Israel Has Killed This Beloved 23-Year-Old Journalist In Gaza Hours After Killing Another Journalist
"I believe this land is ours, and it has been the highest honor of my life to die defending it and serving its people," Hossam Shabat wrote in his final message shared by his team after his death.
Israel has killed 23-year-old Palestinian journalist Hossam Shabat in north Gaza, just hours after it killed another journalist, Mohammad Mansour, in southern Gaza.
Israeli forces targeted Shabat’s car and killed him in Beit Lahia in north Gaza, witnesses told Al Jazeera, which Shabat was a correspondent for.
Shabbat’s last post had been mourning the death of Mansour who was killed with his wife and son by an Israeli attack on his house in Khan Younis in southern Gaza just hours earlier.
Despite his house being bombed at the beginning of the war and Israel killing more than 100 of his friends and family, Shabat has been injured before but insisted on continuing to report, according to Al Jazeera.
During Israel’s siege of North Gaza, he had been one of the last journalists who remained in the area to report on Israel’s attacks.
He continued reporting after Israel broke the ceasefire and resumed its attacks on Gaza on March 18.
“I thought it was over and I'd finally get some rest, but the genocide is back in full force, and I'm back on the front lines,” he wrote on X on March 21.
Gaza’s Media Office condemned Israel’s “systematic attacks” against journalists, holding Israel and its allies responsible.
Israel has now killed 208 journalists in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, according to the office.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) also condemned the killings of Shabat and Mansour, calling for an independent investigation into whether they had been deliberately targeted.
“The deliberate and targeted killing of a journalist, of a civilian, is a war crime,” the head of CPJ said.
Israel resumed its genocide in Gaza on March 18, after refusing to proceed with phase two of the ceasefire and killing more than 400 Palestinians in less than 24 hours.
Israel has since killed more than 730 Palestinians since it broke the ceasefire on March 18.
Since Oct. 7, Israel has killed at least 208 journalists in Gaza, according to Gaza’s Media Office.
This is the deadliest period for journalists since the Committee to Protect Journalists began gathering data in 1992.
Shabat’s team shared his final message on Instagram after his death.
“If you’re reading this, it means I have been killed—most likely targeted—by the Israeli occupation forces. I risked everything to report the truth, and now, I am finally at rest—something I haven’t known in the past 18 months. I did all this because I believe in the Palestinian cause. I believe this land is ours, and it has been the highest honor of my life to die defending it and serving its people.
I ask you now: do not stop speaking about Gaza. Do not let the world look away. Keep fighting, keep telling our stories—until Palestine is free,” Shabat’s final message said.
More On Israel's Attacks On Journalists In Gaza
Isha Jain
Cherry Mohamed
Cherry Mohamed
