Killing 'Gaza's eye': Who was Palestinian photojournalist Fatima Hassouna?

For 25-year-old Palestinian photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, photography was more than a profession, it was a mission to reflect reality in the war-torn coastal enclave.

During 18 relentless months of Israel's genocidal war, armed with her camera, Hassouna walked through the alleys of Gaza City determined to document the human toll of Israel's military offensive: destroyed homes, grieving families, and the hopeful glimmer in children's eyes amid rubble and ruin.

She captured thousands of images that travelled across the world, offering an unfiltered window into life and death in Gaza. Her lens showed devastation and dignity, pain and perseverance, loss and the flickers of joy that refused to die.

"Fatima forged deep emotional connections with the people she photographed," Asma Abo, Fatima's best friend, told The New Arab. 

"She spoke to women as if they were her mothers and treated every child like her own. Her empathy was not performative; it was real," she added. 

'She insisted on dreaming'

Colleagues in Gaza used to call Hassouna, "the Eye of Gaza."

The Israeli army permanently closed that eye. An Israeli airstrike targeted her home in Gaza City's Tuffah neighbourhood, killing Fatima along with nine of her family members. Her parents survived, they remain in critical condition.

"She did not want to be famous. She just wanted people to see the truth," Abo said, adding that "Fatima believed every photo had a purpose—to preserve a voice, to tell a story."

Hassouna studied multimedia at the University College of Applied Sciences in Gaza and quickly gained recognition for her poignant visual storytelling, according to Abo. She collaborated with numerous local and international outlets, including Untold Palestine, the Tamer Institute for Community Education, and the US-based platform Mondoweiss. Her work was published in The Guardian and exhibited in international shows like Gaza, "My Beloved" and "SAFE".

"She never waited for the news to come to her, but she ran toward it," Abo recalled. "Even under the heaviest bombardment, Fatima would leave early each morning, camera in hand, determined to capture what others were too afraid to witness."

Hassouna recently completed a short documentary on women and children in Gaza, which was scheduled to premiere at this year's Cannes Film Festival in May—a dream she had and would have been her first international appearance.

"She was so proud of that film," Abo recalled. "[Fatima] once told me, 'Maybe my photos will outlive me, that's what gives me peace.' She did not know those would be her last words to the world."

Hassouna was also preparing for a new chapter in her life. She was supposed to get married in August, according to Lama Abu Asi, a Palestinian journalist in Gaza. 

"Despite the war, she insisted on dreaming. She [Fatima] spoke with joy about her wish to hold the wedding celebration in an open public space, a green piece of land, where families and children could join—a kind of collective happiness that defied the siege," Abu Asi remarked to TNA.  

"She tried to catch moments of happiness as if they were butterflies," Abu Asi added.  "Even when the world around her was burning, Fatima planned for joy."

'Profound loss'

Since the beginning of Israel's war, Hassouna worked tirelessly through personal tragedies, including the deaths of her grandmother and several relatives. "There were days I begged her to rest," Abo said. "But she told me: 'If I stop, their voices will disappear.'"

"When the news came, I ran to the hospital. I searched everywhere for her. A neighbour finally told me she had been buried without a head. That's when I broke down," Abo described. 

The two friends had been working on a joint photography project, titled, "The Story Remains," which aimed to preserve Palestinian cultural memory through images.

"We dreamed of exhibiting it abroad," Abo added. "Now, I do not know if I can continue. Everything feels like it stopped with her."

Both Abo and Abu Asi believed that Hassouna wasn't just a photographer. She was a witness, a storyteller, and a symbol of resistance as her work showed the world what it means to be human under siege.

Hassouna's killing occurred amid a renewed wave of Israeli attacks on residential neighbourhoods in Gaza City. While the Israeli military claims it targets militant infrastructure, human rights organisations have repeatedly documented mass civilian casualties, including entire families buried beneath their own homes.

"Fatima's case illustrates the lethal risks journalists in Gaza face every day," the Gaza government media office said in a press statement, adding, "Media workers must be protected and not targeted."

Since the beginning of the Israeli genocidal war on 7 October 2023, the Israeli army has killed about 212 Palestinian journalists, several of whom were directly attacked by Israeli airstrikes, according to the Centre for the Protection of Palestinian Journalists.

"Fatima's death is a profound loss for Gaza's media community. She dedicated her work to capturing the human dimension of war. Her killing represents a blatant violation of international laws protecting journalists," the centre said in a statement.

The centre cited United Nations Security Council Resolution 2222, emphasising the obligation to safeguard media workers during armed conflicts. "In Gaza, these protections are repeatedly ignored," the centre said, calling for international investigations into the targeting of media workers.

"Every name on our list of journalists represents a silent voice. Fatima Hassouna's name will not be forgotten, not by Gaza, and not by the world," the centre added.