Airstrikes Kill Family of CNN Reporter, Destroy Childhood Home

A CNN producer based in Gaza who spent weeks reporting from the Strip on the Hamas-Israel war said an Israeli airstrike killed several of his relatives and destroyed his childhood home on Sunday.

Ibrahim Dahman, 36, told the news network the bombardment in Gaza City’s Beit Lahia neighborhood killed his uncle and the uncle’s wife, daughter and two grandchildren, along with his aunt, her husband and two children. Two other family members were in critical condition later on Monday morning, and remained trapped under debris.

“They were extremely peaceful and simple people, and their entire lives were devoted solely to work and raising their sons and daughters,” Dahman told CNN. “They have no affiliation with any organization or group… Pray to God to have mercy on them all.”

The deadly blast came after Dahman was able to flee the war-torn Strip to Egypt with his young family after enduring nearly a month of war that broke out in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre in Israel that left some 1,200 dead.

The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza has reported more than 15,000 deaths as a result of the Israeli arracks.

The aftermath of the airstrike that struck Dahman’s relatives was caught on video shared on social media, according to CNN. The footage shows smoke billowing from the destroyed building, with the structure left to pieces of twisted metal and concrete slabs.

Two days before the bombing, Dahman’s uncle had relocated his family to his sister’s house as they fled the Israeli bombings in their neighborhood, CNN reported. Dahman’s aunt had chronic cancer when the home was bombed on Sunday.

Shortly before he learned of the deadly blast, Dahman said his brother told him that his home in Gaza City – the home where he was born and raised – was also destroyed.

According to Dahman, he had just renovated the place months before the war broke out.

“Unfortunately, I left all my memories, my belongings, and the gifts that my bosses sent me at work in this house, all of which were lost under the rubble now,” he said.

“I will never be able to forget every stone and corner of the house in which I was born and raised and in which my children were born.”

Israel’s counteroffensive had largely focused on northern Gaza in recent weeks, but the Israeli military increased their attacks on the Strip’s southern region on Monday, forcing tens of thousands of Palestinians to flee again, some four days after the breakdown of last week’s temporary ceasefire.

Palestinians in Gaza have repeatedly been told to flee to southern Gaza, and the latest attacks have left many with few remains options to escape brutal war.

Dahman had documented his family’s difficult journey to Egypt last month for CNN after the family endured weeks of war in Gaza.

He, his pregnant wife and the couple’s two young sons often woke to explosions and had to move constantly to avoid the airstrikes. He also recalled how the family struggled to find food and potable water.

“I’ve covered many wars through the years. Nothing compares to the current conflict. Entire quarters in Gaza have been eviscerated, thousands of women, children and elderly have perished. What have civilians done to deserve this?” he said on CNN.

“I am also haunted by our unknown fate: Where will we go from here? What is our future?”

Dozens of reporters and media workers themselves have been killed in the ongoing war, making it one of the most dangerous conflicts for journalists in years.

In October, a Palestinian Al Jazeera journalist’s entire family was killed by an Israeli airstrike. The reporter returned to work days later, calling it his “duty” to continue reporting on the deadly conflict.