‘The mountain of Gaza’: Wael al-Dahdouh and his fight to protect journalists

Al Jazeera's Gaza bureau chief lost his wife, children and colleagues in Israeli strikes – now he is calling for action

- By BEL TREW,

Wael al-Dahdouh has endured more than any journalist could ever imagine.

For millions across the world, Al Jazeera's Gaza bureau chief became the face of reporting on the horrors of Israel's bombardment of the strip and war with Hamas.

Dressed in his blue press flak jacket, the 55-year-old father of eight tirelessly documented life and death on the ground, earning him the moniker “the mountain of Gaza”.

But very quickly, the Gaza-born Palestinian and his family became part of the nightmare he was covering.

Just one month into the onslaught, Israeli bombing killed his wife Amina, two of their children aged just 16 and seven, and his eight-month-old grandson, alongside nine other nephews and relatives.

The family had, under Israeli military orders, fled to an area earmarked for civilian evacuation. Wael found out live on air – but despite the unimaginable loss, he carried on reporting.

A few weeks later, in December 2023, his close friend and cameraman Samer Abu Daqqa was killed in an Israeli strike on a school, in which he was also severely injured.

Then, in January 2024, an Israeli drone strike killed Wael's eldest son, Hamza, 27, also a journalist for Al Jazeera, in Khan Younis.

This horror sparked a campaign to get the famed reporter out of Gaza: a few days later, Wael and the remains of his family were finally evacuated to Egypt.

Despite grappling with physical wounds and a “volcano of emotions” over his own family's slaughter, Wael is still at work. This time from London.

Since October 2023, Israeli bombing has killed almost 250 Palestinian journalists in Gaza – more than in any other conflict in modern times, according to United Nations experts, who have warned that reporters are being deliberately targeted.