War on Writers: A look at writers killed in Gaza
6 December 2024: In the face of escalating violence and turmoil, the voices of Palestinian writers have been deliberately silenced. The massive loss of life, which became a primary characteristic of the war on Gaza, included a staggering number of Palestinian artists and writers. The latest report by the Palestinian Ministry of Culture reports the loss of 45 artists, writers, and cultural activists between October 2023 and February 2024. PEN International documented the cases of 13 writers and poets who have been killed between October and December 2023, marking it as the deadliest conflict for writers in recent history. Such significant cultural loss represents a massive blow for the Palestinian community and poses critical challenges in its ability to fully recover at a time when tangible forms of cultural heritage, including most of Gaza’s museums, the Gaza Central Archive, and Great Omari Mosque, have been deliberately targeted and destroyed.
This collection serves as an archive honouring those writers who have been killed in Gaza since 7 October 2023. At PEN International, we believe that these stories must to be told and remembered. Through this archive, we aim to celebrate their legacies while drawing attention to the ongoing struggles faced by writers in Gaza. We will update this collection regularly to ensure that the names and works of these writers are never forgotten, as we continue to advocate for the right to free expression and the protection of all who use their voices to inspire change.
Notes:
PEN International was unable to contact all the families of the writers listed in this archive due to the severe communication challenges in Gaza and because many of the writers were killed alongside their immediate families. PEN continues to seek information about writers killed in Gaza since October 2023.
This archive includes only writers and poets. It does not cover artists or cultural workers and lists individuals whose deaths PEN International confirmed through at least two sources.
The numbers recorded by PEN International are indicative and do not represent the total number of writers killed since October 2023. They reflect cases where the organisation could confirm information about their deaths. This page is regularly updated as new information becomes available.
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Omar Abu Shawish, a Palestinian writer, poet, society activist, and educator, was killed by an Israeli air strike on Nuseirat Refugee Camp on 7 October 2023. Abu Shawish wrote several songs and published three poetry anthologies: “تراجيديا عابرة” (Passing Tragedy), “عن شمس قادمة” (About a Coming Sun), and “وكأنها الحياة” (As If It Is Life). He also authored a novel, "على قيد الموت" (Alive in Death), 2016, which reflects on the 2008 Israeli war on Gaza.
The 36-year-old received multiple regional, local, and international awards in literature and social activism, including the Norway Friendship Prize, the Arab Leagues’ Outstanding Arab Youth Award in 2013, the Best National Song Award in 2007, and the Distinguished Volunteer and Ideal Young award in 2010. Abu Shawish managed the Popular Committee for Refugees at al-Nuseirat Camp, and was deeply involved in youth-focused social initiatives.
According to his family, Abu Shawish was killed while walking in the street in Nuseirat Refugee Camp, where he had lived his entire life and advocated for a better life for its residents. His family moved to the camp after their village of Barqa was depopulated and occupied by the Haganah's Giv'ati Brigade in May 1948.
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Jihad El-Masry (Full name: Jehad Suleiman Salem Al Masri) was a sixty-year-old Palestinian historian, scholar, writer, and the director of al-Quds Open University’s Khan Younis branch. He died on 29 October 2023 after succumbing to the wounds sustained by Israeli shelling on Khan Younis on 17 October 2023, which also killed his wife and daughter. His works focused on Islamic, modern and contemporary Palestinian history, with multiple publications focusing on Palestinian women and Palestinians in the diaspora.
El-Masry published many books, essays, and papers in local, regional, and international journals, magazines, and newspapers. His book “رمزية مفاتيح العودة في أدبيات المرأة الفلسطينية اللاجئة وانعكاسها في أعمال المبدعين الفلسطينيين” (The Symbolism of the Key of Return in the Literature of the Palestinian Refugee Women and Its Reflection in the Works of Palestinian Creators) was published in 2011 by the BADIL Resource Centre for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights. The centre awarded El-Masry third place in its 2009 Return Prize in the research paper category. The book sheds light on Palestinian women's role in preserving the symbolism of the Keys of Return and passing it onto the next generations, and how this is used by artists in their advocacy on the Palestinians’ Right to Return.
