‘Awful News’: Christiane Amanpour Says ‘At Least Nine Members’ of CNN Producer’s Family Killed in Gaza

AP Photo/Mohammed Hajjar

CNN’s Christiane Amanpour tweeted Monday about the “awful news” that at least nine members of a colleague’s family had been reported killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza.

“Awful news about our colleague Ibrahim Dahman’s family: at least nine of his relatives have been killed,” Amanpour wrote. “He’s been fearlessly reporting for CNN from Gaza since well before this war began. ‘They were extremely peaceful and simple people, and their entire lives were devoted solely to work and raising their sons and daughters,’ Dahman said.

‘They have no affiliation with any organization or group… Pray to God to have mercy on them all.'”

CNN reported that Dahman, a producer in the region, heard on Sunday that his relatives had been killed in an airstrike on his aunt’s house in northern Gaza. The report also said that his childhood home in Gaza City was destroyed in a separate strike.

According to CNN, “Sunday will forever be remembered as a dark day for the Dahman family, after messages began pouring in on their messaging group that an Israeli strike had directly hit the building where his relatives were living in Beit Lahia, killing his uncle, and the uncle’s wife, daughter and two grandchildren, as well as his aunt, her husband and two children. At least two other relatives are in critical condition, and still others are still buried under the rubble.”

The United Nations reported that 80% of Gaza’s population, or 1.8 million people, have fled their homes.

Dahman escaped to Egypt with his wife and two young sons about a month into the war, but lamented that he had to leave many family members behind. He posted video documenting his drive through Gaza City on the way to the southern city of Khan Younis. The first time the family headed to the Rafah crossing, they were told it was closed. They were able to make it safely into Egypt on their second try.