‘One day, the camera will fall from my hands’

Maryam Abu Deqa

Image © Independent Arabia

FREELANCE journalist Maryam Abu Deqa was among those killed in a “double-tap” strike by Israeli forces on Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis on 25 August 2025. She once told her colleague Ezz Al Din Abu Eisha “one day, the camera will fall from my hands in this war.” At the London Freelance Branch vigil on 27 August honouring colleagues killed in Gaza, Ahmed Alnaouq, co-founder of the Gazan “We Are Not Numbers” project, read aloud this, her final message to her son.

Ghaith, you are your mother’s heart and soul.

I want you to pray for me, not cry over me, so I can stay happy.

I want you to raise my head high, excel, succeed, and prove yourself.

Become a strong businessman, my love.

Please don’t forget me, my dear. I did everything to make you happy and keep you comfortable.

And when you grow up, get married, and have a daughter, name her Maryam after me.

You are my love, my heart, my support, my soul — my son who makes me proud with his reputation.

Ghaith, my dearest, your prayer, then your prayer, then your prayer — never forget.”

Your mother, Maryam.

© the estate of Maryam Abu Deqa

We honoured the courage of Gazan journalists full report

Remembering journalists killed in the Israel-Gaza war

'When the only journalists are being slaughtered' teach-in report

Open letter on protecting journalists and defending truth in Gaza write to Starmer & Lammy - nuj.org.uk