Wael al-Dahdouh and a surviving daughter accompanied his son to the grave. – Hamza was not just a part of me. He was all of me. He was the soul of my soul. These are tears of sadness, of loss. These are the tears of humanity, said the father during Sunday’s funeral. – I encourage the world to look carefully at what is happening in Gaza. Hamza al-Dahdouh was only 27 years old and worked as a photojournalist for Al Jazeera. According to Palestinian sources, Hamza Dahdouh and AFP journalist Mustafa Thuria were in a car that was attacked by an Israeli drone in Rafah in the far south of the Gaza Strip on Sunday. Both were killed in the attack. The body of Hamza Al-Dahdouh is carried to his funeral. He was the son of Al Jazeera journalist Wael Al-Dahdouh, and himself worked in the same newspaper. Photo: Reuters Lost wife and child in attack Dahdouh was thus the son of Al Jazeera’s correspondent Wael al-Dahdouh. In October last year, tragedy struck him when his wife, two children and a grandson were killed in an Israeli attack. In addition, eight other members of the extended family died. After his son’s death, he has now lost three of his eight children in the war in Gaza. Just before Christmas, the experienced journalist also had to say goodbye to one of his closest colleagues at Al Jazeera, the photographer Samer Abudaqa. He was hit by a missile fired from a drone. Wael al-Dahdouh himself was wounded during the attack. – Nothing is more difficult than the pain you feel when you lose someone. And when you experience this pain time and time again, it becomes harder and heavier, says Wael al-Dahdouh to Al Jazeera on Sunday. Wael Al-Dahdouh has suffered heavy losses since the outbreak of war between Israel and Gaza in October. Photo: AFP Unsafe for journalists Al Jazeera has previously complained to Israel before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in connection with what they have described as an assassination of cameraman Samer Abudaqa. The TV channel also condemns the murders of Hamza Dahdouh and Mustafa Thuria. The international journalist organization Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) established at the turn of the year that at least 77 journalists and media workers had been killed since the war between Hamas and Israel broke out. Hamza followed in his father’s footsteps into journalism. Here Wael says goodbye to his son. Photo: Reuters According to CPJ, 70 of those killed were Palestinians, four were Israelis and three were Lebanese. Israel has not justified the drone attack on the car with the three journalists. However, Mark Regev, senior adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, tells the BBC that Israel is not deliberately targeting journalists.
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