Tributes pour in for Hossam Shabat and Mohammad Mansour
Tributes have poured in for Mohammad Mansour and Hossam Shabat, two Palestinian journalists killed by Israel in separate attacks on Monday.
Mansour, a correspondent for Palestine Today, was killed in an Israeli air strike north of Khan Younis which targeted his home. His wife and son were also killed.
Hours later, Al Jazeera Mubasher correspondent Hossam Shabat was targeted in his vehicle in Salah al-Din Street, north of the enclave.
“He Wasn’t a Fighter, He Was a Journalist” The parents of Palestinian journalist Mohammad Mansour, killed by Israeli forces, mourned his loss.
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) March 24, 2025
"Your story will live on after you, my son,” his father said.
Mansour, a correspondent for Palestine Today, was killed in an Israeli air… pic.twitter.com/Q6zi3szydn
In a video published by Middle East Eye, Mansour's father is seen crouched over his son's dead body, with a microphone in his hand.
"Get up and talk! Tell the people, tell them. You're the one who tells people the truth," his father says.
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"He wasn't a fighter, he was a journalist. He tells the truth. He uncovers the truth."
Lamis Deek, a Palestinian-American lawyer, wrote: "Beloved Mohammad Mansour, our daily unshakeable companion whose name and voice is etched in our souls, what world or words are left without you... irreplaceable angels."
Hind Khoudary, a reporter in Gaza, posted a picture of Mansour and said: "Israel continues to kill Palestinian journalists."
Shabat was among the many Palestinian journalists to mourn Mansour, sharing a photo of his colleague's slain body on Instagram.
It would be his last post. Hours later, Israeli forces directly targeted Shabat's vehicle in Jabalia, northern Gaza.
"That Hossam reported on the killing of Mohammad Mansour, just an hour or two before he was killed by the same murderers is the gruesome, devastating reality for Palestinian journalists in Gaza," Sana Saeed, a former Al Jazeera reporter, wrote on X.
A video that was widely re-shared over the past day showed Shabat in a car speaking to a young girl, who thought that the reporter had been killed.
"How am I supposed to become a journalist now if Hossam Shabat were martyred," she said, while shaking his hand. "May God keep you safe."
He was an inspiration to children 💔 pic.twitter.com/2mfg26TsW7
— Martyrs of Gaza (@GazaMartyrs) March 24, 2025
Another clip showed Shabat hugging his mother in February, who he was reunited with after 492 days following the short-lived ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
Israel 'waging despicable propaganda campaign'
The two deaths brought the total number of Palestinian press workers killed by Israeli since October 2023 to 208.
The Government Media Office in the Gaza Strip said it condemned "in the strongest terms the targeting, killing and assassination of Palestinian journalists by the Israeli occupation".
Shabat is the latest Al Jazeera journalist to be killed in Israel's war, joining Samer Abu Daqa, Hamza al-Dahdouh, Ismail al-Ghoul and Ahmed al-Louh.
"Al Jazeera affirms its commitment to pursue all legal measures to prosecute the perpetrators of these crimes against journalists," the network said on Monday.
It said that it renewed its commitment to covering events in Gaza "despite the ongoing targeting and harassment" faced by its journalists.
Israel's military admitted to killing Shabat, accusing him of being "a terrorist" who it had now "eliminated".
The IDF has killed Hossam. A brave, dedicated man who never flinched in his reporting in impossible circumstances and despite Israel putting a target on his back. One by one the journalists are being picked off before our eyes. https://t.co/Tx639foq9w
— Nesrine Malik (@NesrineMalik) March 24, 2025
It repeated claims made five months ago, in which Israeli authorities accused six journalists - including Shabat - of being fighters.
The accusations have been strongly denied, and are based on "documents" about alleged training courses and salaries which have been branded baseless.
Israel has made unproven claims about journalists before. After Israeli forces killed Al Jazeera journalist Ismail al-Ghoul in Gaza City on 31 July, authorities produced documents alleging that he was a Hamas fighter.
The information claimed that Ghoul had received a military ranking from Hamas in 2007 - when he would have been just 10 years old. Al Jazeera also noted that Ghoul had previously been detained during an Israeli army raid on al-Shifa hospital and subsequently released, disproving Israel's "false claim of his affiliation with any organisation".
Jeremy Scahill, a journalist at DropSite News, said Israel had placed Shabat "on a hit list... and murdered him".
"It is waging a despicable propaganda campaign to justify Hossam's killing, just as it has against doctors, UN workers, children," Scahill wrote on X.
Shabat knew he would be likely targeted: he wrote a final message for his colleagues to share in the event he was killed.
This is Hossam’s team, and we are sharing his final message:
— حسام شبات (@HossamShabat) March 24, 2025
“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… pic.twitter.com/80aNO6wtfO
"If you’re reading this, it means I have been killed - most likely targeted - by the Israeli occupation forces," said the 23-year-old.
He said he had spent the past year and a half dedicating his whole life to his people, documenting "the horrors in northern Gaza minute by minute".
"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."
He said that he risked his life because he believed in the Palestinian cause and that "this land is ours".
"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," he concluded.
He signed it off: "For the last time, Hossam Shabat, from northern Gaza."
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