The territory’s vibrant arts community was testament to Palestinian resilience, but now it is losing voices central to its spirit.

Her vibrant paintings of Jerusalem’s holy sites and Palestinian women wearing traditional embroidered dresses were a way to send a message to the “outside world”, the Palestinian artist Heba Zagout said in a video about her work posted online in late September.

Two weeks later, the 39-year-old was killed with two of her children, Adam and Mahmoud, in an Israeli air strike. Her husband and two other children survived.

Zagout is one of an unknown number of artists, writers and musicians – part of Gaza’s surprisingly once thriving arts scene – among more than 11,000 deaths in the coastal strip since the war between Israel and Hamas began on 7 October.>>Read More