By Tiffany Williams –
Samer Abudaqa, a cameraperson for Al Jazeera was killed by a missile fired in Khan Younis in southern Gaza. Al Jazeera’s Gaza bureau chief Wael Dahdouh was injured in the Israeli shelling.
Because of Israeli shelling, it took five hours for paramedics to reach Abudaqa, and by the time paramedics did arrive, Abudaqa had died.
On Friday National Security Council spokesman John Kirby was asked if he had seen the news that Samer Abudaqa was killed by the Israelis. Allegedly, and if he still believes there is zero evidence that journalists were being targeted in Gaza, and Kirby said, “First, I would just add that our deepest sympathies and condolences go out to the family and the loved ones and the colleagues and the co-workers of Samer Abu Daka — and I hope I pronounced that right — and to all those at your network, at Al Jazeera, and journalists around the world who are mourning this loss. We know it’s a heavy loss indeed. And we’re grateful that he and your colleagues are still out there covering this war. Journalists need to be able to have the freedom to cover conflicts around the world — to cover anything, but certainly cover conflicts. And it’s never acceptable to deliberately target them as they do such vital, dangerous, dangerous work. And that’s a principle that we’re going to continue to abide by and to continue to make clear.”
Kirby added, “I don’t know all the details about his tragic killing, so I’m not in a position to say that the operation which killed him was of a certain flavor or not. I will tell you that, again, we stay in touch with our Israeli counterparts every day. We still don’t have any indications that they are deliberately targeting journalists. And that’s where I’d have to leave it. Again, we don’t know all the details of this particular strike, but we haven’t seen any indications that they are, as a matter of course and policy, or even operational doctrine, deliberately going after journalists trying to cover this war.”
Abudaqa joined Al Jazeera in 2004. Born in 1978, he was the father of three boys and a girl.
Dahdouh, whose injuries were considered minor, was transferred to Nasser Hospital. Just six weeks earlier his family members including his wife and children were killed in an Israeli airstrike that hit their house in the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza. Dahdouh returned to reporting soon after the tragedy.