**Another Journalist Killed, Al Jazeera Cameraman Samer Abu Daqqa’s Death in Israeli Airstrike Stirs Outrage**
Politicians, media personalities, and activists are mourning the loss of Samer Abu Daqqa, an Al Jazeera cameraman, who was killed during an Israeli airstrike on the Farhana school in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, last Friday. Abu Daqqa was left on the ground for approximately six hours after being hit, bleeding and surrounded in the vicinity of the school, and ambulance services could not reach him due to wounds from shrapnel of a missile fired by an Israeli drone. In the same attack, another colleague, Wael Dahdouh, was injured while covering the Israeli shelling of the school, amidst calls for the evacuation of the wounded trapped there.
Lolwa Al-Khater, Qatar’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, lamented the loss of Abu Daqqa on her X site account, describing the incident as “another journalist killed and another voice silenced.” She added that this is the highest number of journalists killed in any armed conflict in such a short time. The Qatari official recalled, “When the attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo occurred, world leaders rallied for freedom of expression, but it is clear that not all journalists are born equal. Dear Samer, we apologize for not being able to protect you and leaving you alone face their military arsenal with just your camera… They deceived us by saying that words are stronger than guns, and it was your life and the lives of dozens of journalists that paid the price to realize that this was just a lie… May your soul rest in peace.”
In addition, Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian envoy to the United Nations, mourned the death of Al Jazeera’s cameraman Abu Daqqa, who was struck in an Israeli raid and bled to death for six hours. Speaking before a United Nations General Assembly meeting, Mansour expressed his sadness over the martyrdom of the Al Jazeera cameraman Samer Abu Daqqa in an Israeli raid, adding that Israel has begun targeting journalists who can document and report on the crimes. Mansour also sent a message of solidarity to Al Jazeera’s bureau chief in Gaza, Wael Dahdouh, after he was injured in that raid.
A British Foreign Office spokesman, speaking to Al Jazeera, merely stated that London urges all parties to avoid deliberate attacks on journalists in Gaza. Meanwhile, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters, according to Reuters, “We do not have any indications as yet that the Israelis are deliberately targeting journalists covering this war.”
Get to know Samer Abu Daqqa, Al Jazeera’s cameraman in Gaza. This video was shot just days ago. Samer has been bleeding for hours at the Farhana school in Khan Younis after being targeted by a missile from an Israeli drone while doing his job. The gunfire and explosions around the school prevent rescuers from reaching him and the other injured parties.
The Palestinian Archive tweeted, “Hold each other close, people of Palestine,” with a voice recording of Yazan Abu Daqqa, the son of the deceased Samer Abu Daqqa, Al Jazeera camerman, who was martyred in Khan Younis on December 15, 2023, after being targeted alongside Al Jazeera correspondent Wael Dahdouh by the occupying army while covering the shelling on UNRWA schools in the city.
On another note, The Washington Post quoted a photographer working for it in Gaza praising the deceased colleague, saying “I got to know Abu Daqqa during the war, and we spent time together at the Nasser Hospital—he was always smiling, and everyone loved him.” The Foreign Press Association in Britain mourned the association member Abu Daqqa, who was martyred by an Israeli raid on a United Nations school hosting displaced persons in Khan Younis in the besieged Gaza Strip.
The Committee to Protect Journalists stated that the ongoing two-month war in Gaza has caused devastating losses among journalists, with at least 64 journalists and media workers killed. The committee called on international authorities to “conduct an independent investigation into the attack to hold the perpetrators accountable.”
