Gaza, the murdered Palestinian journalist's letter to her 12-year-old son: "When you have a daughter, name her after me."
The massacre in Khan Yunis
The words of Mariam Abu Daqa, 37, who died along with other colleagues in the Israeli attack on Nasser Hospital. "I want you to hold your head high, to study, to be brilliant and distinguished, and to become a man of worth, capable of facing life, my love."
Mariam Abu Daqa , 37, worked as a journalist and photographer for the Associated Press , other international media outlets, and Doctors Without Borders. She was also at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis , in the southern Gaza Strip, yesterday. Twenty people were killed, including five journalists, in the Israeli army's double-tap attack, with a first and a second attack in quick succession, which also affected rescue workers arriving on the scene.
Daqa was the mother of a 12-year-old boy, whom she had to leave behind at the start of the war, when he was evacuated. Patrick Zaki, a student and activist who rose to prominence after his long detention in Egypt, shared the letter of testament left by the mother to her son.
“ Ghaith , heart and soul of your mother, I ask you not to cry for me, but to pray for me, so that I may remain serene. I want you to hold your head high, to study, to be brilliant and distinguished, and to become a man of worth, capable of facing life, my love. Do not forget that I did everything to make you happy, comfortable, and at peace, and that everything I did was for you. When you grow up, get married, and have a daughter , name her Mariam after me. You are my love, my heart, my support, my soul, and my son, the one who makes me hold my head high with pride. Always be happy and maintain a good reputation. I beg you, Gith: your prayer, then your prayer again, and then your prayer again.”
Along with Daqa, the Khan Yunis attack also killed Hossam al-Masri, a Reuters contributor, Mohammed Salama, Al Jazeera journalist Moaz Abu Taha, and Ahmed Abu Aziz, two freelance journalists. Reuters contributor Hatem Khaled was injured. According to calculations by the Costs of War project at Brown University's Watson School of International Public Affairs, approximately 270 journalists and media workers have already died since the Hamas massacres of October 7, 2023, and the beginning of Israel's military response. The Committee to Protect Journalists estimates the number to be at least 192 .
Daqa, as the Associated Press reports, had frequently visited Nasser Hospital for media coverage since the war broke out. Israeli army spokesman Nadav Shoshani assured that the army would launch an internal investigation, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it "a tragic accident." All the promised and initiated investigations in similar cases have never yielded any results.
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