Wael al-Dahdouh
وائل الدحدوح
Journalist, Al Jazeera's Gaza bureau chief
Al Jazeera's Gaza bureau chief, who kept reporting through the killing of his wife, son, daughter, and grandson in 2023 and became a global symbol of press freedom.
Wael al-Dahdouh was born in Gaza City in 1970. He began his career with the Palestinian newspaper Al-Quds and other local and Arab outlets before joining Al Jazeera in 2004, eventually becoming the Arabic channel’s Gaza bureau chief. For two decades his live reports — from wars, raids, funerals, and the daily grind of the blockade — made him one of the most familiar faces of Gaza to viewers across the Arab world.
On 25 October 2023, an Israeli airstrike hit the Nuseirat refugee camp, where his family had sought shelter, killing his wife Amina, his son Mahmoud, fifteen, his daughter Sham, seven, and his infant grandson Adam. He learned of their deaths while covering the war and was back on the air the next day. In December 2023 he was wounded in a strike that killed his cameraman, Samer Abu Daqqa; on 7 January 2024 his eldest son Hamza, also an Al Jazeera journalist, was killed by an Israeli drone strike near Khan Younis. Al-Dahdouh eventually left Gaza for medical treatment abroad and continued working. In 2024 the National Press Club named him its international John Aubuchon Press Freedom honoree, its highest award for press freedom.
Selected contributions
- Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent in Gaza (2004–present), later Gaza bureau chief
- Coverage of successive wars on Gaza and daily life under blockade
- John Aubuchon Press Freedom Award, international honoree (2024)
Sources
Further reading
An external biography or archive holding more on this life than the entry above.
Connected in the archive
12 connected records12 records elsewhere in the archive are linked to this one, each by a piece of evidence you can read below.
born in — 1 record
- Gaza Cityغزة
Evidence — From a recorded field in this archive: birthplace: "Gaza City, Gaza" → Gaza City (Gaza Strip)
names this person — 2 records
One record names the other. A pointer for reading, not a claim that they belong to each other.
- Gaza: Siege and Sumud
Evidence — From a recorded field in this archive: The bureau chief who kept reporting after losing his family on air.
- Hamza al-Dahdouhحمزة الدحدوح
Evidence — Inferred from the text — read the evidence: Hamza al-Dahdouh, 27, worked as a journalist and camera operator for Al Jazeera, the network where his father, Wael al-Dahdouh, is Gaza bureau chief.
named in this record — 1 record
One record names the other. A pointer for reading, not a claim that they belong to each other.
- Khan Younisخان يونس
Evidence — Inferred from the text — read the evidence: In December 2023 he was wounded in a strike that killed his cameraman, Samer Abu Daqqa; on 7 January 2024 his eldest son Hamza, also an Al Jazeera journalist, was killed by an Israeli drone strike near Khan Younis.
on a related subject — 8 records
Filed near each other — the same Mandate district, or the same uncommon subject tags.
- Shireen Abu Aklehشيرين أبو عاقلة
Evidence — From a recorded field in this archive: Shared tags: "journalism", "Al Jazeera", "press freedom".
- +972 Magazine
Evidence — Inferred from the text — read the evidence: Shared tag: "journalism".
- Bisan Owda
Evidence — Inferred from the text — read the evidence: Shared tag: "journalism".
- Ghassan Kanafaniغسان كنفاني
Evidence — Inferred from the text — read the evidence: Shared tag: "journalism".
- Sadhij Nassarساذج نصّار
Evidence — Inferred from the text — read the evidence: Shared tag: "journalism".
- Ta-Nehisi Coates on Palestine and 'The Message'
Evidence — Inferred from the text — read the evidence: Shared tag: "journalism".
- and 2 more
Cite this page
Every claim above carries its sources — citation is the point.
- Chicago
“Wael al-Dahdouh.” Figures, FALASTEEN.AI. Accessed 22 August 2026. https://falasteen.ai/figures/wael-al-dahdouh.- MLA
“Wael al-Dahdouh.” Figures, FALASTEEN.AI, 2026, https://falasteen.ai/figures/wael-al-dahdouh. Accessed 22 August 2026.- BibTeX
@misc{falasteen-wael-al-dahdouh, title = {Wael al-Dahdouh}, howpublished = {\url{https://falasteen.ai/figures/wael-al-dahdouh}}, organization = {FALASTEEN.AI — A Living Archive for Palestine}, year = {2026}, note = {Accessed 2026-08-22} }