El-Masry is the author of “مخيم كندا للاجئين الفلسطينيين برفح سيناء 1982-2000م: دراسة شفوية وثائقية” (The Canada Camp for Palestinian Refugees in Rafah, Sinai 1982-2000: an Oral History) (2002) and “الشهداء يعودون: دراسة شفوية وثائقية لشهداء انتفاضة الأقصى في محافظة خانيونس” (The Martyrs Return: A Documentary Oral History of the Martyrs of the Second Intifada in Khan Younis Governorate) (2002). He has also published numerous academic papers on Palestinian rights, including a paper entitled Reasons Why Gaza Palestinian Immigrants Select Belgium as Asylum Destination: A Palestinian Oral History Study (2018).
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Saeed Talal al-Dahshan was an author and a published international law expert, focusing on Palestinian rights and Israel’s violations of international law. His best-known book, “كيف نقاضي إسرائيل؟ المقاضاه الدولية لإسرائيل وقاداتها على جرائمهم بحق الفلسطينيين” (How to Sue Israel: The International Prosecution of Israel and Its Leaders for Their Crimes Against the Palestinians), (2017), provides a detailed analysis of legal mechanisms for protecting Palestinians’ rights under international law. He also published several academic papers, including “دراسة مقارنة في الاعتداءات الإسرائيلية على قطاع غزة قبل انضمام فلسطين للمحكمة الجنائية الدولية وبعد ذلك” (Comparative Study on Israeli Attacks on Gaza Strip Before and After Palestine’s Accession to the International Criminal Court) (2021), which documents Israeli human rights violations against Palestinians from 2010 to 2019.
On 11 October 2023, an Israeli airstrike killed al-Dahshan along with his family in their home in Gaza. His friend, Mohammad Makram Balawi, Director General of the League of Parliamentarians for al-Quds, reported that al-Dahshan was killed along with his mother, wife, son, two daughters, his brother’s family, and some neighbours.
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Heba Abu Nada was a 32-year-old Palestinian writer, poet, and novelist. Her first novel, "الأكسجين ليس للموتى" (Oxygen is not for the dead), 2017, won second place in the Sharjah Award for Creativity in the novel category. Her writings address themes of justice and the siege on Gaza. Abu Nada co-authored three poetry collections and won first place in the short stories category in a competition named after Palestinian author Nahid al-Rayyes. Some of her poetry has been translated into English. She was killed by an Israeli airstrike on 20 October 2023 in southern Gaza, after fleeing the extensive Israeli bombardment of northern Gaza.
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Yousef Dawas was a 20-year-old writer, poet, guitar player, and aspiring psychoanalyst, as described in one of his poems. He wrote for We Are Not Numbers, a non-profit organisation founded after the 2014 war to nurture a new generation of Palestinian writers and thinkers sharing the stories of Palestinians killed by the Israeli occupation.
In January 2023, Dawas wrote an article titled Who will pay for the 20 years we lost? describing the destruction of his family’s century-old farmland by Israeli bombardment during the offensive on Gaza in 2022, which coincided with Eid, a major Muslim celebration. He also contributed an article for the Palestine Chronicle about a young Palestinian couple from Gaza facing challenges in traveling to Egypt for a kidney transplant.
On 14 October 2023, an Israeli airstrike killed Dawas and 27 members of his family in their home in Beit Lahia. Before his death, Dawas had expressed his wish to see the rest of Palestine and the world beyond Gaza, which Israel has besieged since he was four years old. During the 2022 Israeli assault on Gaza, he wrote that if his family were to die, they wished to die together: “we would rather die together than alone,” This was the only wish that came true.
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Abdel Karim al-Hashash was a 76-year-old Palestinian writer who published over forty books and novels in addition to articles across the Middle East. He was known as the Guardian of the Palestinian Heritage, due to his writing focusing on the Palestinian, Arab, and Bedouin heritage. An Israeli airstrike killed him alongside other family members in their house in Rafah on 23 October 2023. Al-Hashash lived almost all his life as a refugee.
He was born in 1947 in the then-Palestinian city Beersheba, now known as Be'er-Sheva, and his family fled to Rafah Refugee Camp in Gaza due to the Nakba War in 1948, during which hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were displaced.
