‘Daddy, are we going to die today?’

“Awful news about our colleague Ibrahim Dahman’s family: at least nine of his relatives have been killed,” tweeted veteran journalist Christiane Amanpour. “He’s been fearlessly reporting for CNN from Gaza since well before this war began.” The tweet includes the link to a CNN video about how Israel bombed the house where Dahman was born, killing his uncles and cousins — four of them children. “They were extremely peaceful and simple people, and their entire lives were devoted solely to work and raising their sons and daughters,” said Dahman. The Palestinian journalist successfully escaped to Egypt with his family, documenting their perilous journey dodging bombs. “I’m a journalist — I never thought I would become part of the news.” Thousands of people worldwide followed Ibrahim and his family on social media as they tried to reach safety. But every refuge soon turned hazardous as Israeli bombs inched closer. Every day, Dahman’s young son asked him, “Daddy, are we going to die today?”

International journalists are not allowed to enter Gaza, but Palestinian reporters there are diligently documenting the war. BBC correspondent Adnan El-Bursh shared his plight on social media: “I’ve always been proud to be a journalist, but I’m running out of options. I feel completely lost. I always had a plan to keep my family safe and secure, but now indecision has taken over. Should I go to Rafah, keep working, and hope that my family is well? Or should I stop reporting and go back to them, so if the worst happens, at least we’ll die together?”

Al Jazeera’s Moamen Al Sharafi reported live on the deaths of his father, mother and siblings in an Israeli attack on the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza. “They had just arrived,” he said. They thought it was safe, but there are no safe places in the Strip. “We are forbidden from burying them with dignity. We have been deprived of the simplest things that any person is entitled to,” said an emotional Al Sharafi, looking directly into the camera.

Ali Jadallah regularly shares photos on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram. His powerful photos for the Anadolu agency have captured heartbreaking scenes of a girl’s lifeless body lying in the rubble of her bombed-out house, and the chaotic hospitals where people are dying on cold floors. TIME Magazine recently included two of his pictures in its Top 100 Photos of 2023. “I’ve documented the Israeli war on Gaza for 39 days,” he tweeted on November 14. “I’ve lost two houses, 5 family members, friends, and colleagues... While I’ve always been behind the camera, this time, I am the story. Losing my father and siblings has left me heartbroken and homeless... Each photo I capture narrates a story. Share them, tell the world what is happening in Gaza.”

A snippet from an interview conducted by CNN journalist Jake Tapper with Mark Regev, an advisor to Netanyahu, is making its rounds on social media. The interview took place on the day Israel’s airstrike destroyed the house where Ibrahim Dahman was born. “We have done everything humanly possible to safeguard innocent civilians,” said Regev. “It’s very hard to believe that,” said Tapper, “especially on a day when one of our producers lost nine members of his family who were not members of Hamas, not members of the Palestinian Jihad, not members of any group. Just nine people trying to live their lives.” Regev deflected by saying, “I extend my sorrow to him... but that happened in northern Gaza, where a month ago we asked all civilians to leave... Why didn’t they heed the advice to leave?” Clearly annoyed, Tapper interrupts: “You can’t blame them... There’s fighting in the south now! I’ve been asking this since October 7 — where are these people supposed to go?”

The United States, Israel’s primary ally, has strongly expressed concern over the high number of civilian casualties in Gaza. But in Spain, the conservative People’s Party excoriated President Pedro Sánchez for accusing Israel of indiscriminately killing civilians. Nevertheless, there is compelling evidence documented by a handful of brave journalists who have become part of the very stories they report.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 63 journalists have been killed covering the Israel-Hamas war since October 7. In 2022, the organization documented a total of 68 journalist deaths worldwide.

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