Al Jazeera cameraman, Samer Abu Daqqa’ killed in an Israeli strike in the south of the war-torn Gaza Strip has been buried on Saturday amid tears and lamentations.
The Funeral was massively attended by scores of journalists around the world who came to give the dead his last respect.
Daqqa’s body, bearing his bullet-proof vest and helmet, was carried through a crowd in the city of Khan Yunis before being buried in a grave dug by fellow journalists.
His mother Umm Maher Abu Daqqa accused Israel of targeting journalists, “especially those working for Al Jazeera”.
Abu Daqqa, born in 1978, was reporting from a school in Khan Yunis when he was hit by a drone strike on Friday, said the Qatar-based Al Jazeera television network.
His colleague, Gaza bureau chief Wael al-Dahdouh, was wounded in the same attack. Dahdouh had lost his wife and two children in a separate Israeli strike in the initial weeks of the war.
The Israeli army told AFP it takes “operationally feasible measures” to protect both civilians and journalists in Gaza.
“Given the ongoing exchanges of fire, remaining in an active combat zone has inherent risks,” it said.
Dahdouh said the Israeli army “deliberately” targets journalists in Gaza.
“The occupation (Israeli army) does not want the press. It deliberately targeted us,” he told AFP.
