A new book offers a comprehensive history of Gaza and its tragic centrality to world politics

The Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip had been declared a military zone, which allowed the Israeli army to deny access to Israeli citizens other than residents. They were thus able to exclude political opponents of the withdrawal from Gaza. Two new security fences, one with razor wire and the other with electronic sensors and surveillance cameras, were being installed that would completely surround the Gaza Strip. The Israeli soldiers also demolished a dozen unoccupied bungalows on the coast where a group of settlers from the West Bank had set up a protest camp.

On 18 July 2005, more than 20,000 Israelis came to demonstrate in southern Israel close to the Strip to declare their rejection of Ariel Sharon’s policy. The movement of solidarity with the Gaza settlers lost some of its impetus, however, when a Tsahal deserter killed four Israeli Arabs in Galilee on 4 August before being lynched by a mob. On 8 August 2005, the Gaza settlers were told that they had only a week left to depart voluntarily from the territory and thus to qualify for full compensation. After the deadline had expired, at midnight on 16 August, less than half of the 8,500 settlers remained.

On the...

Read more