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Hossam Shabat
Palestinian journalist From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Hossam Shabat (Arabic: حسام شبات; 10 October 2001 – 24 March 2025) was a Palestinian journalist who reported on the Gaza war as a correspondent for Al Jazeera Mubasher and also contributed to Drop Site News.[1][2][3]
Shabat was killed by an Israeli airstrike on 24 March 2025, after Israel ended the ceasefire established in January 2025 by resuming airstrikes on Gaza.[1][4] Shabat and another Palestinian journalist, Mohammed Mansour, also killed by the Israeli military on 24 March, are among the at least 208 journalists and media workers who have been killed in the Gaza war as of that date.[5][1] The Israel Defense Forces (IDF), without providing verifiable evidence,[6] had previously accused Shabat and five other Palestinian journalists of being members of the militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, accusations which he denied and said served as threats against his life.[1] Witnesses reported that the attack appeared to be targeted, and the IDF later acknowledged that they had targeted Shabat.[1]
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Early life
Shabat was a resident of Gaza City and, prior to the conflict, aspired to build a media and marketing company. He was also involved in the hospitality sector, owning a restaurant that was later destroyed during the war.[7]
Journalism during the conflict
Around 27 October 2024, Shabat described life as a journalist in Gaza as being someone who is "hunted".[8] Shabat faced numerous challenges, including displacement from his home in Beit Hanoun, threats from the Israeli military, the destruction of his family's restaurant, and the loss of 30 family members. Despite these hardships, he continued his reporting, often working on an empty stomach and living in accommodation centers.[3][7]
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Killing
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Background
Killing of journalists in the Gaza war
The killing of journalists in the Gaza war, overwhelmingly Palestinian, along with other acts of violence against journalists, marks the deadliest period for journalists in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict since 1992 and the deadliest conflict for journalists in the 21st century.[9] The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) counted 178 journalists who were killed (176 Palestinian and 2 Israeli), as of 12 June 2025[update],[10] and the International Federation of Journalists counted 174 journalists and media workers who were killed (170 Palestinian and 4 Israeli), as of 5 June 2025[update].[11] A July 2024 count by the Gaza government media office placed the number of Palestinian journalists killed at 160,[12][10] and in January 2025 the Gaza Government Media Office increased it to 202.[13] July 2025 saw the number climb to 217.[14]
The head of the Committee to Protect Journalists stated in 2024, "Israel's war on Gaza is more deadly to journalists than any previous war".[15][16] Israeli airstrikes additionally damaged or destroyed an estimated 48 media facilities in Gaza. Reporters Without Borders has reported that the Israeli army intentionally targeted Palestinian journalists.[17] The Guardian stated that contrary to international law, Israel had targeted Hamas-affiliated Palestinian journalists despite their non-involvement in combat, thus disputing Israel's denial of targeting journalists.[18] In 2023, nearly 75% of journalists killed worldwide were Palestinians who had died in Israel’s war in Gaza.[19][18] According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, Israel was the second worst country in the world for allowing the murderers of journalists to go unpunished.[20]Israeli accusations of involvement with Hamas
On 23 October 2024, the IDF accused six Palestinian journalists working for Al Jazeera in Gaza, among them Shabat, of being fighters in Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.[21] Al Jazeera denied these accusations and described them as based on "fabricated evidence".[21] The IDF said that documents it had found in Gaza proved that Shabat was a sniper in Hamas' Beit Hanoun Battalion.[22] Shabat said these were fabricated dossiers designed to frame him as a "terrorist" and that accusations were to make him and his colleagues "killable targets", adding that they constituted death threats against him.[21][23] According to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the documents published by the Israeli military on Shabat "severely lacked proof these journalists were affiliated with the military and in no way granted a licence to kill". RSF said the accusations against Shabat were part of an "all-too-familiar pattern [which] fuels the unprecedented massacre of journalists happening in Gaza".[24] In July 2024, Israel killed Ismail al-Ghoul, another Al Jazeera journalist in Gaza that it had accused of being affiliated with Hamas.[21]
Death
On 24 March 2025, Shabat was killed in an Israeli airstrike that hit his car near Beit Lahia in northern Gaza. Witnesses reported that the attack appeared to be targeted.[1] His death occurred on the same day as another Palestinian journalist, Mohammed Mansour, who was killed in a separate Israeli attack in southern Gaza.[25][26]
On the following day, the IDF confirmed that it had deliberately targeted Shabat, stating that "during the war, Shabat carried out attacks and participated in terrorist activities against IDF forces and citizens of the State of Israel. This is further proof of the employment of Hamas terrorists by the Al Jazeera media network".[27] The IDF provided no evidence to support the claim that Shabat had attacked IDF troops or Israeli civilians.[6]
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See also
References
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