Fatima Hassona, a Palestinian photojournalist who's stars in a documentary selected to be screened at Cannes next month, has reportedly been killed in an Israeli air strike on her home in northern Gaza.
A graduate of the University College of Applied Sciences in Gaza, Fatima was not just a photographer, she was a visual witness to a reality that is getting harsher by the day. Hours before she was killed, she posted a photo of the sunset from her balcony, writing: "This is the first sunset in a long time."
In an earlier post, she wrote: "As for the inevitable death, if I die, I want a loud death, I don't want me in a breaking news story, nor in a number with a group, I want a death that is heard by the world, a trace that lasts forever, and immortal images that neither time nor place can bury."
An unfinished film dream
The day before she was killed, the Association of Independent Cinema for Distribution (ACID) announced that the documentary Put your soul on your hand and walk, by exiled Iranian filmmaker Sepideh Farsi, had been selected for next month's Cannes Film Festival
Fatma is the central character in the film, and its selection could have been a milestone in her career and an opportunity to share her vision with the world.
In an interview with French daily Le Monde, the Iranian filmmaker described Fatima in moving words, saying that she "was a sun". She added: "She was covering the war in Gaza, occasionally collaborating with media outlets by sending photos and videos. "Every day she would send me photos, written messages and audio clips. Every morning, I would wake up and wonder if she was still alive."
Gaza journalists at risk
Since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) estimates that at least 157 journalists and media workers have been killed, with other reports suggesting that the real number may exceed 200.
The IFJ mourned Fatima and condemned the continued targeting of reporters, emphasising the need to end Israel's impunity. "This massacre must stop," it said, calling for an immediate and independent investigation into the killing of journalists.
"Journalists in conflict zones should be treated as civilians and allowed to carry out their work without interference," said IFJ General Secretary Anthony Belanger. "There is widespread global interest in what is happening in Gaza, but we can only see the truth if journalists are allowed access to it.
Doctors Without Borders said in a statement: "Gaza has become a mass grave for Palestinians and those who help them." The organisation's emergency coordinator, Amand Pazerol, added: "We are witnessing in real time the destruction and forced displacement of the entire Gazan population."
Fatima Hassona was not only a journalist, but a humanitarian voice and an unforgettable image in the history of a city that dies and is reborn every day. Her work bears witness to a reality that she did not stop documenting until the last moment.
