Al Jazeera Digital wins top Edward R Murrow Awards for Gaza war coverage

The Al Jazeera English website has won several Edward R Murrow Awards, bestowed by the Radio Television Digital News Association in the United States and recognising its extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza.

The website won the top prize in the breaking news category for its coverage of the conflict, which has killed more than 40,000 people, many of them women and children.

It also received two honours for its documentary One Day in Gaza – Close Up in the categories of excellence in video and hard news.

The film is a compilation of videos by 10 people in Gaza asked to record moments throughout their day, helping viewers understand the hardships and constant danger faced by Palestinians in the strip.

“I am deeply proud of how hard our teams have worked to deliver accurate coverage of the war in Gaza and shift the global conversation around one of the most devastating conflicts of the modern century,” said Soraya Salam, manager of the website.

“This would not be possible without the bravery of our reporters on the ground, and the more than 160 fellow journalists who have been killed by Israeli forces while simply doing their jobs.”

Additionally, AJ+ English won an award in the news series category for It’s Bisan from Gaza.

The series, hosted by Gaza journalist Bisan Owda, provides a daily eyewitness account of the devastation and human toll resulting from Israeli attacks, bringing our global audience closer to the realities faced by the people of Gaza over the past 10 months.

Owda and AJ+ also won a Peabody Award for their work in Gaza in May.

Moeed Ahmed, manager of AJ+ English, said the recognition “reaffirms our commitment to professional journalism”.

“Despite constant threats and attempts to silence our journalists, we remain dedicated to telling the stories that matter and shedding light on the human cost of war.”

Several Al Jazeera correspondents have been killed by Israeli forces since the war began.

They include Al Jazeera Arabic journalist Ismail al-Ghoul and his cameraman Rami al-Rifi, who were killed in an Israeli strike on the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City on July 31, and Al Jazeera Arabic journalist Samer Abudaqa, who was killed in an Israeli strike on Khan Younis in December.

Al Jazeera’s Gaza bureau chief, Wael Dahdouh, was also wounded in that attack, and his wife, son, daughter and grandson were killed in an Israeli air raid on the Nuseirat refugee camp in October. Dahdouh’s son Hamza, also an Al Jazeera journalist, was targeted and killed by an Israeli missile strike in Khan Younis in January.

Al Jazeera Media Network has condemned those attacks as part of a “systematic targeting campaign against the network’s journalists and their families”.

The Gaza war has been the deadliest in modern history for journalists.