The news outlet Al Jazeera said Friday that one of its camera operators, Samer Abudaqa, was killed by an Israeli strike in Gaza and left for hours bleeding to death.

Abudaqa was reporting with his colleague Wael Dahdouh at a school turned shelter in Khan Younis, a city in southern Gaza, on Friday when they were hit by the strike. Dahdouh is being treated for minor injuries from shrapnel.

In a statement, the Qatar-based network said it condemns the attack in the strongest terms and holds Israel accountable for systematically targeting and killing Al Jazeera journalists and their families.

The network described a brutal end to Abudaqas life.

Following Samers injury, he was left to bleed to death for over 5 hours, as Israeli forces prevented ambulances and rescue workers from reaching him, denying the much-needed emergency treatment, Al Jazeera said in a statement.

In audio shared by the network, one of his colleagues recounted through tears how hard it was for Abudaqa to be away from his family during the Israel-Hamas war.

Samers wife and kids were in Belgium, Al Jazeera journalist Youmna ElSayed said . Just before the war, he was able to go to Belgium for the first time and see his kids and wife for the first time after six years. When he returned and the war started, he was relieved that at least his kids and wife were not in Gaza to live through all this horror and terror. And he was just waiting for the war to end so that he can go to them.

She continued: Theres nothing to describe our pain. Samer was really a special person to all of us, and a very good friend.