After the 1967 war, he moved to Jordan and then Syria, where he lived in al-Yarmouk Refugee Camp. There, he established the al-Aqsa library, which contained thousands of books, including rare copies. His library was a crucial resource for researchers, writers, and students in Syria but was tragically destroyed during the Syrian Civil War. Due to the escalating violence, he returned to Gaza where he continued writing while rebuilding his book collection for a new library.
He wrote several novels, including “النخلة العاقر”(The Barren Palm Tree) (2002) and “أرض القمر”(The Land of the Moon) (2000), and his books include “معجم الألفاظ المحكية في البلاد العربية”(TheDictionary of Colloquial Words in Arab Countries) (2007) and “قبائل وعشائر فلسطين” (Tribes and Clans of Palestine) (2004).
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Inas al-Saqa was a 53-year-old Palestinian playwright, actress, and a pioneer in theatre production. She wrote and produced numerous plays, including “الدب” (The Bear) and “في شئ عم بيصير”(There’s Something Going On). She delivered theatre workshops to children and communication workshops to adults, actively participating in various community activities.
On 31 October 2023, an Israeli airstrike killed al-Saqa along with three of her children, Leen, Sara, and Ibrahim, leaving two of her daughters critically injured, with one of them, Farah, suffering from walking disability and pelvic and spinal fractures. Before her death, al-Saqa and her family had been displaced multiple times, initially seeking refuge at Gaza’s Orthodox Cultural Centre with other families. They later evacuated the centre, following instructions from the Israeli Army, to a friend’s house, where they were tragically killed.
As an actress, al-Saqa focused on the struggle of Palestinians, especially women, and the suffering they endured since the Israeli occupation and during successive wars. She is known for her role in the film “ميلاد” (Birth) (2008), about a Palestinian woman giving birth during wartime, a harrowing experience she experienced herself. Al-Saqa also starred in “سارة” (Sarah) (2014) about honour killings in Gaza, and “عصفور الوطن” (The Homeland’s Sparrow), which highlights the Palestinian struggle since the Nakba in 1984.
She also acted in numerous plays, including a Palestinian adaptation of Arthur Miller’s classic All My Sons, and “نساء غزة وصبر أيوب” (Job’s Sufferance in Gaza’s Women), about the plight of women in Gaza during Israel’s attacks. One of her most memorable and poignant theatrical lines in Job’s Sufferance in Gaza’s Women was, “My kids, people … my kids are under the rubbles,” a heartbreaking reflection of the tragedy that struck her family in October 2023, when Inas and her children were killed during the Israeli bombardment of Gaza.
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Nooraldeen Hajjaj was a promising 27-year-old Palestinian novelist and playwright who was killed on 3 December 2023. At 22, he published his first novel “غريب وغريبة” (Two Strangers) which explores how young university students of his generation perceive love. In his second novel, “أجنحة لا تطير” (Wings That Do Not Fly), Hajjaj depicted the struggle of youth in an unnamed city. This novel addressed critical issues such as unemployment, illegal migration, desperation, sexual violence, marital rape, political oppression by local government, and wars and killing resulting from occupation. He also wrote a play titled “الرماديون” (The Grey Ones), performed in 2022, and participated in local cultural initiatives, including Shaghaf (Passion) by the Cordoba Association, and the Days of Theater Foundation.
Hajjaj documented his experiences of war on his Facebook account, with many of his diaries translated and republished by Passing Through Genocide, an initiative aimed at highlighting the work of Palestinian “writers confronting the genocide in Gaza.” Throughout the ongoing war on Gaza, Hajjaj wrote about his suffering and the inability to express his desperation and fear due to internet blackouts caused by Israel’s destruction of civilian infrastructures and its intensified siege on Gaza.
His death from Israeli airstrikes was reported on 3 December 2023, and was linked to the al-Shujaiya Massacre, perpetrated by the Israeli Army on 2 December 2023. According to the OHCHR, Israeli airstrikes struck residential houses in two neighbouring blocks in one of the most densely populated neighbourhoods in eastern Gaza City, resulting in at least 60 deaths, the destruction of 15 buildings, and the damage of at least 14 others.
