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Palestinian journalist Hossam Shabat was killed on March 24 in an Israeli attack on northern Gaza. Since October 7, the Committee to Project Journalists says at least 173 journalists and media workers have been killed in Palestine, the occupied West Bank, Israel and Lebanon.

According to Al Jazeera, his car was targeted in the eastern part of Beit Lahiya. The 23-year-old reporter and photographer for Al Jazeera Mubasher was also injured on November 19 in an Israeli airstrike on a house in the Al-Basra neighbourhood in southern Gaza. He chose to continue reporting after the attack.

Shabat, who also shared updates from Gaza with his 575,000 followers on Instagram, was killed an hour after reporting on the Israeli army killing fellow journalist Mohammed Mansour.

After his death, his team shared a haunting final message from him on his social media accounts.

“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.”

Shabat wrote that he fulfilled his 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 honour of my life to die defending it and serving its people.”

His final words were a request to the world — “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.”

The note was signed “For the last time, Hossam Shabat, from northern Gaza.”