Canadian citizen, Mansour Shouman, was reported missing earlier this week, after spending months working as a journalist and aid worker in Gaza. Officials in Ottowa are monitoring the disappearance.
Global Affairs Canada said in a statement that they are aware Mansour Shouman is missing. “Canadian officials continue to monitor the situation closely and are in direct contact with the family member,” spokesperson Grantly Franklin wrote. “Due to privacy considerations, no further information can be disclosed.”
Members of Shouman's family and support team have been speaking to members of the Canadian government, including the Foreign Minister, in the hope of finding information on him, telling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau "We need you to help us get him out."
Shoumnan was living in Gaza with his family prior to the war as a Palestinian-Canadian. His family says they fear he has been detained or killed by the Israeli military while traveling between Khan Yunis and Rafah on Tuesday, January 23.
Shouman is an engineer who studied at the University of Calgary and Queen’s University. He was living in Gaza City before the war, after moving there from Canada in 2022 with his wife and five children.
After the war broke out on October 7, Shouman and his family fled Gaza City.
Fleeing Gaza
Shouman's family had been displaced for weeks after "half of [their] neighborhood was bombed to the ground," he told Canadian media, as his family awaited evacuation with limited access to resources.
As Shouman's family evacuated to Abu Dhabi, he chose to stay behind to work with Western media outlets as a citizen journalist.
"He had decided he can't leave. He felt, he's been helping so much, there's a need for what he's doing, there's a need to get the message out," family members told the Toronto Star.
Shouman spent months documenting the war, as well as raising over $500,000 through a GoFundMe campaign. He used the funds, to cook and distribute food, build campsites, pass out medical and hygiene products, and give money to support families.