Fatma Hassona
Fatima Hassouna | |
|---|---|
| Born | 15 April 1999 |
| Died | 16 April 2025 (aged 26) Al-Touffah, Gaza City, Gaza Strip |
| Cause of death | Israeli airstrike |
| Occupation(s) | Photojournalist, artist |
| Years active | 2023–2025 |
| Known for | Documenting Gaza War impacts, Cannes-selected documentary subject |
Fatima Hassouna (15 April 1999 – 16 April 2025) was a Palestinian photojournalist whose work documented civilian life during the Gaza War. She gained international recognition for her visceral documentation of war impacts and became the subject of the documentary film Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk, selected for the 2025 Cannes Film Festival.[1] She was killed alongside ten family members in an Israeli airstrike on their Gaza City home on 16 April 2025.[2][3][4][5]
Early life and education
[edit]Hassouna was born in Gaza City and graduated with a multimedia degree from the University College of Applied Sciences in Gaza. She began documenting life in Gaza professionally after the escalation of hostilities on 7 October 2023.[2]
Career
[edit]As one of few local journalists able to document the war after Israel banned foreign reporters from Gaza, Hassouna chronicled forced civilian evacuations under Israeli military orders;[2] destruction of infrastructure from airstrikes; civilian casualties and funeral rituals; and moments of resilience, including children playing in ruins.[6]
Her work appeared in The Guardian and other international outlets. On 15 April 2025, she posted her final Instagram story showing a Gaza sunset with the caption: "It's the first sunset in a long time".[2]
Death
[edit]Hassouna and ten relatives including her pregnant sister were killed when an Israeli missile struck their family home in Gaza City's Al-Touffah neighborhood on 16 April 2025. The attack occurred one day after her documentary's selection for Cannes was announced.[7] She had previously written on social media "If I die, I want a loud death".[8]
The Israel Defense Forces stated they targeted "a Hamas member involved in attacks against Israeli soldiers", claiming use of precision weapons.[2] Director Sepideh Farsi rejected this justification: "I know the whole family. It's nonsense".[9]
Documentary
[edit]Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk (2025), directed by Sepideh Farsi, features video conversations between Hassouna and the director. The film was selected for Cannes' ACID parallel section. In their final exchange, Hassouna told Farsi: "I’ll come to Cannes, but I have to return to Gaza. I don’t want to leave".[3]
Legacy
[edit]France's ACID organization described Hassouna as having "a smile as magical as her tenacity". Over 200 journalists had been killed in Gaza by April 2025 according to press freedom groups.[6] The International Federation of Journalists recorded 157 media worker deaths in the conflict zone since October 2023.[7][4]
References
[edit]- ^ Zbeedat, Nagham (17 April 2025). "Gaza-based Photo Journalist, Subject of Anticipated Cannes Documentary, Killed in Israeli Strike". Haaretz. Retrieved 18 April 2025.
- ^ a b c d e "Gaza photojournalist Fatima Hassouna killed in a strike with 10 of her relatives". Le Monde. 17 April 2025. Archived from the original on 18 April 2025. Retrieved 18 April 2025.
- ^ a b Barraclough, Leo (17 April 2025). "Gaza Photojournalist In Cannes Doc Killed In Israeli Strike". Deadline. Archived from the original on 18 April 2025. Retrieved 18 April 2025.
- ^ a b "Guerre à Gaza : la photojournaliste Fatima Hassouna assassinée dans le bombardement de sa maison par Israël". L'Humanité (in French). 2025-04-16. Retrieved 2025-04-18.
- ^ Nabaa, Clara (17 April 2025). "Photographer Fatima Hassona killed ahead of Cannes documentary debut". Euronews. Archived from the original on 18 April 2025. Retrieved 18 April 2025.
- ^ a b Ritman, Alex (17 April 2025). "Palestinian Journalist and Protagonist in Cannes-Bound Documentary Killed in Gaza". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 18 April 2025.
- ^ a b "Palestinian photojournalist Fatima Hassouna killed in Israeli airstrike ahead of Cannes debut". The Express Tribune. 17 April 2025.
- ^ Ellis-Petersen, Hannah (2025-04-18). "'If I die, I want a loud death': Gaza photojournalist killed by Israeli airstrike". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2025-04-19.
- ^ "Palestinian photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, protagonist of Cannes-selected doc, killed in Israeli airstrike". Dawn. 18 April 2025.
External links
[edit]- Fatma Hassona at IMDb
- Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk at Film-documentaire.fr
- "Democracy Now interviews Sepideh Farsi"
- 1999 births
- 2025 deaths
- 21st-century Palestinian journalists
- 21st-century Palestinian photographers
- Assassinated Palestinian journalists
- Civilians killed in the Israel–Hamas war
- Palestinian people of the Israel–Hamas war
- Deaths by Israeli airstrikes
- Extrajudicial killings by the Israeli military
- Journalists from Gaza City
- Journalists from the Gaza Strip
- Journalists killed by Israeli security forces
- Palestinian photojournalists
- Palestinian reporters and correspondents
- Palestinian war correspondents
- Photographers from Gaza City
- War photographers
- 2025 films
- 2025 documentary films
- French documentary films
- Palestinian documentary films
- Iranian documentary films
- 2020s French films
- Documentary films about the Israeli–Palestinian conflict
- Films set in the Gaza Strip