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Assassination of Palestinian Photojournalist After Her Film Was Selected for Cannes Film Festival

The Qatar Press Center strongly condemns, in the harshest terms, Israel’s assassination of Palestinian photojournalist and artist Fatima Hassouna (25 years old) in an Israeli airstrike that targeted her home in Gaza City, killing nine members of her family, including her pregnant sister.

The Center affirms that the Israeli occupation continues its war crimes against journalists in Gaza by bombing their workplaces and homes to silence free media and prevent the truth from being conveyed to the world, in blatant violation of international law.

The Center calls on the international community and international, human rights, and media organizations to condemn the targeting of journalists in Gaza and to take urgent action to hold the Israeli occupation accountable before international courts for war crimes committed against journalists and media workers.

The Center also urges the international community to pressure Israel to release journalists imprisoned in Israeli jails, who are suffering under harsh conditions that deprive them of the most basic rights guaranteed to prisoners under international laws and conventions.

The news of Fatima Hassouna’s martyrdom came just 24 hours after the announcement that her film "Put Your Soul On Your Hand And Walk" had been selected to participate in the ACID section at the Cannes Film Festival, set to be showcased for the first time during the 78th edition of the festival, from May 13 to 24.

Organizers have decided to arrange for multiple screenings of the highly anticipated film, which portrays the reality of Palestinian photographer Fatima Hassouna, who was martyred in Gaza.

Fatima Hassouna wrote on social media just days before her death:
"If I die, I want a loud death. I don’t want to just be breaking news or a number in a list. I want a death the world hears, a legacy that lives through time, and an eternal image that neither time nor place can erase."

In recent years, Fatima Hassouna had emerged as a prominent photojournalist, documenting with her lens the suffering of Palestinian civilians under Israeli aggression. She gained global attention and was dubbed "The Eye of Gaza."
She participated in the film through three video conversations with the film’s French-Iranian director, Sepideh Farsi, during which she spoke candidly about her experience as a Palestinian living in Gaza, saying:
"I am proud of it. They will never defeat us, no matter what they do. We have nothing to lose."

Director Sepideh Farsi said:
"I spoke with Fatima just hours before to tell her about the film's selection and to invite her to the festival. She was hesitant because she didn’t want to leave Gaza,"
adding:
"I was coordinating with the French Embassy in Palestine to find a way for her to travel safely and return, but now she is gone, along with her entire family."

Farsi expressed fears that Hassouna may have been targeted because of her journalistic work, especially after the film’s announcement:
"I feel guilty... Maybe she was targeted because of the film,"
she said.

"I met her through a Palestinian friend in Cairo while desperately searching for a way to access Gaza, seeking answers to a simple yet complex question: How does one live in Gaza under siege all these years? What is daily life like for Palestinians under war?"
Farsi added:
"I, who still feel the distant echoes of the explosions ringing in my ears, wanted to understand how they endured all this, what they were going through. I couldn't find the answer through news and media; I wanted to hear their words directly, without intermediaries. I wanted to be in Gaza."

The ACID organization, which oversees the independent film festival that includes the film, issued a statement reflecting on their meeting with Hassouna during the screening:
"Her smile was as magical as her determination: she bore witness, photographed Gaza, and distributed food despite bombs, sorrow, and hunger. We heard her story, rejoiced at every sighting of her alive, and feared for her safety."

"Put Your Soul On Your Hand And Walk" is a 110-minute documentary that chronicles a year-long exchange between Farsi and Hassouna following the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas on October 7, 2023.
The film serves as a miraculous window opened through a meeting with Fatima, shedding light on the ongoing massacre faced by Palestinians.

Since the start of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, the Israeli army has systematically targeted journalists, resulting in the martyrdom of 215 journalists and the injury of hundreds more, according to official sources.