Monday, March 24, 2025

Gaza War : This is what Hossam Shabat said in his last messages to the world

The Israeli occupation army killed in Gaza on Monday two journalists, 29-year-old Mohamed Mansour and 23-year-old Hossam Shabat.

Late Mansour and Shabat

29-year-old Mansour was a correspondent for Palestine Today TV channel and Japan’s Asahi Shimbun Daily.

Mohamed Mansour was killed in an Israeli missile attack at his house early Monday.

The Israeli army killed Shabat shortly after he mourned his colleague Mansour. Shabat was an Al-Jazeera Mubshar reporter in North Gaza.

Once again Mahmoud Darwish’s “In Gaza, a martyr mourns a martyr” manifests in front of our eyes.

It was not the first time. Shabat mourned his other colleagues who were killed in the past months in North Gaza.

Hossam here was standing between 19-years-old Hassan Hamad and 27-years-old Ismail Al-Ghoul

It was a huge shock for me because Hossam was another Al-Jazeera reporter who became our friend for over a year.

Late Hossam Shabat

Our young cheerful friend in North Gaza was working tirelessly in both media and relief efforts. Shabat did not rest when the camera was off because he was working in the relief works.

Now here is what Hossam Shabat wrote to be shared with the world in case he was killed.

If you’re reading this, it means I have been killed—most likely targeted—by the Israeli occupation forces. When this all began, I was only 21 years old—a college student with dreams like anyone else. For past 18 months, I have dedicated every moment of my life to my people. I documented the horrors in northern Gaza minute by minute, determined to show the world the truth they tried to bury. I slept on pavements, in schools, in tents—anywhere I could. Each day was a battle for survival. I endured hunger for months, yet I never left my people’s side. By God, I fulfilled my duty as a journalist. 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.

Please share on social media.

Hossam Shabat was also a contributing journalist to Drop Site and before his assassination by the Israeli army, he filed a report from Gaza’s Beit Hanon in Arabic which was translated by Sharif Abdel Kouddous. You must read it.

Shabat was a third-year college student studying journalism when the war broke and he found himself covering a genocide like a professional journalist.

Just like any young man in his age, he had his own dreams and hopes.

Last week, we were celebrating Mother’s Day in the Arab World and today, Hossam’s mother joined those mothers in Gaza in mourning her son.

Back in September, she had written to him, asking him to stay alive so she could see him when she returned to the north.

She finally saw him during the brief pause in the genocide, when people were allowed to return from the south.

Sadly, she did not want him to work for Al-Jazeera because “all those who work for Al-Jazeera in Palestine got killed”

But he told her that he was not better than his colleagues and they were all his brothers.

Hossam Shabat was already on the Israeli army hit list and he was receiving direct threats from them whether online or offline.

He already survived about three Israeli drone attacks. 


This is the last interview recorded for Hossam Shabat in an Al-Jazeera International special "Business of War" which is to be released later this year.

Currently, the Israeli army is spreading lies about him that he was a member of the Hamas which is untrue.

For months, the Israeli army was targeting Palestinian reporters with threats and false claims especially from the Al-Jazeera Team due to their fame in the Arab world. Since October 2024, the Israeli army made it clear that they were among his targets.

The civilized West which cares for the freedom of press and expression did not even open its mouth.

Hossam Shabat was journalist No. 208 to be killed by Israel in Gaza.

Yes, over 200 journalists and reporters were killed in Gaza during those months—more than in any other conflict in recent decades.

Yet, for the West, they are considered second-degree humans, as collateral damage as it seems.

I do not know what more to say except now I am worried about Anas Al-Sharif for real and his life.

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