At dawn on Thursday, October 19th 2023, multiple sources reported the death of Dr. Jamila Abdullah Taha Al-Shanti, a 66-year-old (according to some sources, 68-year-old) member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, as a result of an alleged Israeli airstrike on her home in the Gaza Strip. The exact location of the strike is unknown.

Osama Fawzi reported in a post on Facebook that Dr. Al-Shanti’s family were also killed in the alleged strike, but did not provide additional details.

Many posts on Facebook and X/Twitter mourned her death, with many referring to her as “mother” or “teacher”. Soad Basem wrote a personal testimony, calling her “my role model, my teacher, our beautiful martyr.” Badeea Burijiye wrote about Dr. Al-Shanti:  “Beautiful in character, virtuous in deeds, may God bless her, her soul was adorned with virtues”

In dozens of images shared by social media users, she appeared dressed in black, giving speeches and interviews and posing for official photos.

Dr. Al-Shanti, also known as Um Abdullah, was an important figure in Gaza as the first woman to be in the Political Bureau of Hamas and to sit on the Legislative Council after being elected in 2006. She was also significant due to her status as the widow of Abdel Aziz Al-Rantisi, a founding member of the Hamas movement who was killed by Israeli forces in 2004. According to Osama Bouchanane, the late Jamila was also a supervisor of Qur’an centers.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health released a statement announcing her death and giving condolences to Dr. Taha Abdullah Al-Shanti, Director of the Special Medicine Unit, and the brother of the Dr. Jamillah Abdullah Taha Al-Shanti.

The name of the Dr. Jamila Al-Shanti has been matched with the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of fatalities in Gaza released on October 26th, 2023.

Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources attributed the strike to Israeli forces.