Refaat Alareer 1979-2023 killed by Israel (but not silenced) poet, professor, writer, & one of the co-founders of We Are Not Numbers: We remember him not only for how he died, but for how he lived — teaching and inspiring generations of young Palestinians to write back and tell their stories.

We Are Not Numbers

@WeAreNotNumbers

 

Today, Refaat Alareer should have turned 47. 

 

He should have been here, teaching, writing, mentoring our writers, making jokes, challenging us to think harder, and reminding us again and again that our stories matter. 

 

Refaat was born in Gaza on September 23, 1979. 

 

He was a poet, professor, writer, and one of the co-founders of We Are Not Numbers. 

 

To so many of us, he was also a teacher, mentor, colleague, and friend. 

 

Today, on what would have been his 47th birthday, we remember Refaat, who was killed by Israel on December 6, 2023. 

 

We remember him not only for how he died, but for how he lived — teaching and inspiring generations of young Palestinians to write back and tell their stories.

https://x.com/WeAreNotNumbers/status/2102817110615298221

 https://wearenotnumbers.org/

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Breaking the Silence: " The IDF delegated target identification to an AI system, a deeply problematic step in itself. This enabled the military to carry out strikes at an unprecedented pace. Combined with the IDF’s extremely permissive collateral damage policy, this sent the death toll in Gaza skyrocketing. "

Breaking the Silence

@BtSIsrael

 

The IDF's AI-generated assassination list. Now that everyone is talking about NAZA, the Hebrew acronym for “collateral damage,” let’s talk about how the IDF identified some of the targets for these strikes. 

 

This soldier gave us testimony about some of the crucial policies behind the astronomical death toll in Gaza. 

 

 The IDF delegated target identification to an AI system, a deeply problematic step in itself. This enabled the military to carry out strikes at an unprecedented pace. Combined with the IDF’s extremely permissive collateral damage policy, this sent the death toll in Gaza skyrocketing. 

 

The IDF allowed up to 20 civilians to be killed as collateral damage for every low-ranking Hamas operative targeted, whether a militant or a truck driver. This threshold could be raised dramatically when a senior Hamas member was the target.  

 

Testimony: “We worked with an artificial intelligence system, ‘Lavendar.’ They developed technological capabilities to establish that they (Hamas operatives) exist and they’re present there, and they expanded it (the identification of wanted people) to include anyone that you could somehow say belonged to Hamas.”  

 

Interviewer: What does belong to Hamas mean? "AI-[generated] things plus a few verifications that it’s actually the person [in question]."  “You’re genuinely targeting someone from the military wing, [but] how significant is he really? There’s a question mark over that. Let’s say, even if he is a fighter, would you now take down twenty people for a fighter? [...] [If] the person isn’t in a combat position, or say, a fighter is now fleeing to the south of the [Gaza] Strip, do I really need to go and kill him?” 

 

 Allowing such a high death toll in advance proved to be devastatingly destructive, and it is also deeply dehumanising. Palestinian lives are cheapened to the point where the killing of over a dozen people can be routinely sanitised under the label of “collateral damage.”

 https://x.com/BtSIsrael/status/2103103416062886316/photo/1

Find more testimonies from soldiers who have served in the occupied Palestinian territories on our website. Since 2004, we have collected, verified, and published thousands of testimonies.

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https://www.breakingthesilence.org.il/testimonies/database/199893 

breakingthesilence.org.il

Breaking the Silence › Testimony › The enemy is finite

 

A year after Israeli strikes killed journalists at a hospital, no one has been held accountable

 

West Bank siege exposes Israel army inaction on settler violence

 

'Lords of the Land': Israeli Soldiers Describe How Settlers Manage Military Reality in the West Bank

 

I Joined Rep. Ro Khanna on His West Bank Visit. Here's What I Saw

The collaboration between the Israeli army and the most extreme and violent settlers is not a new phenomenon – we at Breaking the Silence have been documenting it for years. It's an omnipresent characteristic of the occupation. Anyone who has served in the occupied territories knows that settlers are an integral part of the mechanism of control over Palestinians. 

