As Hamas refuses to release the last of the hostages, they're continuing to find out the lengths that Israel will go to in order to protect her people and bring the hostages home. As we've seen ever since the October 7, 2023, and also before, the lengths that many will go to in order to demonize Israel is something else. This includes the death of Hossam Shabat, who has been described as a "journalist," though the outlet we're talking about is propaganda outlet Al Jazeera. Further, Shabat targeted Israelis and the IDF. In fact, he was a terrorist.
An IDF soldier posted to X on Tuesday about Shabat, claiming that the terrorist tried to kill him, "at least twice." He also referred to him as "one of the most dangerous terrorists in our area, he was a professional sniper, he took part of terror missions against Israel."
This terrorist, Hossam Shabat, from Hamas Beit Hanoun Battalion, who was also employed as a Journalist for Al-Jazeera, tried to kill me with a sniper rifle, at least twice. He was one of the most dangerous terrorists in our area, he was a professional sniper, he took part of… pic.twitter.com/5uD248nU6W
— יעקב הרשקוביץ | Yaakov harshkovits (@yaakov_hershko) March 25, 2025
As The Jerusalem Post also reported:
The IDF confirmed that Al Jazeera journalist Hossam Shabat, who was killed on Monday by Israeli forces, was a Hamas terrorist, the military announced on Tuesday morning.
The IDF and Shin Bet eliminated Shabat on Monday, stating that he was a sniper from Hamas's Beit Hanoun Battalion and "cynically posed as an Al Jazeera journalist."
The military claimed that in October 2024, the IDF and Shin Bet exposed Shabat's ties with Hamas and the terror group's military wing, al-Qassam Brigades, by revealing internal Hamas documents that proved that he had participated in military training in 2019.
During the Israel-Hamas war, Shabat carried out terror attacks against IDF troops and Israeli civilians, the military claimed.
Al Jazeera had quite the different take, sending out a press release on Monday night.
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Keep in mind that Al Jazeera is a propaganda outlet for Hamas and has been kicked out of Israel as a result. It's not just Israel that has problems with their reporting. The outlet has also been banned in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates for inciting terrorism. The outlet has even been sued by the family of Shiri Bibas — who was taken hostage by Hamas on October 7 and murdered in captivity, along with her two young sons, Kfir and Ariel, who were only 10-months-old and 4-years-old at the time of their deaths.
As the press release read:
Al Jazeera Media Network strongly condemns the Israeli Occupation Forces' assassination of Hossam Shabat, Al Jazeera Mubasher correspondent, who was brutally killed in an airstrike targeting his car in Jabalia. Hossam joined the Network's journalists and correspondents killed during the ongoing war on Gaza, including 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. And stand in unwavering solidarity with all journalists in Gaza and reaffirm its commitment to achieving justice and prosecuting the killers of more than 200 journalists in Gaza since October 2023.
The Network extends its condolences to Hossam's family, and calls on all human rights and media organisations to condemn the Israeli occupation’s systematic killing of journalists, the evasion of responsibilities under international humanitarian law, and to bring the perpetrators of this heinous crime to justice.
Al Jazeera renews its firm commitment to covering events in the Gaza Strip, despite the ongoing targeting and harassment faced by its correspondents and journalists.
They also put out an article about Shabat, under their section of the "Israel-Palestine conflict." It's not just Al Jazeera mourning one of their own. Plenty of mainstream media outlets around the world have lamented the loss of a terrorist, under the guise of how Israel is supposedly targeting journalists. Some outlets are even in the United States.
The Guardian, a particularly leftist outlet out of the United Kingdom, wrote a headline on how "Press freedom groups condemn targeted killing of two journalists in Israeli strikes." Then there's Common Dreams, with their headline declaring, "'Everything Is Being Crushed': Journalist Hossam Shabat's Last Story Before He Was Killed by Israel." There's a piece from Democracy Now! as well, "Remembering Hossam Shabat: Gaza Journalist Killed by Israel Was Placed on 'Hit List' Before His Death." The Washington Post got in on it too, with a piece on how "Israeli strikes kill two Gaza journalists, including Al Jazeera reporter," citing the Committee to Protect Journalists to go after Israel.
The Trump administration stands by Israel's right to defend itself, though, including against those who masquerade as journalists. When asked a question during Monday's State Department press briefing, spokesperson Tammy Bruce reminded who is at fault in such a conflict.
"I would say that every single thing that’s happening is a result of Hamas and its choices to drag that region down into a level of suffering that has been excruciating and has caused innumerable deaths. And of course, their reaction on October 7th, when there was a ceasefire and people were living in some relative peace, they decided to break that with an atrocity that was just – certainly the most Jews killed in a single framework than during the Holocaust," she reminded when asked for comment from a reporter about Shabat's death. "And we also, I can tell you, we stand by Israel and its needs as it defends itself through this period of time, as we also work with them so that they don’t need to defend themselves from the barbarity of an entity that has destroyed lives for generations and continues to."
As the reporter pushed back, harping on how Shabat was supposedly a "journalist," so did Bruce.
"For everyone, so many people, who do so many jobs and who have lived different lives, and the children and the babies who didn’t have a chance to seek their fortunes or their life dreams because of the barbarity of certain people who think that murder is the only way to move through life," she said as the reported focused on Shabat's role as a journalist. He then went on to speak about war crimes.
"I’m not going to stand here and declare what’s a war crime and what isn’t. But what we do know is a crime is the mass slaughter of any individuals, certainly the targeting of people simply because of who they are, that Jew hatred is a signal regarding the barbarity and the nature of who it is you’re dealing with," Bruce insisted in response. "The world knows that if you don’t stop it and don’t confront it as it bares its ugly face, it will not stop. And that is... that is part of what this world now has decided that when we say never again, we mean never again."
WATCH 🔴
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) March 24, 2025
The U.S. State Department blames Hamxs and October 7 for the deaths of over 200 “journalists” in Gaza, including terrorist Hossam Shabat.
The State Department said: “We stand by Israel as it defends itself.” pic.twitter.com/dh384uicJ8
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