Palestinian author of viral ‘If I must die’ poem killed in Israel airstrike

Since Israel's invasion of Gaza began this month, a screenshot of a poem titled 'If I must die' went viral on social media. 

The poem speaks about children in Gaza and delves into how to make their final farewell to their parents, killed by Israeli attacks, better. 

The poet Refaat Alareer, who wrote the piece, was himself killed in air raids in Gaza two days ago. 

Tributes poured in for the poet on Friday after friends said he was killed in a strike on Gaza.

Alareer was one of the leaders of a young generation of writers in Gaza who chose to write in English to tell their stories, with friends describing his defiance in the face of the Israeli army's assault on the Gaza Strip, The Guardian reports.

They said the poet had vowed to "throw (his) pen in the soldiers' faces" as a last resort if his house was stormed.

"My heart is broken, my friend and colleague Refaat Alareer was killed with his family," the Gazan poet Mosab Abu Toha wrote on Facebook.