The family of an Al Jazeera news reporter has been killed in an Israeli air strike on Gaza. This has been confirmed by the network .
Wael Al-Dahdouh’s wife, teenage son and young daughter were all killed at a refugee camp in central Gaza on Wednesday, Al Jazeera said in a statement.
It later reported that his grandson had died as well.
Al Jazeera condemned the killings and Israel’s “indiscriminate attack”.
According to the news organisation, Mr Al-Dahdouh’s family was living in a house at the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza after being displaced from northern Gaza following Israel’s warning to residents to move south due to ongoing military action.
Fifteen-year-old Mahmoud was in his final year at high school, Al Jazeera said, while his daughter, Sham, was seven years old and his grandson, Adam, was 18-months-old.
Other family members were said to be buried under the rubble but some are known to have survived.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed that it had carried out an attack targeting Hamas in the area where members of Mr Al-Dahdouh’s family were killed, according to CNN.
When questioned by the BBC about the loss of civilian life in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, including that of journalists and their families, IDF spokesperson Lt Col Peter Lerner said “any loss of life is a tragedy”.
Footage posted online showed Mr Al-Dahdouh in tears in hospital, holding what appeared to be the body of his seven-year-old daughter and kneeling over the body of his teenage son.
“There is no safe place in Gaza at all,” he said in an English translation of an interview with Al Jazeera.
Mr Al-Dahdouh is Al Jazeera Arabic’s bureau chief in Gaza and has worked for the news agency for several years.
Almost 6,500 people have been killed in Gaza since 7 October, according to the Hamas-run health ministry
Al Jazeera said it was “deeply concerned about the safety, and well-being of our colleagues in Gaza and hold the Israeli authorities responsible for their security”.
“We urge the international community to intervene and put an end to these attacks on civilians, thereby safeguarding innocent lives.”
At least 24 journalists have been killed so far in the latest conflict between Israel and Gaza, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Gaza has been under continuous military bombardment by Israel following a brutal surprise attack by Hamas fighters on 7 October, killing more than 1,400 people. More than 200 people are still being held hostage.
Meanwhile, the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says almost 6,500 people have been killed there. Israel has cut off supplies of fuel, electricity and most water to the territory. A small amount of aid is now getting in through Egypt.
