White House offers condolences after Al Jazeera says journalist killed in Israeli strike

The White House offers condolences after Al Jazeera says one of its journalists was killed Friday in an Israeli strike.

“I just want to offer our deepest condolences to Al Jazeera to and to the family and loved ones of Sameer Abu Daqqa, who was on the ground doing necessary important work for not only your viewers but to people all around the world,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby says during a phone briefing with reporters.

Al Jazeera said that Abu Daqqa, a cameraman, and Gaza bureau chief Wael Al-Dahdouh were wounded in a school in Khan Younis, where they were hit by “shrapnel from an Israeli missile attack.”

In a subsequent statement condemning the Israeli military, Al Jazeera attributed the injuries to a drone strike.

“Following Samer’s injury, he was left to bleed to death for over 5 hours, as Israeli forces prevented ambulances and rescue workers from reaching him, denying the much-needed emergency treatment,” the network charged.

Al-Dahdouh was wounded in the arm and transferred to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, according to an AFP journalist.

In a news update, Al Jazeera said Al-Dahdouh was able to leave the area of the strike to look for help, “but by the time he reached an ambulance, medics said they could not return to the site of the attack because it was too dangerous.”

The Israeli army did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.