Here is an extract of his last message to the world [Translated from Arabic]:
“I am Nour El Din Adnan Hajjaj, a Palestinian writer, I am twenty-seven years old, and I have many dreams.
I am not a number and I refuse for the news of my death to be fleeting, without you saying that I love life, happiness, freedom, children's laughter, the sea, the coffee, writing, Fairuz [Lebanese Iconic Singer], and everything that is joyful... before all of this disappears in a single moment.
One of my dreams is for my books and writings to travel the world, for my pen to have wings that are not stopped by unstamped passports or rejected visas... and my biggest dream remains... for peace to prevail in my country, for children's laughter to shine before the sun, for us to plant a rose in every place where a bomb fell, and to draw our freedom on every destroyed wall, for the war to leave us alone; so that we can finally live our lives for once.”
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Shahadah al- Buhbahan (73) was a Palestinian poet, researcher, and teacher who wrote nine poetry anthologies primarily focused on the Palestinian struggle and Islamic heritage and history. He co-authored a book on Arabic poetry with Egyptian poet Mona al-Ghareeb. Al-Buhbahan lived in the Bureij Refugee Camp in Gaza and earned his BA in Islamic Education from the Faculty of Dar al-Uloom at Cairo University in 1974, and his MA in Education from the Islamic University in Gaza in 2003. He was killed on 6 November 2023 by an Israeli airstrike, along with his wife, grandchild, and extended family members.
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Mustafa al-Sawwaf (68) was a famous Palestinian writer, political analyst, and media personality who wrote hundreds of articles and essays for local and international outlets. He was the founder and chief editor of Gaza’s first daily newspaper, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Culture. On 18 November 2023, al-Sawwaf, his wife, two of his children, and several family members were killed by an Israeli airstrike on his home in Gaza City. The strike also injured two of his sons: Mohamed al-Sawwaf, director at Alef Multimedia, and Montasser al-Sawwaf, photojournalist at the Turkish news agency Anadolu. Montaser was killed on duty on 1 December 2023.
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Professor Sufyan Tayeh (Sufyan Abdul Rahman Tayeh) was a prominent scientist and a pioneer researcher in theoretical physics and applied mathematics, with hundreds of published scientific papers. Born in 1971 in Jabalya Refugee Camp, he attended UNRWA schools, and earned his BA, MA, and PhD from the Islamic University in Gaza, where he became a lecturer in 1994 and later headed the physics department from 2008 to 2011.
He was ranked among the top 2% of researchers worldwide, based on a study conducted by Elsevier and Stanford University, and was appointed the UNESCO Chair for Physical, Astrophysical, and Space Sciences in Palestine. In July 2023, Tayeh was appointed President of the Islamic University in Gaza. A fellow at the International Centre of Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in 2001 and 2004, ICTP Director Atish Dabholkar described him as a “mentor and inspiration” to many researchers at the centre.
On 2 December 2023, an Israeli airstrike killed Tayeh along with his entire immediate family and members of his extended family. His brother, a fellow scientist, reported that the Israeli bombardment destroyed six of their family homes and killed 30 members of his family, many of whom were medical doctors. Tayeh, who dedicated his life to benefiting humanity through research, reportedly spent his final hours under the rubble of his destroyed home. He also endured the hardships of Isreal’s long-standing blockade of Gaza, and he was arrested and detained by Israeli forces at the Rafah border in 2005, while en route to a study trip in Egypt.
Tayeh was awarded many prizes, including the Palestine Islamic Bank Award for Scientific Research in 2019 and 2020, the Abdul Hameed Shoman Award for Young Arab Scientists, and the Islamic University Award for Scientific Research for the year 2021. The University of Waterloo in the UK has established a memorial fund to support graduate students, in honour of Tayeh’s work and contributions to science.
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Refaat Alareer was a 44-year-old Palestinian writer, poet, academic, activist, and father of six. Born in the Shijaieh neighbourhood of Gaza, he was instrumental in cultivating a generation of young Gazan authors who wielded the power of storytelling to promote the Palestinian struggle for liberation and human dignity. Alareer was a professor of English literature at the now-destroyed Islamic University of Gaza. He earned his M.A. from University College London in the UK, and his PhD from the Universiti Putra Malaysia. On 7 October 2023, an Israeli air strike killed Alareer along with his brother (Salah), his nephew (Mohamed), his sister (Asmaa), and four of her children.
