Geolocation
Airwars assessment
On the morning of Saturday, October 7th, 2023, a renowned Palestinian poet, novelist, journalist, and community activist, 36-year-old Omar (Umar) Fares Abu Shawish (Shaweesh) was killed in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the Gaza Strip by alleged Israeli shelling. According to the tribute by the Twitter/X account @GazaMartyrs, Omar was injured and bled to death in a remote, uninhabited area and ”quietly became a martyr, as tranquil as his serenity.”
Omar went out to pray Fajr (Islamic prayer) on October 7th but was killed by an Israeli missile strike, the sources reporte. It was his morning ritual to pray Fajr in the mosque, go for a morning run, and return home with breakfast for his parents and wife and sweets for his three-year-old daughter Elena. He did not know about the major Hamas attack inside Israel on the same morning and therefore went about his activities as normal.
Omar Abu Shawish founded various youth associations and has won multiple local and international awards. He won the “Best National Song of the Year 2007” at the International Festival of National Song and Heritage in Jordan. In 2010, he won the “Distinguished Volunteer and Ideal Young” award at the Sharek Youth Forum in Palestine. In 2013, he was presented the “Distinguished Arab Youth in the Field of Media, Journalism and Culture” award by the Arab Youth Council for Integrated Development of the Arab League. In 2016 he published his novel, “Ala gayd al-mawt” and several poem collections. He participated in many local, Arab and international conferences. He had experience in leadership, planning capacity building and creative work and took initiatives in various cultural, literature and community work fields.
A lot of tributes to the deceased poet were published on social media platforms, including ones from the Palestinian Ministry of Culture and the General Union of Palestinian Writers and Authors. His family members and friends also mourned his death.
Omar’s sister Alaa Fares wrote: “My beloved brother, Al-Fares / Omar Fares Abu Shawish… God has chosen you today as the first martyr in the battle of liberation and victory (Al-Aqsa Flood).” Indeed, Omar was one of the first civilians killed since the beginning of the conflict on October 7th. Alaa added that she was still waiting for his visit.
Omar’s friend Fadi Saidam shared an image taken with Omar and wrote: “Goodbye, my friend.. May God have mercy on you. You were light-hearted, creative, polite, and shy person who gave without limits.”
Fathiyya Sarsour made a heartfelt tribute through his post. He described Omar as “a name unlike other names, a human being that words cannot describe. Taste and modesty are his characteristics. Loyalty and love of goodness are his nature. A gentle and creative human being in all fields.”
Hussam A. Shawish wrote in his post about Omar that “the stout, well-mannered person, with a smiling face, elegant appearance, big heart, and gentle manners, the one with a permanent smile and wonderful words, the writer and intellectual, the clasher, who hurt the enemy’s legions with his words, stepped out.”
Abu Hasan Ali in his post recalled his last interaction with Omar fares Abu Shawish. Omar and his daughter visited Abu Hasan place. “Oh God, I can’t believe it. The day before yesterday, he was sitting at my place and his little daughter was with him. He greeted me and laughed and left and did not come back.”
Family members and friends shared numerous images of Omar where he was seen as a middle-aged man with a kind smile. In one of the images he was playing a traditional musical instrument, and in another, he was seen with his three-year-old daughter kissing him on the cheek.
The name of the late Omar has been matched with the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of fatalities in Gaza released on October 26th, 2023.
Where the sources identified the belligerent, sources attributed the strikes to Israeli forces.
The incident occured in the morning.
The victims were named as:
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the town of Nuseirat (النصيرات), for which the generic coordinates are: 31.450065, 34.392934. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
Summary
Sources (24) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (29) [ collapse]
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Source: Malak Mohammad -
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Source: Malak Mohammad -
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Source: Muhamed Abu Salama -
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Source: Muhamed Abu Salama -
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Source: Muhamed Abu Salama -
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Source: Rawan Abd Alaziz Abdalaziz -
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Source: Mustafa Abu Khaleel -
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Source: Mohammed Talat -
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Source: Abu Hasan Ali -
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Source: @Ahmadalshafi4 -
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Source: Fadi Saidam -
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Source: G U P W - The General Union of Palestinian Writers and Authors -
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Source: Hussam A. Shawish -
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Source: Basem Awadallah Abu Muhamed -
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Source: Basem Awadallah Abu Muhamed -
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Source: Basem Awadallah Abu Muhamed -
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Source: Samora Sabry -
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Source: A. Fathiyya Sarsour -
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Source: A. Fathiyya Sarsour -
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Source: A. Fathiyya Sarsour -
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Source: A. Fathiyya Sarsour -
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Source: Gaza City Official -
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Source: Nasif Hamdy -
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Source: Literary Hub -
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Source: @GazaMartyrs -
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Source: @GazaMartyrs -
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Source: @GazaMartyrs -
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