'She was my whole life': Son of Gaza journalist Mariam Dagga pays heartbreaking tribute

Respected photographer ensured horror of Israel's war was shared with the world after son was evacuated to the UAE

Mariam Dagga in Khan Younis in June. AP

At just 13 years old, Ghaith Dagga on Monday was burdened with the weight of loss borne by many of Gaza's children, when his mother was killed in Israeli strikes on Al Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.

Mariam Dagga, a photographer, and four fellow journalists had rushed to the scene of a strike that hit the upper floors of the hospital when Israel launched a second strike that took their lives. At least 20 people died in the attack.

Ghaith says Mariam was not only his mother but “my whole life”.

Mariam Dagga and son Ghaith. Photo: Mariam Dagga

“She always hoped to see me grow into a well-presented young man,” he told The National from the UAE, where he lives with his father after leaving Gaza in the early months of the war to receive treatment for an injury to his hand. “She would buy me the best clothes and treat me like a young man. She always said: ‘You are my only support in life, you are my everything.’

“There is nothing in this world that can ever replace Mama, her tenderness, her care, or her constant concern for me in every part of my life.”

Riyad Dagga prays over the body of his daughter, Mariam, during her funeral. Dagga family / AP

Those who knew Mariam well say her death was not unexpected. Duaa Al Baz, her childhood friend and later her colleague in journalism, recalls that she often spoke about feeling that her time was short.

“Mariam was exceptional in every sense of the word,” Ms Al Baz told The National. “She was loving, kind-hearted, and deeply committed to the message of journalism. A few weeks before her martyrdom, she gave me her will. She asked me to pass it on to Ghaith.”

Mariam had already buried her mother, who died of illness, and her brother who was killed, as well as many other relatives, since the war began in October 2023. Yet she never stopped working, making difficult and risky journeys from her small town of Abasan in Khan Younis governorate to tell the stories of her people amid Israel's relentless attacks.

The work of photojournalist Mariam Dagga

Islam Qudeih holds her severely malnourished two-year-old daughter, Shamm, at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip. All photos: Mariam Dagga / AP

Injured Palestinians receive treatment on the floor of Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis

A Palestinian woman mourns her relative, who was killed in an Israeli strike

Palestinians struggle to get food and humanitarian aid from the back of a truck as it moves along the Morag corridor near Rafah

Smoke rises following an Israeli army air strike in Khan Younis

A Palestinian boy mourns his uncle, Mohammad Harb, and his cousin, Leen Harb, during their funeral at Nasser Hospital

A Palestinian man who was injured as food was distributed at a centre run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation waits for treatment at Nasser Hospital

Injured Palestinian at Nasser Hospital

Mourners at the funeral of three Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes

AP said Ms Dagga, 33, had contributed as a freelancer to the agency, as well as other news outlets, since the Gaza war began.

Anas Al Najjar, a fellow journalist, said she was “an icon for Palestinian women journalists”, admired for her courage and skill as a photographer.

“She worked with everyone, loved everyone and was like a sister to all journalists. She guided us in the field, made our work easier and never abandoned the front lines, no matter the danger,” he said.

“She truly sensed that her time was near. Almost all of her conversations with me were about martyrdom,” he told The National. “Her last message to me was about work payments. She told me to give what she was owed to her martyred brother’s daughter. Even in her last words, she was thinking of others.”

Moaz Abu Taha, one of four Palestinian journalists killed along with Mariam Dagga in an Israeli air strike, takes a selfie with her in Khan Younis in January. AFP

Press freedom groups condemned the attack that killed Mariam as one of the deadliest incidents targeting journalists since the war began in October 2023.

More than 240 reporters have been killed in Gaza during the war, according to local authorities, a staggering toll that makes this conflict one of the most lethal for journalists in modern history.

“Mama always told me she felt her martyrdom was near,” Ghaith said. “She would say: ‘The longing for you is breaking me, Ghaith. I pray that God grants me rest and lets me hold you in my arms, because life without you has no taste and no meaning'.”

Shortly before her death, Mariam sent a message to her son asking him to name his daughter “Mariam”, when he got married and had children.

“She dreamt only of Ghaith,” Ms Al Baz says. “Most of our conversations were about him – her hopes for his education, her vision for his future. He was her entire world.”