Settler-only IDF units functioning as ‘vigilante militias’ in West Bank

The hagmar system had led to “the establishment of what are effectively settler militias within the IDF’s own ranks”, said Nadav Weiman, the executive director of Breaking the Silence, an advocacy group for former Israeli soldiers. “These soldier-settlers are driven by a violent, zero-sum ideology, and have all the authority of regular IDF soldiers to put that ideology into action.”

 

‘To call it a ceasefire is a joke': Israeli soldiers share rare accounts from Gaza with AP

Israel’s military has said most of the people killed crossing the line posed a threat to troops. But soldiers who spoke to AP and Breaking the Silence — the whistleblower group that has collected troops’ testimonies throughout the war — say that at times soldiers were too far away, acting too quickly and under too much pressure to tell.

Israel's 'retrospective incrimination: First we shoot, we kill & then find a reason why it happened

Humanity in war: A global initiative for humanitarian law - As of mid-August 2026, 118 states have officially joined the Global IHL Initiative, launched by Brazil, China, France, Jordan, Kazakhstan and South Africa, together with the ICRC.

https://www.upholdhumanityinwar.org/en

 

Born from the ashes of World War II, the Geneva Conventions are a powerful promise that even in war, humanity must prevail. Created to put limits on the way wars are conducted and to protect those not taking part in the fighting – like civilians, prisoners and wounded soldiers – they have since been complemented with a series of treaties and customary law. This legal framework, known as international humanitarian law - or the laws of war - sets clear rules to follow amid the chaos of conflict.

There are now around 130 active armed conflicts worldwide.

They are not abstract legal concepts. They are the line between life and death, between dignity and despair, for millions caught in the crossfire. Yet despite a global consensus supporting the Geneva Conventions, adherence to even the most basic humanitarian norms remains shockingly insufficient in today’s war zones. Current conflicts reveal, in appalling and devastating ways, the immense challenges facing international humanitarian law in providing real and effective protection.

The suffering witnessed in war zones across the world is not inevitable. With strong political will, we can close the gap between the law and the reality on the ground.

How does international humanitarian law (IHL) protect in war?

Civilians must be protected.

It is illegal to target civilians and civilian objects, such as homes, schools and hospitals. Civilians must also be protected against the effects of military operations. 

The sick and wounded must be cared for regardless of whose side they're on.

Wounded, sick and shipwrecked civilians, soldiers and fighters, as well as medical staff, are all protected under IHL.

Detainees must be treated humanely and with dignity.

IHL protects those deprived of their liberty from ill treatment, acts of violence and intimidation.

The dead must be treated with dignity.

Warrying parties must take all possible measures to search for, collect and evacuate the dead. 

Parties to a conflict must facilitate humanitarian access.

People must be able to receive humanitarian aid, like food, water and medicine.

IHL places limits on the fighting

IHL treaties and customary law regulate weapon use and ban some, such as biological and chemical weapons, landmines, and cluster munitions. 

War crimes must be punished.

States have the responsibility to investigate, prosecute and punish serious violations of IHL.

Why this matters

To uphold and reaffirm the promise that, even in war, humanity must prevail.

The Global IHL Initiative exists to restore respect for the rules of war and ensure that the Geneva Conventions remain a living lifeline for the vulnerable. In an age of rising conflict and fading restraint, we stand for the sanctity of life, for accountability and for a future where the laws of war are not forgotten relics but the foundation of our shared humanity. 

Despite the universal ratification of the Geneva Conventions, violations of fundamental humanitarian norms are widespread. Ongoing conflicts around the globe, whether in urban centres, rural villages or at sea, are causing devastating human suffering, destruction and displacement. Attacks on civilian infrastructure, hospitals and humanitarian workers are all too frequent. The human, social, economic and environmental costs of these violations are unsustainable.

 https://www.upholdhumanityinwar.org/en

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World leaders united in defence of international humanitarian law to uphold humanity in war

• Respect for IHL
• Global Initiative to Galvanize Political Commitment to International Humanitarian Law

Alarmed by widespread violations of international humanitarian law (IHL) in conflicts around the world and the resulting unconscionable human suffering, we, the leaders of Brazil, China, France, Jordan, Kazakhstan and South Africa, together with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), urge States and the international community to act. 

 https://www.icrc.org/en/statement/world-leaders-united-defence-international-humanitarian-law

Experts say that after nearly three years of war, the environmental consequences of the destruction in Gaza are now spilling back into Israel.

