Return to northern Gaza brings home grief for family of slain journalist

LONDON -- Seeing images of tearful reunions amongst families in northern Gaza has proven emotional for the family of journalist Eman Al Shanti.

"It's disappointing," said Al Shanti's brother Ahmed. "We expected Eman to be on the other side waiting for us, now there is no Eman."

Over a half-million people are estimated to have returned to their places of origin in Gaza over the last three days, Gaza's Government Media Office said on Wednesday.

Instead of awaiting a reunion with her sisters in the south of Gaza, Al Shanti, her husband, Hilmi, and three of her four children lie in a makeshift grave in the backyard of Sheikh Radwan Health Center, close to where officials say an Israeli strike tore through their apartment in Gaza City on Dec. 11, 2024.

Al Shanti's brother Ahmed, in an interview with ABC News from his home in Cardiff, United Kingdom, said the loss of his sister, nephews Bilal, 16, and Omer, 8, and niece Alma, 6, is "beyond comprehension."

Unable to return to Gaza under current restrictions, Ahmed receives messages from those returning to northern Gaza. He hears from family and friends debating where they will next pitch their tent, but the death of Al Shanti and her family hangs over what some are experiencing as a joyous return.

A determined broadcaster who before her death helped source medicine and winter clothes for people in northern Gaza, Al Shanti is described by friends as a persevering journalist.

The Palestinian Media Forum confirmed that Al Shanti's death brought the number of journalists killed in Gaza since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack on Israel to 193.

Al Shanti's longtime friend and fellow journalist Yusra Al-Aklouk told ABC News, "She was truly one of the people that I felt God had chosen to deliver messages." Speaking of her eloquence and compassion, Al-Aklouk said Al Shanti's outlook on the world was one of "positivity, optimism, always looking at the glass half full."

Fondly recalling afternoons spent in Al-Aklouk's garden laughing with their close-knit group of female journalists, Al-Aklouk said: "We used to consult her before buying any cosmetics because she was a beauty expert."

Al Shanti used social media to powerfully illustrate her indomitable hope in spite of the harsh realities of raising her four children in a conflict area.

In one post, Al Shanti shared a video of her 6-year-old, Alma, whose little hands were clamped over her ears to mask the sound of bombardment. Al Shanti wrote, "It was not easy for me to see my daughter afraid and not be able to protect her."

In another post, Al Shanti reflected on parental guilt that her youngest, Omer, and Alma will look back upon photos of their childhood that show "destruction, burning, bombing." Al Shanti wrote that whilst she knows they will never recover, she knows they "will be people of importance and wonderful personalities."

A month before her death, Al Shanti wrote that she had made a promise to her children. "If we were killed, we would stay together," she wrote, "separation is painful."

Al Shanti's brother Ahmed remains in daily contact with her surviving daughter, 14-year-old Banan. Since sustaining injuries in the strike, she has undergone 10 traumatic operations, several without pain relief, he said. "Functionally she is all right. Mentally she is not all right," Ahmed said.

Ahmed said Banan's memory of the day Al Shanti and much of her family died is "vivid." After a sleepless night owing to persistent low-flying drones, the family enjoyed a breakfast of hummus made by their father, and she remembers them all drinking tea and chatting before her mother went to her room to work and her siblings played.

Al-Aklouk said she rang Al Shanti a few hours before her death to see if she could assist in finding interviewees for a report on Syria. Al Shanti said she saw the parallel between the people of Syria and their own situation in Gaza, Al-Aklouk said, adding: "Syrian people with their youth gave us hope. She believed this whole life of tents and the tragedy that we are living will end soon."

In a now-viral post, made just hours before her death on Dec. 11, Al Shanti wrote on Facebook, "Is it possible that we are still alive after all this?''

A screenshot seen by ABC News showed Al Shanti sent a selfie photo to the family's chat group at 11:33 a.m. in which she can be seen wearing a red sweater. "My miserable appearance," Al Shanti wrote. "Very exhausted, very in pain. I want the war to end. Tonight we are going to die from the bombardment and shelling."

Ahmed told ABC News Al Shanti felt a sense of foreboding, "She called my mother just after sending the message and she told my mom, 'Mom, I think it's getting too close to me. They are about to kill me.' My mom said, 'My daughter, I'm just going to call you in about five minutes. I'm just busy.'"

At noon Palestinian Civil Defence worker Karam Al Hassani filmed himself running along a busy street in Sheikh Radwan as the sound of drones buzzed overhead. In the video, smoke can be seen rising from Al Shanti's apartment building. People point to bodies lying atop fallen masonry. One is wearing a distinct red sweater.

Ahmed said Banan remembers waking up on the roof of the neighboring building with her brother and sister lying beside her.

In Al Hassani's video, Civil Defense crews can be seen carrying Banan in a blanket. She can be heard screaming for her mother.

Al Shanti's brother Ahmed recalled how he woke up to the message from her on their family chat.

"I responded, 'Sister, I hope that everything will be all right.' But she did not respond because she was not alive," he said.

Gaza's Civil Defense confirmed to ABC News an Israeli airstrike penetrated the top two floors of Al Malash Tower before exploding in Al Shanti's third-floor apartment. The inhabitants of the bottom floors were unharmed, the group said.

The IDF did not respond to ABC News' requests for comment.

Ahmed said he remains in awe of Banan's strength and spirit; she has spoken of her wish to leave Gaza for a short holiday and looks forward to a time when she can hug her grandmother. Banan's maternal grandparents were medically evacuated to Egypt last year. Ahmed said he is worried a reunion with her aunts would mean confronting the reality of losing her mother.

Ahmed said Banan shared a close emotional bond with her mother, and in the succeeding weeks, she refused to believe Al Shanti and much of her family were gone.

Often returning to the day of the strike in her conversations with her uncle, Banan told Ahmed she remembered hearing the sound of jets. "Gazan children are experts at telling you what sort of strike it is," Ahmed said. "When I was Banan's age I could tell you exactly what type, where it hit, and how far away it was."

"It's a sad story, a story that's repeating itself. Until when?" Ahmed asked.

As Ahmed's sisters and their families anticipate their return to uninhabitable homes in northern Gaza, they hope to "pay their respects" to Al Shanti and her family by giving them a "proper" burial.

"Eman was telling us all the time how much she waits for the day that she hugs us all," Ahmed said. "She should be here."

ABC News' Samy Zayara contributed to this report.