Wael Dahdouh, the bureau chief of the Qatari Arabic-language Al Jazeera television news network, (C) attends a funeral on October 26, 2023 held for family members after Israeli bombardment killed his wife, son, daughter and grandson at the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza the previous day. (Photo by Al Jazeera television news network)

The spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry has denounced the ongoing Israeli military onslaught against the besieged Gaza Strip and the loss of lives of civilians, stating that Israeli war criminals and their advocates will soon pay for their crimes.

On a Friday post on X, former Twitter, Nasser Kan’ani shared a video of Wael Dahdouh, the bureau chief of the Qatari Arabic-language Al Jazeera television news network who lost his wife, son, daughter, grandson, and other relatives in an Israeli air strike against the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza on Wednesday.

The spokesman said Dahdouh is among the correspondents who are now more determined to undertake the task of other 24 fallen colleagues and report the sufferings of the oppressed, steadfast and brave Palestinian nation to the international community.

Zionist war criminals and their known advocates will soon kneel before the exemplary willpower, perseverance and resilience of the Palestinian nation; and will be punished for their crimes, he pointed out.

Al Jazeera 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, the Qatari network said in a statement.

Youmna ElSayed, an Al Jazeera correspondent in Gaza, told the broadcaster, It’s heartbreaking to be reporting about Wael’s family and to see how broken he is. He calms everyone. He speaks to us like a big brother, not just a bureau chief.

As of Thursday, at least 27 journalists have been killed in the Israeli military operations against the Gaza Strip. Among them, 22 were Palestinian and one was Lebanese, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

Journalists in Gaza are facing particularly high risks, CPJ said, due to Israel’s airstrikes and the threat of a looming Israeli ground invasion.

The main challenge for journalists covering the military confrontation in Gaza is their own safety - being killed while covering airstrikes or clashes, Sherif Mansour, CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa program coordinator, said.

Journalists in Gaza have paid and continue to pay unprecedented tolls and face exponential threats, Mansour later added.

On October 7, Hamas launched its biggest operation against Israel in years in a surprise offensive, dubbed Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, in response to the occupying regime’s intensified crimes against the Palestinian people.

Since then, Israel has pressed ahead with a relentless bombardment of Gaza. The death toll in Gaza since the start of Israeli aggression has reached over 7,000 with more than 18,000 wounded.

Tel Aviv has also blocked water, food, and electricity to Gaza, plunging the besieged territory into a humanitarian crisis.