Two Al Jazeera Arabic journalists have been wounded whereas overlaying an Israeli assault on a college in Khan Younis, southern Gaza.
Wael Dahdouh, Gaza bureau chief for Al Jazeera Arabic, and cameraperson Samer Abudaqa had been overlaying an earlier air strike at Farhana faculty in Khan Younis once they had been wounded on Friday by shrapnel from an Israeli missile assault.
Dahdouh was hit by shrapnel on his higher arm, and was transferred to Nasser Hospital with minor accidents.
Abudaqa sustained shrapnel accidents and remained close to the scene of the incident for about two hours, as paramedics had been unable to achieve the location as a result of Israeli hearth, based on Al Jazeera correspondent Tareq Abu Azzoum.
Witnesses stated there was heavy shelling within the space across the faculty.
The ambulance needed to obtain prior “approval” from Israeli forces earlier than it may attain Abudaqa, Abu Azzoum reported from Rafah.
His medical situation stays unclear presently.
In line with Al Jazeera’s Wael Dahdouh, who was additionally injured within the assault, Abudaqa was “critically injured”, Abu Azzoum added.
Many Palestinians from the central and northern elements of Gaza have sought shelter in Khan Younis for the reason that conflict started in October. Many have now been pushed additional south in direction of the strip’s southernmost metropolis of Rafah after Israel intensified its army operations in Khan Younis.
The assault comes amid violent clashes between Palestinian fighters and the Israeli military in areas throughout Gaza. Residents reported preventing in Shejaya, Sheikh Radwan, Zeitoun, Tuffah, and Beit Hanoun in north Gaza, east of Maghazi in central Gaza and within the centre and northern fringes of Khan Younis, based on the Reuters information service.
In late October, Wael Dahdouh misplaced 4 of his members of the family in an Israeli air raid.
His household had been searching for refuge in Nuseirat camp within the centre of Gaza when their residence was bombed by Israeli forces, killing his spouse, Um Hamza, his 15-year-old son, Mahmoud, his seven-year-old daughter, Sham, and his grandson, Adam, who died in hospital hours later.
“Regardless of all of the difficulties, regardless of the dying of his household, he rebounded inside minutes to do his job once more. And now, Wael is the sufferer,” stated Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst Marwan Bishara.
The Worldwide Federation of Journalists (IFJ) stated it was “shocked” on the assault.
“We condemn the assault and reiterate our demand that journalists’ lives have to be safeguarded,” it stated in a put up on X.
An IFJ report printed final week discovered that 72 p.c of journalists who died on the job this yr had been killed within the Gaza conflict.
#Palestine🇵🇸: We’re deeply shocked to be taught that journalist @WaelDahdouh and digicam operator Samer Abu Daqqa have been injured whereas overlaying an earlier Israeli assault on a college. We condemn the assault and reiterate our demand that journalists’ lives have to be safeguarded. https://t.co/mjJvgEXJ3z
— IFJ (@IFJGlobal) December 15, 2023
‘An expert, robust crew’
The 2 journalists have labored along with Al Jazeera Arabic since earlier than the conflict.
“[Samer] and Wael make up a really skilled, robust crew on the bottom, documenting every part and bringing all of the info and dwell photos of what the Palestinian folks have been going by means of,” Hani Mahmoud stated.
“However notably with this conflict, given its depth in scale and magnitude and the sheer quantity of destruction, they’ve been on the forefront of overlaying each little element that one might need forgotten about,” he added.
Jodie Ginsberg, the president of the Committee to Defend Journalists, stated Palestinian journalists in Gaza felt deserted by the worldwide group.
“The position of journalists in such a scenario is totally important – notably in Gaza the place we’ve seen the sorts of establishments that historically additionally assist with the sorts of documentation in regards to the impression, just like the UN officers, have left – so we’re actually solely left with the Gazan journalists doing this crucial documentation work,” she advised Al Jazeera.
“The worldwide governments’ failure to push for an finish to this battle is more and more creating an actual sense of abandonment amongst the group and notably amongst the journalist group in Palestine and the area,” Ginsberg stated.
