Journalist killed in Israeli airstrike was like everyone's little brother, says colleague

Every morning, journalists Safwat Kahlout and Hamza Dahdouh would meet in the tent in Rafah that serves as their base of operations, have coffee, and get ready for another day of reporting from the besieged Gaza Strip.

But on Sunday, just a half-hour after Dahdouh helpedfix the Wi-Fi on Kahlout's phone, the 27-year-old Al Jazeera freelancer left on an assignment from which he would never return.

Dahdouh and fellow freelancer Mustafa Thuraya were both killed in their car in an Israeli airstrike.A third freelancer, Hazem Rajab, was wounded.

The union that represents Al Jazeera journalists sayswere deliberately targeted. The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) denies this.

They are among thedozens of journalists who have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7.The Committee To Protect Journalists has called for an independent investigation into their deaths,saying: "The continuous killings of journalists and their family members by Israeli army fire must end."

Dahdouh was the son of Wael Dahdouh, Al Jazeera's bureau chief in Gaza, who learned live on air in Octoberthat his wife, grandson, another of his sons and a daughter had all been killed in an Israeli airstrike.

More than 20,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel began bombing the walled-off enclave in October, according to Gaza's health ministry. The United Nations estimates 85 per cent of Gaza's residents have been forced to flee their homes.

Israel says it is defending its security after militants from Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, killed 1,200 people in Israel and took more than 200 hostage on Oct. 7.

Kahlout, a producer for Al Jazeera English, spoke to As It Happens host Nil Kksal about the loss of his friend and colleague. Here is part of their conversation.

Can you tell me about your friend? What was Hamza like?

He was a young journalist. He was full of enthusiasm, full of activity, very active, helping everybody. He never hesitated to help either Al Jazeera English or Jazeera Arabic or even freelancers who ask for anything.

He was loved by everyone. He was helping everyone. Everybody considered him as a little brother in our work.

What did he tell you about why he wanted to do this work, why he wanted to be a journalist and be part of your team?

This is family work. You know, [his] father is one of the most ... important figures in the media.

So he loved this field, and he has been helping even before ... going to the university.

Living in Gaza, many people believe in journalism, since it can tell the story for the world, I'm sure, [about] the suffering of the Palestinians, especially because ... the Israelis have been dominating most of the international media.

What do you know about the circumstances of how Hamza and the other journalist, Mustafa Thuraya, were killed?

We worked together in the morning doing our daily stuff that we have been doing since we moved to Rafah, and we are meeting in the same tent, which is our operation.

He went to do a story or to collect some ... pictures from a place that the Israelis bombarded.

He was together with another cameraman and another driver. They were chasing an ambulance, [which] was carrying casualties dead and injured people. So they were chasing and following an ambulance, and suddenly the Israeli drone fired two rockets at their car.

That's the only thing we know about the killing of Hamza.

The IDF says it was targeting "a terrorist who operated an aircraft in a way that put IDF forces at risk." And they're saying that these folks were all in the same vehicle. That's what the IDF is saying. What is your reaction to that?

Of course they have a justification.

These justifications, for you, are maybe something new. But for us Palestinians who live under occupation for tens of years, we have been hearing and listening to these justifications for the cold-blooded killing of our people for many years. So this is expected.

The Israelis, they always have excuses. They can justify why they killed the women and children.

We mentioned Hamza's father. He has already lost so much his wife, other children, a grandchild. But yet he is still reporting. And that's something people have underlined, his ability to keep telling the stories of Palestinians in Gaza right now. What keeps him going? What has he told you?

Frankly, I don't know how this man is still standing on his feet. You know, myself, I didn't stop crying the whole day yesterday, remembering Hamza.

We call him a mountain. You know, it's an expression that we [use to describe] strong people. He's like a mountain of Palestine. We don't understand where and how does he get this power to keep reporting.

He believes this is a struggle, this a freedom struggle, and that the Israelis, by killing his family and even his son, they are punishing him for telling the story.

His reporting on Al Jazeera made a big difference in terms of the international community who know now the truth through Wael's reporting.

So he believes that this is a challenge and this is a national duty that he must continue doing, despite all the dilemmas, despite the pain that filled his heart, and even his body. Now he's injured, by the way. He cannot carry the mic in his right hand and still insists to carry it in his left hand.

WATCH |Al Jazeera's Gaza bureau chief returns to air after wife, 2 children killed:

Al Jazeera's Gaza bureau chief returns to air after wife, 2 children killed

11 months ago

Duration 0:26

Wael Dahdouh, Al Jazeera's Gaza bureau chief, lost several family members after an Israeli airstrike hit an area where his family was taking shelter. The Israel Defense Force acknowledged it did carry out an airstrike in that area and it had been targeting what it called 'Hamas terrorist infrastructure.'

What keeps you doing this work? Because you know well that some Palestinian journalists have left Gaza or scaled back their coverage because of all the risks and the realities they're facing. You have children as well. What keeps you doing your job? What keeps you going?

I am Palestinian. I am Gazan. I was born and grown up in this place. So I feel, and I believe, that I have national duties, first of all. You and the others deserve to know the truth.

But still, frankly, I am very much worried about the life and the future of my sons. I want to send them anywhere to keep them safe, to continue my work, to continue my national duty, without being worried that one day I would lose one of them.

I know many, many journalists who lost all of their families fathers, wives, children, everything and still, they are on air.