Shocking footage has emerged of an assault on murder victim Fawaz Najem hours before he was stabbed to death during a fight between two groups.

The footage shows him being assaulted on Saturday morning with a long stick, possibly a spirit level, as two tourists flee from a nearby Marsalforn café.

By Saturday night, the 25-year-old Syrian national had died after he was stabbed in another confrontation between two groups in an apartment in the Gozo town. 

WARNING SENSITIVE CONTENT: VIDEO CONTAINS SENSITIVE CONTENT WHICH SOME PEOPLE MAY FIND OFFENSIVE OR DISTURBING

Sources said the two groups of Syrian men met at around 11am on Saturday morning and a fight broke out outside the café.

The footage, released with the family's permission, shows the victim being struck with the long bar before he ran inside the café to shield himself from further blows.

At around 9-9.30pm the two groups met again and another fight broke out, ending with Fawaz losing his life after he was stabbed.

One theory investigators are working on is that he was injured when he was trying to break up another fight that involved at least eight men. He is said to have appealed for calm before he was assaulted. 

Fawaz Najem, 25, died after a confrontation with a group of Syrians in an apartment in Marsalforn on Saturday night. Photo: Family handout

He was admitted to Gozo General Hospital with stab wounds, and a head injury, but was certified dead soon after arrival. The case is being investigated by the police Major Crimes Unit and Magistrate Bridgette Sultana is holding an inquiry.

Police are currently analysing contrasting versions of what happened on the night and are awaiting CCTV footage.

Investigators have so far established that the fight broke out between two groups of Syrian nationals: Fawaz and three friends on one side and another four men on the other. 

Fawaz's friends are telling police that he had appealed for calm before the fight got out of hand. His family say he was a "normal young man" who was "never involved in fights". 

However, members of the opposing gang are claiming that his group turned up at the Marsalforn apartment to fight after trouble had been brewing between the two groups for a number of weeks.

Sources close to the investigation said the apartment where the fight broke out was not where Fawaz and his friends were living.