Al Jazeera Gaza Time: Wael Al-Dahdouh and his companions, what price did they pay? | policy

The camera bears witness to one of the most cruel human experiences in the history of contemporary journalism, as journalists themselves become part of the tragedy they document. They bury their children and then return to the screen to continue conveying the truth from the heart of hell.

Since October 7, 2023, the Gaza Strip has been witnessing a completely different chapter of Palestinian pain, a chapter the likes of which the issue has never witnessed before.

From the heart of this tragic situation, the first part of the “Al Jazeera Gaza Time” program – consisting of 3 parts – monitors the first moments of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, when the Al-Qassam Brigades – the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) – broke through the siege imposed for nearly two decades, and carried out an unprecedented military operation that shook the occupation entity to its foundations.

On that Saturday morning, the Al-Aqsa flood awakened Israel to a reality it had not imagined, when it stormed the crossings and military bases and burned Merkava tanks. More than 300 officers and soldiers fell and 130 soldiers were captured in a few hours.

Then, the government of Benjamin Netanyahu – wanted by the International Criminal Court – gave the green light to the Israeli killing machine to begin implementing one of the most violent and horrific wars in modern history.

Continuous coverage

In the midst of this harsh new reality, Al Jazeera’s office in Gaza turned from the first moment into a beehive. The office’s director, Wael Al-Dahdouh, directs news coverage and provides the greatest possible means of security and comfort for his staff.

Wael is assisted in his duties by Hisham Zaqout, Heba Okila, and Moamen Al-Sharafi as main correspondents, accompanied by a group of photographers, technicians, and broadcast engineers.

They all work in dangerous conditions to convey the course of the war. They see children in pieces, they imagine their children in every injured child, they carry an enormous psychological burden, and they are required to hold themselves together in front of the camera.

The difficulty of this reality is evident in the team’s testimonies, as reporter Hisham Zaqout narrates how the team faces risks itself faced by the residents of Gaza, who left their homes 3 or 4 timesFrom a safe place, they witness the tragedy faster and closer than everyone else.

Meanwhile, reporter Heba Akila confirms that the most difficult part of the mission is that she expects every time that the bombing will target one of her relatives or family members, “physical and psychological exhaustion and tremendous pressure,” while she remains required to remain calm in front of the camera.

The Dahdouh family

The suffering of Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza was not limited to troubles, painful scenes, and being away from family. As soon as October 25, 2023 came, the heaviest and most difficult news came as a thunderbolt on the ears of those in the office, when an Israeli raid targeted a house in which the Dahdouh family took refuge in Nuseirat after their house was bombed and turned into rubble.

Wael and his colleagues receive the news of the martyrdom of 12 members of his family in one moment, including his wife Amna, his son Mahmoud, who was following in his footsteps to become a journalist, his daughter Sham, the flower of the family, and his infant grandson, Adam, who was 45 days old.

Amid the tears streaming down his face, Al-Dahdouh led the funeral prayer for all of them, and buried them in temporary mass graves in the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, then returned to the screen a few hours later.

He summarizes his position in a few words that describe the extent of the internal conflict he is experiencing. Al-Dahdouh says in a voice choked with pain that crying and lamenting will not serve the cause at all, neither the cause of the press, nor the cause of his people, nor the cause of his children whom he has just buried in the dirt.

He bites his bleeding wound and continues to cover, because it is a trust, a message, and a duty in this historic and exceptional moment, according to him.

Abu Al-Qumsan family

On October 31, 2023, a new tragedy was repeated for the Al Jazeera crew, when Israeli aircraft bombed the Jabalia camp in the northern Gaza Strip with 6 bunker-piercing bombs, each of which weighed approximately a ton of explosives.

More than 400 civilians were killed or wounded, including 18 members of the family of Muhammad Abu Al-Qumsan, the broadcast engineer at Al Jazeera, including his father and two of his sisters.

Abu Al-Qumsan arrives at the site of the attack to find his family’s home completely destroyed. He cannot even say goodbye to his father, the simplest human right, in the last moment of separation.

In parallel with these personal tragedies, violent raids escalate and Israeli tanks approach Al Jazeera’s office in downtown Gaza City. The situation turns into a fiery siege, and sniper bullets carry clear messages about the necessity of stopping coverage.

The team is forced to join the forced displacement march towards the south of the Gaza Strip on November 10, 2023, on a journey fraught with death in which feelings of sorrow and anger are mixed.

But even the displacement did not stop the coverage, as the team arrives at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis, rests a little and then continues the coverage from there, because the story is not over yet.