockingly high death count among journalists in Gaza. We demand that the Israeli Defence Forces stick to the letter of international law and do all in their power to safeguard journalists in Gaza.
Even from the comfort of an office in a western capital, it is hard to find cause for optimism in this conflict. How much harder it must be for those without food, water, shelter or means to communicate with the outside world.
There was, however, the tiniest flash of hope when 85-year-old Israeli Yocheved Lifschitz was released from Hamas’ captivity in a prisoner exchange. She turned back to her armed and masked captors, took their hands and said “shalom”, the Hebrew valediction meaning “peace be with you”. Her husband, the veteran Israeli journalist and writer Oded, 83, remains in Hamas’ custody.
If Lifschitz humanity and forgiveness inspires, as surely it should, then perhaps the heartbreak of escalating death toll can yet be arrested?
Tim Dawson is deputy general secretary of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). This piece was published in NUJ Informed - November 2023.
- To donate to the IFJ Safety Fund, click here.
- For more information, visit IFJ campaign page on Israel-Hamas war.