A younger Gazan artist recognized for her hauntingly stunning portraits of individuals killed by the Israel Protection Forces (IDF) was herself killed on 12 April by an Israeli airstrike, in response to Quds Information Community. Dina Khaled Zaurub reportedly died when the strike, on a displaced individuals camp positioned west of Khan Yunis in Southern Gaza, hit the tent the place she and her household had taken shelter. She was 22-years-old.
Tributes to the artist poured in from around the globe. One in every of her followers in Tunisia wrote on Fb: “The artist Dina Zaurub who painted the martyrs of their honour and reminiscence joined them right now.”
The artist gained the Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights Award in 2015 for one of the best drawing about childrens’ rights throughout armed battle. She was later recognised by the Palestinian ministry of schooling and the United Nations Aid and Works Company for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) for her work. The Palestinian ministry of tradition issued an announcement mourning the lack of “a gifted younger girl whose artwork stored reminiscence alive in a time of relentless erasure.”
Zaurub specialised in portraiture, and used her artwork to doc lots of her fallen associates, together with the late Ahmad Abu Al-Roos, a journalist who was killed by Israeli forces in January.
In a Fb publish from 15 January, that includes a photograph of her handing Al-Roos his portrait, she paid homage to him. “Could God have mercy on you Ahmed, you have been one of the best good friend that God witnesses, you at all times instructed me that I’ll see you, one of the best painter from Gaza, so that you left Ahmed earlier than I spotted my dream. I swear it is too early, my good friend.”
Additionally featured on her Fb web page are drawings of Khaled Nabhan, who turned extensively recognized after a video circulated exhibiting him grieving two of his grandchildren, who have been killed by Israeli airstrikes in Deir al Balah in November 2023. He himself was killed in December 2024 when the IDF bombed the Nuseirat refugee camp.
Dina’s Fb web page, which has now turn into a digital shrine of types, is a testomony to her pleasure for all times, crammed with images of her portraits of associates, and her volunteer work with orphans. Her final publish, from 12 April, options images of her sitting serenely at a seaside café. In it she wrote: “it’s all about tenderness”.
The Gazan artist Malak Mattar, who’s only a few years older than Dina, tells The Artwork Newspaper that charcoal and graphite drawings are fashionable in Gaza and that many younger folks enroll in programs to discover ways to draw their households and associates.
“As a younger artist from Gaza, it’s painful to see fellow artists and colleagues largely being written about and recognised after their homicide,” she says. “Artists in Gaza deserve justice, safety, and recognition of their lifetime—as true warriors and witnesses of [this] horrific genocide.”
Greater than 50,933 folks have been killed in Gaza since Israel began its marketing campaign to eradicate Hamas, in response to the native well being ministry. This marketing campaign started following the 7 October 2023 assault by Hamas, throughout which round 1,200 Israelis have been killed and round 250 taken hostage, in response to Israeli tallies. Israeli officers have mentioned that they consider 24 of the 59 remaining hostages are nonetheless alive.
The battle resumed on 18 March—following a two-month ceasefire—after Israel launched shock bombardments throughout Gaza.
