Palestinian photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, the protagonist of a documentary selected for premiere at Cannes this May, was killed along with nine members of her family in an Israeli air strike on Wednesday, as per US media reports.

Twenty-five-year-old Hassouna was known for her photographs capturing the impact of the Israeli military campaign on the Gaza Strip’s civilian population.

She appears in French-Iranian director Sepideh Farsi’s documentary Put Your Soul On Your Hand And Walk, set to screen at the parallel Cannes section ACID, running from May 14 to 23 alongside the main festival.

Hassouna was killed 24 hours after the documentary makers announced that the film has been selected for the 78th annual Cannes Film Festival.

According to media reports, Farsi and Hassouna collaborated following the former’s research on the events unfolding in Gaza.

“She was such a light, so talented. When you see the film you’ll understand,” Farsi told US media outlet Deadline. “I had talked to her a few hours before to tell her that the film was in Cannes and to invite her,” she added.

Farsi also recounted that Hassouna had agreed to attend the festival. However, she insisted on returning to Gaza afterwards. “She said, ‘I’ll come, but I have to go back to Gaza. I don’t want to leave Gaza.’ I was already in touch with the French Embassy. We’d just started the process. I was worried about how to get her out and back in safely. I didn’t want to have the responsibility of separating her from her family,” said Farsi.

The 60-year-old director said she was trying to find out if Hassouna’s parents had also died in the attack. “I’m trying to find out if her parents are dead but for sure Fatima and her sisters and brothers are dead. One of the sisters was pregnant. On a video call two days ago, she showed me her belly. It’s so horrible and devastating,” Farsi told Deadline.

The director also revealed that Hassouna had got engaged only a few months back. She said that Hassouna may have been targeted because of her documentation of the civilian casualties following Israeli military actions.

“The Israeli army said it bombed the house because there was a Hamas officer in there, which is totally false. I know the whole family. It’s nonsense. It’s just so devastating,” said Farsi to Deadline.

Israel’s bombing and invasion of Gaza, which began in October 2023, has claimed at least 51,065 lives, according to figures released by the Hamas-run Gaza health authority.