A Short History of the Gaza Strip

by Anne Irfan, Muhammad Shehada (Foreword)

One of BBC History Magazine’s Books of the Year



From a leading scholar of Palestine-Israel, a brief, essential history of the besieged strip of land, revealing the long-term roots of Israel’s destruction of Gaza.


Since October 2023, Israel has carried out one of the most brutal military onslaughts in modern history on the Gaza Strip, in response to the Hamas-led attacks of October 7. But Gaza had long been in crisis even prior to the current violence, now widely recognized as genocidal. For seventy-seven years, the Palestinian people have endured displacement, occupation, collective punishment, and ethnic cleansing—with those in Gaza often bearing the brunt of it.


With remarkable clarity and compassion, historian Anne Irfan tells the story of the Gaza Strip through six pivotal moments in its modern history, beginning with Israel’s expulsion of the Palestinian people upon its establishment in 1948, when Gaza absorbed more Palestinian refugees per head than anywhere else—a demographic shift that became central to its identity. As Irfan takes us through Israel’s occupations of Gaza, the Palestinian national struggle and formation of the PLO, the first intifada, the creation of the Palestinian Authority, and the rise of Hamas, she tackles widespread historical ignorance and untangles contradicting narratives. Drawing on a decade of research, Irfan weaves in the voices of everyday Palestinians, from farmers who became refugees in Gaza to poets and activists who grew up in the Strip. Featuring a foreword from Gazan writer and analyst Muhammad Shehada, A Short History of the Gaza Strip is an indispensable read for anyone seeking to understand Palestine and its impact on the world.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Politics, Audiobook, War, World History

297 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 28, 2025

Reviews

[Dan Lutts · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Short History of the Gaza Strip is an incredible story of how Israel has repeated committed genocide against the Palestinian people on the Gaza Strip to make them leave their homeland in Gaza. Irfan tells their story by using six pivotal moments in the Palestinians history, beginning with Israel's expulsion of the Palestinian people in 1948 when Israel took over Palestine and ends the story in the present day, when the Palestinians are still being persecuted. It's a book that's well worth reading.

[Bianca · Rating 5 out of 5]

a succinct, informative and human telling of the events leading to the genocide in Gaza. the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians has been central to zionist ideology since Israel’s independence. understanding the 80-year history of what Palestinians have been subject to makes the past and current global leadership climate of inaction, complicity and funding that much more devastating and horrific. necessary read for all to understand and comprehend the history and continued lived reality of Palestinians.

[Kadin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anne Irfan's short history of the Gaza Strip is a timely read in this moment. Irfan takes the reader all the way back to 1948 and deftly explains the complex history and relationship between Palestinians and Israelis, the effect of Zionism in the West and in Israel, and the Israeli government's brutal and inhumane treatment of Palestinians over the last 80 years, including the genocide taking place in the Gaza Strip right now. It's a succinct history, perfect for anyone who is unfamiliar with what has been going on in that part of the world for decades.

[Michael Bishop · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anyone who has an ounze of human compassion within them should read this book. Irfan provides the historical context for the genocide that is taking place in Gaza right now. She traces the displacement of the Palestinians from 1948 onwards, into refugee camps in Palestine and elsewhere. The continuous ethnic cleansing they have been subject to. From a proud independent people to a stateless one subject to the political whims of different Israeli governments. Every route to self determination closed down. Irfan also references the corrupt Palestinian regimes who have failed, and continue to fail, those they claim to represent.
All leading to the present day. The destruction of the physical landscape, economic and social infrastructure by bombing. The murder of innocent men, women, and children. Starvation. Genocide.
Irfan quite rightly condemns murder by all sides. But this book shows that October 2023, as repulsive as that was, isn't the starting point. It began almost 8 decades earlier. A state of affairs only maintained with Western complicity.

'I was a child when we were forced from our village [during the Nakba]. We thought it was temporary. Now I am an old man and we are still refugees. They talk of taking Gaza like we are nothing. But we are still here. We are still Palestinians'. Abu Samir. Survivor 1948 Nakba.

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

DNF for now only because I keep forgetting to listen to it, but I do want to get back to it at some point. But from what I’ve listened to, I most definitely recommend

[W.S. Luk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muhammad Shehada's introduction states that, since Israel's renewed offensive on Gaza in 2023, the two questions every Gazan asks each other are "How many family members have you lost?" and "Is your home still standing?". Irfan's book details the historical process that led to this moment, highlighting how the Israeli government's territorial ambitions and authoritarian methods, as well as the escalating violence of Hamas' campaigns, have culminated in genocidal violence and a vast humanitarian crisis. Yet amongst this bleak account, Irfan also uses firsthand accounts from Gazans to illuminate small moments of joy and resistance, from the years when Gaza was an accessible port town to the courage displayed by Palestinians who defied Israeli authorities or Hamas, often at the cost of their own lives.

"History matters, especially in Palestine," Irfan says towards the end of the book as she recounts the devastation caused by the post-October 7th assault on Gaza. Told with forensic clarity, this book is an accessible primer on the history behind a crisis the entire world is witnessing.

[Theodore Kinni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essential context for today’s headlines. Read an advance copy, forthcoming Oct ‘25

[Miss · Rating 1 out of 5]

N@zi bumfodder - full of lies and anti semitic rhetoric

[Palwai]

Completed reading,
'A Short History Of The Gaza Strip'
by #AnneIrfan.

This book is a concise yet devastating account of how one of the world’s most densely populated places became, over time, a space of near-permanent catastrophe. Written with clarity and restraint, the book avoids polemic while still making unmistakably clear that the present condition in #Gaza, often described as a 'hell on earth', is neither accidental nor inevitable, but the result of layered political failures and coercive power structures!

