The killing of Hamza is the third such attack on Wael Dahdouh and his family members.

Israel has killed Hamza Dahdouh, the son of Al Jazeera’s Gaza bureau chief, Wael Dahdouh, in a direct missile strike that targeted a car with journalists in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on Sunday.

The Qatar-based network confirmed Hamza, 27, was among a group of journalists directly targeted by an Israeli missile while they were travelling inside a vehicle in Gaza.

Israel killed Hamza and Palestinian journalist Mustafa Thuraya in the attack. 

Online footage showed the targeted car turned into ashes as crowds gathered to remove the bodies from it. The total number of Palestinian journalists killed since October 7 has now gone up to 109, Gaza’s media office confirmed.

The killing of Hamza is the third such attack on Dahdouh and his family members.

On October 25, Israel killed Dahdouh’s wife, 15-year-old son, seven-year-old daughter and infant grandson in a strike in the south, despite Israel announcing the area to be a safe zone before the attack. 

Dahdouh found out about the killing of his family members while he was reporting on live television and said his family were targeted for his job.

“They’re getting revenge through the kids?” Dahdouh said at the time in a viral video as he watched over the body of his other dead son, Mahmoud.

Al Jazeera had issued a statement at the time condemning the targeting of its journalist’s family members.

“The Network strongly condemns the indiscriminate targeting and killing of innocent civilians in Gaza, which has led to the loss of Wael Al-Dahdouh’s family and countless others. We urge the international community to intervene and put an end to these attacks on civilians, thereby safeguarding innocent lives,” the statement said on October 25.

Dahdouh then survived a missile strike on December 15 in Khan Younis, where Al Jazeera’s cameraman, Samer Abu Daqqa, succumbed to his injuries after being left to bleed for six hours. 

Israeli forces prevented medics from reaching him with nonstop shelling and the ambulances had to receive prior approval to reach Abu Daqqa, according to Al Jazeera.

Dahdouh’s arm was injured by a shrapnel from the Israeli air strike and Palestinians managed to get him to the Nasser Hospital in Gaza, where he underwent surgery in his arm.

Al Jazeera referred the case to the International Criminal Court, the network announced in a statement on December 16.

Al Jazeera has been subjected to various deliberate attacks by Israel for its detailed and impartial coverage of the violence committed by the occupation forces against Palestinians in Gaza.

On October 19, Israel killed 19 family members of Al Jazeera Arabic’s broadcast engineer, Mohamed Abu Al-Qumsan, during a massacre at the Jabalia camp. 

The Israeli attack killed Al-Qumsan’s father, two sisters, eight nephews and nieces, his brother, his brother’s wife and their four children, his sister-in-law, and one uncle. 

In a statement at the time, Al Jazeera condemned the “heinous and indiscriminate” killing of Al-Qumsan’s relatives, describing it as an “unforgivable act.”

On December 6, Israel killed 22 family members of Al Jazeera Arabic’s correspondent, Moamen Al Sharafi, in an attack on the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza.

“We are prevented from saying goodbye to our loved ones and are deprived of giving them a proper burial,” Al Sharafi told Al Jazeera in a live broadcast moments after the killing of his relatives.

In a statement on December 7, Al Jazeera said “it will pursue all legal steps to hold accountable all those responsible for this crime.”

Meanwhile on October 18, Israeli attorney general reportedly approved a ban on Al Jazeera’s local bureau before it backtracked on its decision the following month over Qatar’s key role in mediating the release of captives from Hamas in Gaza.

Qatar and Egypt mediated a week-long truce between November 24 until December 1 that led to the release of at least 110 Israeli and foreign captives from Gaza, according to a Doha News tally.

As part of the deal, Israel released 240 Palestinian women and children from Israeli prisons.

The Israeli genocidal war on Gaza was quick to resume when the truce expired. Since October 7, Israel has killed at least 22,722 Palestinians in Gaza while injuring 58,166 others, according to the latest figures by the Strip’s health authorities.