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Fatima Hassouna, a Palestinian photojournalist and central figure in the upcoming Cannes-selected documentary Put Your Soul On Your Hand And Walk, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Wednesday, along with nine members of her family.

The strike targeted their home in Gaza City just a day after the documentary was announced as part of the prestigious Association for the Diffusion of Independent Cinema (ACID) sidebar at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, reported Deadline.

Hassouna, who had garnered international acclaim for her searing photojournalism documenting the devastation and human toll of the war in Gaza, was described by director Sepideh Farsi as “a light” and “so talented.”

The documentary is structured around video conversations between Hassouna and Farsi, offering an intimate portrayal of a young woman documenting the collapse of her homeland while clinging to hope.

“She said, ‘I’ll come (to Cannes), but I have to go back to Gaza. I don’t want to leave Gaza,’” Farsi the outlet. “Now the whole family is dead.”

Among the victims were Hassouna’s siblings, one of whom was pregnant. Just days earlier, Hassouna had shown Farsi her sister’s baby bump over a video call.

Hassouna, who had recently gotten engaged, was reportedly in the early stages of securing travel arrangements through the French embassy. Farsi fears her death may not have been incidental.

“I even feel guilty… maybe they targeted her because the film was announced. I don’t know. We’ll never know,” she said.

The Israeli military said the house was targeted due to the presence of a Hamas officer, a claim Farsi firmly denies. “It’s nonsense. I know the whole family,” she said.

As of February 2024, the International Federation of Journalists reported that at least 157 journalists and media workers had been killed since Israel launched its military assault on Gaza.

The Gaza-based health ministry, supported by UN sources, reports that over 51,000 people have been killed, with a Lancet study suggesting the actual toll could be even higher.

France’s ACID, which curates and supports the films in its Cannes programme, issued a statement expressing its “horror” at Hassouna’s death.

“Her smile was as magical as her tenacity: bearing witness, photographing Gaza, distributing food despite bombs, grief, and hunger,” the statement read. “We had watched and programmed a film in which this young woman’s life force was nothing short of miraculous. This is a different film than the one we will carry, support, and present in every theater, starting with Cannes.”