A satellite view shows an algae bloom along Gaza’s coast to Ashdod in Israel. Photograph: Sentinal Hub/Copernicus.eu

Israel facing water shortages caused by destruction of Gaza’s treatment plants

Five desalination plants shut down for days, while Gaza remains in grip of severe water and sanitation crisis

Lorenzo Tondo in Jerualem and Seham Tantesh in Gaza

Thu 24 Sep 2026

Israel is facing weeks of water shortages after an exceptional algae bloom crippled much of its desalination capacity, in a crisis scientists say was triggered when Israeli attacks destroyed much of Gaza’s wastewater infrastructure, causing a massive discharge of untreated sewage.

“Pollution does not recognise political borders,” said the Zalul Environmental Association, an Israeli NGO dedicated to protecting the country’s seas and shores. “The discharge of untreated sewage from the Gaza Strip into the sea is contributing to the worsening crisis affecting the Israeli desalination facilities. The wastewater contains nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus, which feed microalgae and cyanobacteria and may intensify their blooms.”

Despite last year’s US-brokered ceasefire, Gaza remains gripped by a severe water and sanitation crisis. The Palestinian territory is plagued by rodents, and sewage floods its coastline after Israel destroyed its wastewater treatment plants.

Just across the border, a vast bloom of microalgae stretching up to 60 miles (100km) long has clogged filters at five of Israel’s six main desalination plants, which were shut down for days and have since been operating at a reduced level.

Experts say that after nearly three years of war, the environmental consequences of the destruction in Gaza are now spilling back into Israel.

“The discharge of untreated sewage from Gaza into the sea increases risks to Israel’s water production infrastructure along the southern Mediterranean coast,” said Jack Gilron, a professor emeritus and desalination expert at Ben-Gurion University’s Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research. “The current incident reinforces the need to prepare against threats to one of Israel’s main sources of drinking water.”

Since 7 October 2023, Israeli bombardment has destroyed 90% of Gaza’s water and sanitation infrastructure, according to a report by Médecins Sans Frontières. Direct strikes have been carried out on wells, carrier lines, reservoirs and desalination units.

Gaza’s water crisis remains severe. Before the war, 80% the territory’s supply came from an aquifer under the coastal strip, but that supply is now contaminated by seawater and wastewater and unfit for human consumption.

Most of Gaza’s drinking water came from desalination plants and three pipelines controlled by the Israeli water authority, but those pipelines were cut at the start of the war and have only partially reopened.

Meanwhile, damaged or destroyed distribution networks have left much of the population reliant on water trucks.

For many, this means a stark choice between drinking an extra cup of water or saving it to wash their hands and prevent disease... READ MORE https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/sep/24/israel-water-shortages-destruction-gaza-treatment-plants-pollution-sanitation-crisis

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At 76, Mansoura’s most precious possession is the key to her former home... ‘This is where I live now, the back of a truck’: a day in the life of a grandmother in Gaza

This is the most precious thing I own – the key to our house in the north. It is the key to the house that the occupation forces bulldozed. They flattened it: the house, the trees, the well, even a pen full of animals – they bulldozed it all. We couldn’t take anything with us, no money, no livestock.

I lived through wars before this. None was as bad as this one. During the 52-day war, we sheltered in schools, and we were OK – there wasn’t bombing like this, not the level of killing, and not the destruction of homes. But this war is extremely difficult. The destruction is enormous, the devastation is enormous – and all without any benefit. All of this is for nothing.

Life has become very different. Our family never knew hunger before, never knew displacement, bombardment, missiles, killing and destruction in this way or on this scale. The other thing I keep in this bag is a bullet – it was pulled from my son’s back. During the famine, he had nothing to eat and nothing to feed his seven children, so he went to get a bag of flour to feed his children from the aid stations, and they shot him. I keep this as a reminder of what happened – all for the sake of getting food.

‘This is where I live now, the back of a truck’: a day in the life of a grandmother in Gaza

 https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/ng-interactive/2026/sep/23/this-is-where-i-live-now-the-back-of-a-truck-a-day-in-the-life-of-a-grandmother-in-gaza

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