It is with a heavy heart, I've heard of the loss of 31 year old Mahasen Alkhatib, a talented Palestinian artist from Northern Gaza, the latest artist to be killed by the ongoing Israeli Genocide.She was one of the 21 women killed in Israeli attacks on Jabalia, Gaza yesterday.
Every day now has become heart-wrenching to me. Realizing that children, youths, and people who are like any other human being, have their dreams, their lives tragically end by occupying forces.
Mahasen anticipated her death and, in January, posted a photo on her Facebook page with a caption: "So when I die you will be able to find a photo of me."
Hours before her death, she posted her last artwork on Instagram in memory of 19-y-o Shabaan Al-Dalu, who was burned alive by Israel, with the caption: “Tell me what you’re feeling when you see anybody burning….” a plea to a cold indifferent world.
“Tough nights …” Mahasen’s last tweet while drawing her final painting of Palestinians being burned alive after Israel bombed tents in a hospital where they took refuge.
Specializing in illustration and character design, Mahasen's passion for art began at a young age, but her path has been anything but straightforward. Despite numerous hardships, including working various jobs to support her family and overcoming the limitations imposed by the blockade, she pursued her dream of becoming an artist. Her work was not just a source of income but a means of expression and a way to connect with others.
Before October 7th, she was at the pinnacle of her artistic journey. She had poured her life into digital illustration, reaching a level many only dream of. Just two weeks before war descended on Gaza, she invested her life savings into opening a private studio, striving for the professional and financial independence she had long sought.
Her brush was used to capture the essence of life in Gaza, portraying the strength and resilience of those who persevered despite the struggles of their daily lives. Her art became a testament to the beauty of Palestinian life.
Then, everything was lost in the war. Her studio, her paintings, her colors, her beloved brush—all were swallowed by the destruction. Left standing before the rubble of her dreams, Mahasin had no choice but to rebuild from the ruins. “There was no time to be shocked,” she recalled, as the war in northern Gaza escalated with bombings, home demolitions, and mass displacement. The violence stripped away everything—homes, livelihoods, lives. But despite it all, Mahasin refused to flee. She clung to her home, half of which was destroyed, and chose to remain connected to her land. While many moved south for safety, she stayed, determined not to let the war define her existence.
Even in the depths of tragedy, Mahasin found no room for despair. The war may have taken her studio, but it hadn’t taken her will to dream. With the little she had left—old materials from her training sessions—she slowly returned to work. She began offering training to others at minimal prices and reconnected with companies she had worked with in the past, creating designs for stickers and clothing, each one marked with her signature artistic touch.
But being a digital artist in Gaza came with a relentless challenge: electricity. The power shortage, always an issue, became even more critical after the war. Without electricity, Mahasin’s work was impossible. She often had to take her device to neighbors, hospitals, or any place she could find electricity to charge it. Each charge gave her only three hours of work, precious time that became her only window to the outside world.
After tremendous effort and perseverance, she saved enough money to install a small solar power system. For Mahasin, art was never just about survival. It was her way of staying connected to her identity, her family, and her past. It gave her the strength to rebuild what had been shattered. Every painting she created was a bridge to the life she had before the war—a life filled with color, hope, and possibility.
"Art wasn’t supposed to look nice," she often thought. "It was supposed to make you feel something." She drew strength from that belief, not just for herself, but for others as well. Her art became a source of hope in a time of unimaginable darkness.
"I don’t post anything that carries blood or violence," she said. "People are searching for hope."
Her paintings, filled with a blend of sorrow and hope, offered a vision of resilience for others to hold on to. As war raged on, and as destruction surrounded her, Mahasin Khateeb refused to be defeated. Her story is not one of despair but of resilienceof finding the strength to rebuild from the ashes, of using art not just to survive, but to inspire others.
Her work, created under the constant threat of conflict, is a testament to her steadfast determination and creativity amidst the challenges of life under occupation.Reminding the world that even in the most desperate circumstances, hope can still take root. Sadly this courageous soul will no longer be able to share her art with the world. May her soul rest in peace. Mahasen Alkhatib art lives on, the genocide did not destroy the beauty of my drawingsand through them the spirit of Palestine is etched into eternity along with her story and her form of resistance.
As we remember her legacy, lets acknowledge the heartbreaking reality of the Israeli atrocities being inflicted upon people in Gaza on a daily basis. Let us come together to pay tribute to her and all those thousands of lives who have been taken by the Israeli Genocide.Doctors, artists, journalists, professors including schools, libraries, hospitals, mosques who have all became a target.
Doctors volunteering in north Gaza say the Israeli siege has made the situation so dire that "some days, the most you could do was hold people’s hand and watch them die." "It never ends ... Every day you wake up to more and more of it, and that's just what makes it so horrifying," Dr. Samer Attar volunteering at Kamal Adwan hosptial told Democracy Now.
Meanwhile, an Israeli airstrike has just hit a residential building west of Al-Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza. Palestine's UN envoy says the famine-stricken north is now experiencing a "genocide within a genocide."
Israel has so far killed at least 42,519 people in Gaza, mostly women and children , although the toll did not incorporate the overnight killings. The toll includes 99,637 people wounded since the Israeli war began in October 2023.
I hope that all of these crimes are well documented and that someday the people responsible are held to account.
More of Mahasen Alkhatib's art
