🩸 “Your Prayer, My Son”: The Last Will of Mariam Abu Daqqa Before Israel’s Bombs Killed Her in Gaza

The AP photographer left final words for her child, then was murdered in a double-tap strike on Nasser Hospital — a war crime carried out with U.S. weapons.

Family, there are some truths too heavy to carry alone. This one shattered me. Before she was murdered in cold blood by an Israeli strike on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis yesterday, Palestinian photojournalist Mariam Abu Daqqa left behind a handwritten will to her little boy, Ghaith. Her words are a mother’s final testament, written under siege, fully aware that Israel was hunting down journalists one by one.

These are not the words of a politician or soldier. They are the sacred words of a mother, knowing her life would be cut short, passing her love, her dignity, and her instructions on to her son. She asked that when he grows, marries, and has a daughter, he name her Maryam after her.

And yesterday, Mariam was killed — murdered alongside other journalists and medics in a double-tap strike carried out with American drones and bombs.

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Here Are Her Final Words to Her Son

Gaith - the heart and soul of your mother, I want you to pray for me, don’t cry over my death so that I remain happy.

I want you to make me proud and be smart and responsible.

I want you to become a successful businessman.

I want you not to ever forget me, I did everything I could to keep you happy, safe and well.

And when you grow up and get married and have a baby girl, name her Mariam after me.

You are my love, my heart, my soul, my support and my son that I’m proud of Gaith.

I want to be proud by what people say about you.

Please Gaith, remember your prayers, your prayers, your prayers my son.

Your mum Mariam

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A Deliberate Massacre at Nasser Hospital

Mariam was not alone. She was targeted in a strike that will be remembered as one of the clearest cases of Israel’s war crimes.

According to Dr. Atef Al-Hout, Director of Nasser Medical Complex, Israel carried out a double-tap attack on the hospital’s central surgery department. The first strike killed Reuters cameraman Hussam Al-Masri while he was operating a live feed. As journalists, medics, and rescue workers rushed to the scene, a second strike hit the staircase opposite the department where Mariam and her colleagues were gathered.

The result was a massacre. Mariam Abu Daqqa, Mohammad Salama, Ahmad Abu Aziz, and Moaz Abu Taha were all killed. Reuters journalist Hatem Omar was gravely wounded. Civil Defense worker Imad Al-Sha’er was also killed, and six more were injured. The bombing left 70% of the hospital’s surgical capacity destroyed.

This was not collateral damage. This was targeting of journalists, doctors, and patients inside a hospital — one of the most sacredly protected sites under international law.

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The Crime of the “Double-Tap”

Al Jazeera reports that the strike unfolded over ten minutes. The first bomb hit the top floor, where journalists were working. Ten minutes later, the second bomb hit the responders. This is the infamous double-tap strike — a tactic first perfected by U.S. drone wars in Pakistan, Yemen, and Afghanistan, later copied by Assad in Syria, the Russians in Ukraine, and now used “routinely” by Israel in Gaza.

The idea is simple, and monstrous: strike once to kill, then strike again to murder the rescuers, medics, and journalists who rush to help.

Under the 1949 Geneva Conventions, this practice is flatly illegal. Journalists, medical staff, hospitals, and those wounded or rescuing are explicitly protected. Targeting them is a war crime.

Israel knew exactly what it was doing. And still, Prime Minister Netanyahu issued a statement in English only, calling it a “tragic mishap.” But there was nothing accidental about this. Foreign doctors had been ordered by Israel to leave the hospital the night before. A camera crew broadcasting live was hit directly. A second strike followed to finish the job. This was not an error — this was murder in cold blood.

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Mariam: A Mother, A Journalist, A Witness

Mariam’s death matters because she was a witness. Israel has banned foreign journalists from entering Gaza for nearly two years. That means the only people documenting the truth are Palestinians like Mariam. And Israel has systematically killed them.

The Committee to Protect Journalists reports that 273 journalists have been killed since October 7, 2023 — 189 of them Palestinian. That makes this the deadliest conflict for reporters in modern history.

Mariam was working as a photographer for the Associated Press. Her colleagues at Reuters and AP have now written an extraordinary joint letter to Israel’s government demanding answers. They call the attack an outrage and a violation of international law. They remind Israel that hospitals are protected. They demand transparency.

But we know what will happen: Israel will “investigate” itself, and nothing will come of it. As one analysis showed, nearly nine out of ten Israeli self-investigations are stalled or closed without consequence. Meanwhile, Mariam is dead. Mohammed, whom I wrote about yesterday, is dead. Hussam, Ahmad, Moaz, Imad — all dead.

And Ghaith, Mariam’s little boy, is left with nothing but his mother’s last words, written in love and blood.

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U.S. Complicity in War Crimes

Make no mistake: Mariam was killed with American weapons. The drone that fired. The bomb that fell. The military aid that Israel receives without pause or condition. All of it comes from Washington.

Under U.S. law, specifically the Leahy Law, the United States is prohibited from supplying aid to foreign forces credibly accused of gross human rights violations. Under international law, the United States may be complicit in war crimes for knowingly providing weapons used to commit them.

Yet Trump has done nothing but accelerate the flow of weapons. And in Congress, politicians like Ritchie Torres and others vote for billions more, sometimes while literally holding stock in the same companies manufacturing the bombs.

That makes Mariam’s death not just an Israeli crime, but an American crime.

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Her Last Will as an Act of Resistance

In the end, Mariam’s will is not just a farewell to her son. It is an act of resistance. She knew she was marked. She knew the danger. And still she kept bearing witness, still she left behind words of strength.

She wanted her boy to remember her not in despair, but in dignity. She asked him to carry her name forward. She asked him to live, even as she was robbed of life.

And in that way, Mariam’s words join the chorus of all the martyrs of Gaza: a demand that the world not look away.

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Family, this is why we exist. To show the world the last will of a mother murdered in cold blood, to prove that Israel is committing war crimes with American support, and to demand accountability. Mariam’s story will not vanish into silence. Please stand with me as we keep exposing these truths.

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Love and appreciate each of you.
Your friend and brother,
Shaun

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