Palestinian poet Refaat Alareer’s poem entitled “If I must die” went viral on X two days after he was killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza.

Alareer, one of the leaders of a young generation of authors in Gaza who chose to write in English to tell their stories, was killed in an Israeli strike, his friends confirmed a day earlier.

“My heart is broken, my friend and colleague Refaat Alareer was killed with his family a few minutes ago,” wrote his friend, the Gazan poet Mosab Abu Toha, on Facebook.

“I don’t want to believe this. We both loved to pick strawberries together,” he added.

Alareer’s poem pinned on his X account is widely shared on the social media platform as tributes poured in for the young writer and poet. He was considered the voice of Gaza as he regularly posted updates on social media, appearing in interviews, and publishing poetry about life in the besieged strip.

A few days after Israel began its ground offensive in October, Alareer refused to leave northern Gaza, the epicentre of the fighting at the time.

“Refaat’s assassination is tragic, painful and outrageous. It is a huge loss,” his friend Ahmed Alnaouq wrote on X.

The Literary Hub website also paid tribute to him, while author and journalist Ramzy Baroud wrote on X: “Rest in peace, Refaat Alareer. We will continue to be guided by your wisdom, today and for eternity.”

Alareer, a professor of English literature at the Islamic University of Gaza, where he taught Shakespeare among other subjects, was also one of the co-founders of the “We are not numbers” project, which pairs authors from Gaza with mentors abroad who help them write stories in English about their experiences.

The project edited the book “Gaza Writes Back,” chronicles of life in Gaza by young Palestinian authors, and published “Gaza Unsilenced.”

In November, Alareer published a poem on X entitled “If I must die” that was shared tens of thousands of times. It concludes with the words: “If I must die, let it bring hope, let it be a tale.”

With input from wires…