Israeli Air Strike Kills Gaza Photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, Film Premieres Cannes

Filmmaker Sepideh Farsi is mourning the death of Fatima Hassouna, a 25-year-old photojournalist and the main subject of her documentary, who was killed along with 10 relatives in an Israeli air strike on her home in Gaza. Hassouna's mother lost six children and her husband in the strike. Despite Israel's claim that the attack targeted Hamas militants, Farsi emphasized that Hassouna's family were ordinary civilians. The documentary, made through video calls due to Israel's ban on foreign media entering Gaza, was selected for a sidebar at the Cannes Film Festival, where the conflict has cast a somber shadow. The war sparked by Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel has led to tens of thousands of deaths in Gaza, with an aid blockade threatening famine and Israeli leaders expressing a desire to depopulate the territory. Cannes attendees have shown solidarity by wearing Palestinian flags and yellow ribbons, while other works highlighting Gaza's struggles, such as "Once Upon a Time in Gaza," are also being screened.