GAZA: Palestinian journalist Wael al-Dahdouh was honored with the Courage Prize at the 2024 Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Press Freedom Awards, held on Tuesday in Washington, D.C.
These annual awards celebrate the exceptional contributions made by journalists and media organizations in upholding press freedom around the globe.
Al-Dahdouh, who heads Al Jazeera’s Gaza desk, was recognized for his remarkable resilience despite personal losses and the dangers of working in a conflict zone. The RSF praised his determination to continue reporting amidst the devastating circumstances he has faced in Gaza.
Over the past year, al-Dahdouh has endured immense hardship. In October 2023, his wife, son, and daughter were killed in an Israeli airstrike at a refugee camp in Gaza. Just months later, in January 2024, al-Dahdouh’s two nephews were killed in another Israeli attack, while his eldest son, Hamza, who also worked as a journalist for Al Jazeera, died in an airstrike. Despite these profound losses, al-Dahdouh remained dedicated to his work.
In addition to these tragedies, al-Dahdouh himself was injured in a drone strike in December 2023, which also claimed the life of his cameraman, Samer Abu Daqqa. Al-Dahdouh sought medical treatment in Qatar in January 2024 but continued to report on the ongoing conflict from abroad.
Other honorees at the ceremony included Ukrainian journalist Nataliya Gumenyuk, who co-founded The Reckoning Project and received the Impact Prize; Indian journalist Ravish Kumar, awarded the Independence Prize; Mariam Ouédraogo of Burkina Faso, who received the Mohamed Maïga Prize for African Investigative Journalism; and Belgian photojournalist Gaël Turine, who won the Lucas Dolega-SAIF Photo Prize.
The awards highlighted the courage and resilience of journalists around the world who, like al-Dahdouh, risk their lives to report the truth in the face of adversity.
