Fatima Hassouna, a 27-year-old Palestinian artist and photojournalist whose life and work were set to be showcased at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival, was killed in an Israeli air strike on Gaza, along with nine members of her family. Hassouna had gained international recognition for her poignant photography, capturing the human toll of the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

A graduate of the University College of Applied Sciences in Gaza, she was widely admired not only for her artistic eye but for her courageous documentation of life under siege.Just hours before her death, she posted a photograph of a sunset from her balcony, writing: “This is the first sunset in a long time.”

In an earlier post, she expressed a haunting premonition: “As for the inevitable death, if I die, I want a loud death… a death that is heard by the world, a trace that lasts forever, and immortal images that neither time nor place can bury.” Hassouna is the central subject of “Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk,” a documentary by French-Iranian filmmaker Sepideh Farsi.

The film, which explores life in Gaza through video conversations between Farsi and Hassouna, was selected for the ACID section at Cannes just a day before her death. Farsi described Hassouna as “a light” and “so talented,” recalling how the young journalist had reacted to the news of the film’s selection.

“She said, ‘I’ll come, but I have to go back to Gaza. I don’t want to leave Gaza,’” Farsi said. According to the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), at least 157 journalists and media workers have been killed since the beginning of the war in Gaza. Other reports suggest the actual number may exceed 200. 

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)