Because of his critical views surrounding Israeli disinformation following the 6th October 2023 attack, Alareer was subjected to a vicious smear campaign, and received death threats and threats of sexual violence against his female relatives. In April 2024, an Israeli airstrike killed his eldest daughter (Shimaa), his 2-month-old grandson (Abdel Rahman), and his son-in-law (Mohamed) while sheltering in the building of an international relief charity.
Alareer dedicated his life to writing about the experiences of Gazans living under the illegal Israeli occupation and the 17-year-long blockade of Gaza. He edited two compilations by young Palestinian writers: Gaza Writes Back (2014), and Gaza Unsilenced (2015), both containing collections of short stories, essays, poems, and photos documenting Palestinians’ experiences under the blockade. In 2022, he contributed to an anthology titled Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire. A collection of his writings is expected to be published later this year, titled If I Must Die: Poetry and Prose, in an anthology named after his most renowned poem.
Alareer was also a prominent figure of We Are Not Numbers, a non-profit organisation established following the 2014 war on Gaza, aiming to encourage a new generation of authors to tell the stories of Palestinians killed by the Israeli occupation. His poem If I must diehas become a living manifestation of the power of literature capturing the most painful human experiences, and reflecting the collective story of Palestinians killed under Israeli occupation.
—If I must die,
you must live
to tell my story
to sell my things
to buy a piece of cloth
and some strings,
(make it white with a long tail)
so that a child, somewhere in Gaza
while looking heaven in the eye
awaiting his dad who left in a blaze—
and bid no one farewell
not even to his flesh
not even to himself—
sees the kite, my kite you made, flying up above
and thinks for a moment an angel is there
bringing back love
If I must die
let it bring hope
let it be a tale
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Saleem al-Naffar, a sixty-year-old Palestinian novelist and poet, was considered by some as Gaza’s finest living poet. His poems influenced generations in Palestine, with some of his works included into the Palestinian school curriculum. Al-Naffar regularly visited schools in Gaza to read his poetry, discuss it, and speak with students about poetry and literature.
An Israeli airstrike on the family’s house at al-Nassr neighbourhood killed al-Naffar on 7 December 2023, with his three daughters, son, and wife, alongside his brother, his brother’s wife and their children. The Palestinian Ministry of Culture confirmed the family’s death on 11 December 2023, while some family members remained under the rubble.
Al-Naffar published seven poetry anthologies: "تداعيات على شرفة الماء” (Moaning on the Surface of the Water(, 1996, "سور لها" (A Fence for Her), 1997, "بياض الأسئلة" (The Whiteness of Questions) 2001, "شرف على ذلك المطر" (Honour on That Rain), 2004, "حالة وطن" (State of a Nation), 2014, "حارس الانتظار" (The Knight of Waiting), 2021; and a collection titled "الأعمال الشعرية الناجزة" (Completed Poetic Works), 2016. In March 2024, the Palestinian Ministry of Culture published a 520-page volume of his poems.
He wrote two novels "فوانيس المخيم" (The Lanterns of the Camp), 2018, and "ليالي اللاذقية" (The Nights of Latakia), 2022. He also published two books of autobiographies: "هذا ما أعنيه.. سيرة ذاتية" (This is What I Mean … An Autobiography), 2004, and "ذاكرة ضيقة على الفرح - سيرة ذاتية" (A Tight Memory of Joy – an Autobiography), 2020, as well as a book of prose titled "غزة 2014 (Gaza 2014), 2017.
Al-Naffar wrote in Arabic, with some of his poems translated into English, including “Under the Siege,” published in the collection A Bird is Not a Stone.
Al-Naffar was born in 1963 in al-Shati Refugee Camp in Gaza. His family was exiled in the aftermath of the 1967 war and returned to Gaza in 1994. He grew up in al-Raml Refugee Camp near Latakia, Syria, and studied Arabic literature at Tishreen University. Al-Naffar’s described his childhood as “melancholy” due to the challenging conditions of refugee camps and exile, finding solace in writing.
For more information, please contact Mina Thabet, Head of the MENA Region, at PEN International, email: [email protected]