Gaza: The Long Road to Destruction, 1870-2024

The Gaza Strip is know as the world's biggest prison. Its rulers Hamas and the Israeli government often go to war with terrible results for civilians. The current war, sparked by the October 7 attack, has cost more than 35,000 lives. Why does it still remain such a flashpoint? Sarah Helm's new history uncovers the long history of Gaza from its time under Ottoman rule, the arrival of the first Zionist settlers and the ultimate destruction of Palestinian villages and the creation of 200,000 refugees. Based on multiple interviews with the survivors of the 1948 Nakba or Catastrophe and their relatives, the book offers a revelatory account of the origins of a conflict that seven decades on remains a blot on the conscience of the world.