Wafaa Abu Dabaan, a 28-year-old Palestinian journalist at Islamic University Radio and the Belgium-based European Institute for Training and Development (EUTD), was five months pregnant with her second child when she and, her husband, Amjad Juhjouh, were killed by an Israeli airstrike on the morning of Saturday, July 6, 2024.
Several family members, including their 9-month-old son and their journalist brother-in-law Rizq Abu Shakian, were also killed in the strike, which hit-Abu Shakian’s home in Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, according to media reports, and several people who spoke to CPJ.
Wael Jarwan, a media professor and EUTD team leader in Gaza, described Abu Dabaan and her husband as dedicated professionals who worked hard and maintained a clear separation between their personal and professional lives.
"They were very committed, and I had known them since they were students. They invited me to a training course they organized, which sparked our professional relationship. We later collaborated on several media projects," Jarwan said.
CPJ emailed the Israel Defense Forces’ North America Media Desk in late September 2024, asking for comment on the killing of Abu Dabaan.In an exchange that followed, the IDF asked CPJ for the journalists’ IDs and "relevant coordinates," which CPJ explained it could not provide due to research limitations.
The IDF then said it could not fully address CPJ’s inquiry due to a lack of "sufficient details." The IDF said it takes "all operationally feasible measures" to prevent harm to journalists and other civilians, asserting that "many" on CPJ’s list were Hamas members and therefore lawful targets, but did not name the journalists or provide evidence they were Hamas fighters.