Fatima Hassouna, a 25-year-old Palestinian photojournalist who had dedicated her life to documenting the war in Gaza, was killed on Wednesday in an Israeli airstrike that struck her home in northern Gaza, just days before she was set to be married. The attack also claimed the lives of 10 of her family members, including her pregnant sister.
Hassouna, who had spent the past 18 months capturing the devastation and daily resilience of life under siege, was widely known for her powerful photographs and emotional social media posts. In one now widely shared message, she wrote: “If I die, I want a loud death. I don’t want to be just breaking news, or a number in a group, I want a death that the world will hear, an impact that will remain through time, and a timeless image that cannot be buried by time or place.”
Her words have taken on a haunting resonance, as her death has sparked a wave of international mourning and condemnation. The Israeli military stated the strike targeted a Hamas member allegedly involved in attacks on Israeli soldiers and civilians. However, the timing and visibility of Hassouna’s work have raised questions about whether she was deliberately targeted.
Just a day before her death, a documentary featuring Hassouna’s life and work—Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk—was announced as part of the official selection for the Cannes Acid film festival in France. Directed by Iranian filmmaker Sepideh Farsi, the documentary captures the emotional toll and physical destruction endured by Gazans, seen through the lens of video calls and shared footage between Farsi and Hassouna.
Farsi, who lives in exile in France, recalled her final conversation with Hassouna just hours before the airstrike. “She was such a light, so talented. When you see the film you’ll understand,” she said. “I told her that the film was in Cannes and invited her. I was always afraid for her safety, but she had no fear. I clung to her strength.” Farsi also expressed concern that Hassouna’s high-profile work had made her a target.
Since the Israeli offensive on Gaza began in October 2023, following the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, more than 51,000 people have been killed, over half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry. The conflict has been labeled the deadliest for journalists in recent history, with more than 170—some estimates say over 200—media workers killed.
Fellow journalists in Gaza responded to Hassouna’s death with anguish and outrage. “She documented massacres through her lens, amid bombardment and gunfire, capturing the people’s pain and screams in her photographs,” said Anas al-Shareef of Al Jazeera. Miqdad Jameel, another Gaza-based journalist, urged the world to engage with her legacy: “See her photos, read her words – witness Gaza’s life, the struggle of its children in war, through her images and her lens.”
The Cannes Acid festival released a statement mourning Hassouna. “We had watched and programmed a film in which this young woman’s life force seemed like a miracle. Her smile was as magical as her tenacity. Bearing witness, photographing Gaza, distributing food despite the bombs, mourning and hunger. We feared for her. Now we mourn her.”
Palestinian poet Haidar al-Ghazali shared that Hassouna had once asked him to write a poem for her after her death. He honored her with a tender vision of peace in the afterlife: “Today’s sun won’t bring harm. The plants in the pots will arrange themselves for a gentle visitor… It will be bright enough to help mothers to dry their laundry quickly, and cool enough for the children to play all day. Today’s sun will not be harsh on anyone.”
Hassouna’s death, though tragically premature, has become the very “loud death” she foresaw—one that continues to echo far beyond Gaza, challenging the world to remember her not just as another casualty, but as a voice, a witness, and a soul who refused to be silent.
