In a tribute to courageous journalists covering the conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Kerala Media Academy (KMA) has given the “Media Person of the Year” award to Al Jazeera’s Gaza bureau chief Wael Al-Dahdouh.
He was selected for the award based on recommendations from investigative ‘journalists’ and media magazine editors.
The award includes a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh, a citation, and a sculpture, which will be presented by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
In a statement, the academy said Al-Dahdouh was “a global face of journalistic courage, who continues to work despite the heavy losses borne by his family.”
In October 2023, Al-Dahdouh’s wife Amna, son Mahmoud, daughter Sham, and grandson Adam were killed after an Israeli airstrike targetted their shelter home in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.
In January, his other son Hamza Wael Dahdouh, a journalist with the Al Jazeera television network was killed in Gaza by an Israeli airstrike.
On January 16, Al-Dahdouh arrived in Qatar for medical treatment after being wounded in an Israeli attack while reporting on the conflict.
On Saturday, February 3, he underwent a nine-hour surgery on his right arm.
Since October 7, 2023, the Israel-Hamas war has resulted in the loss of at least 27,238 Palestinian lives and injured 66,452 in the Gaza Strip.