Anne Irfan traces Gaza’s transformation from a historically connected Mediterranean society into a sealed enclave shaped by colonial borders, war, and prolonged siege. What emerges most powerfully is not a portrait of inherent violence, but of a population repeatedly denied normal civic life. Gaza’s people appear in this history as merchants, teachers, laborers, artists, and refugees, who consistently sought stability, dignity, and the ordinary freedoms associated with modern life.

The book is particularly strong in showing how Gazans have been wronged from multiple directions. External military control, shifting regional politics, and international indifference form one layer of oppression. Another comes from internal political forces that have claimed to act in the name of resistance or religion, yet have narrowed social space and subordinated civilian well-being to ideology and power. Anne Irfan is careful not to conflate faith with politics, but she does not shy away from showing how militant Islamist movements and entrenched political elites alike have contributed to Gaza’s suffering by suppressing pluralism, silencing dissent, and prioritizing control over care.

What makes the book so unsettling is its insistence on continuity, which highlights the fact that today’s humanitarian disaster is not a rupture, but the culmination of decades of containment, misrule, and moral abdication. Gaza is portrayed less as a battlefield than as a pressure chamber, where ordinary people are crushed between geopolitics and absolutist politics.
In just a few chapters, Anne Irfan succeeds in restoring historical depth and human complexity to a place too often reduced to headlines.

A Short History of the Gaza Strip is not only an essential primer; it is a quiet indictment of how peace-loving civilians can be abandoned by both ideology and power, and left to endure the unendurable.

#Israel . #Palestine . #Hamas . #BenjaminNetanyahu . #YasserArafat

[Sobia A Khan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Historian Anne Irfan tells the story of the Gaza Strip through six critically important moments in its modern history, beginning with Israel's expulsion (with the help of GB and the US) of the Palestinian people upon its establishment in 1948. Over the course of a decade of research, she weaves in the voices of everyday Palestinians, from farmers who became refugees in Gaza to poets and activists who grew up in the Strip. With a foreword from Muhammad Shehada, another Palestinian writer, this book should be a crucial and required read/listen for anyone seeking to understand Palestine and its impact on the world.

Showing Irfan's level of research, she includes maps of the Gaza Strip in is various forms through its history since 1947, including one from when it was part of the British Mandate, which helps immensely in understanding the 'movement' of the Palestinians and Israel's occupation. There are also almost 70 pages of notes. Also not included in the audio format are 2 pages of "Further Reading: Voices from Gaza" and how to support Gaza.

The book was published in March 2025 so is up-to-date until then.

There are so many poignant phrases from Irfan that can be quoted, but I will leave with this one:
"..why read - or indeed write - a history of the Gaza Strip? ... But history matter, especially in the Palestine. And with an abundance of misinformation circulating, understanding this history has never been more essential.

[Chris Jaffe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an impressive book as it does give a short history of the sad and declining status for the people living in the Gaza Strip. There are moments that serve as bench marks and turning points in Gaza - the 1948 war ("Nakba" it's called there, meaning catastrophe), the 1967 war leading to the still ongoing occupation of Gaza, the First Intifada, the 1994 Oslo Accords, the 2006 election of Hamas, and of course the Oct. 7, 2013 attacks. While these moments serve as key events that changed the life of those living in the Strip, the overall trajectory remains the same: things get worse. Israel tightens its grip, and by now there is open talk of mass "relocation" of the 2.1 million residents there, who affirm that relocation is just another word for ethnic cleansing.

I got a ton of notes from this book that I'll look over the next few days.

[Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very heavy, but also very necessary read if you want to have a general, informed understanding of Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The amount of death, destruction, and displacement caused by this ongoing war is staggering, but what should be clear that Israeli actions have been disproportionate compared to those of any Palestinian militant group. In fact, one could argue that Hamas, as well as other militant Palestinian factions, are the product of decades of Israeli persecution and subjugation. If a country backed by the most powerful western governments repeatedly denies your statehood and personhood and has communicated through words and actions that they do not want your people to exist anymore, what would you do? Nevertheless, as has been shown through thousands of deaths on both sides, "an eye for an eye" does in fact make the world blind.

[Michael McEwen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m certain that each of these chapters could be an entire book, but the author does an admirable job of boiling down the history of Gaza even if the density of the material can be overwhelming. At some point Israel’s victim narrative is hard to swallow against the facts on the ground. The Hamas attacks in October 2023 were true atrocities, but is it a thousand eyes for an eye? I don’t understand how Hamas or Israel can defend killing children, civilians or aid workers: wrong is wrong. Much of my previous knowledge of these conflicts was from the Israeli perspective where the country valiantly repelled the murderous Palestinians, so it was enlightening to revisit this history.

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent, concise overview of the history of the Gaza Strip. It pulls no punches and does not try to sugarcoat the brutal treatment that the Strip’s inhabitants have received and continue to receive at Israel’s hands. While it is indeed, a short history, even those who are well-versed in the subject will find new information in here.

While it is, of course, a history of the Gaza Strip itself, it might be one of the first books I would point someone to if they wanted to understand why, exactly, Palestinians feel the way they do about Israel. It certainly makes clear the horrors that they have had to endure since 1948.

[Katie Wellington · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Amid such unspeakable horrors, why read - or indeed write - a history of the Gaza Strip? To do so in such a context may seem futile, a case of intellectual navel-gazing while thousands of people perish in real time. But history matters, especially in Palestine. And with an abundance of misinformation circulating, understanding this history has never been more essential."

"I was a child when we were forces from our village (during the Nakba). We thought it was temporary. Now I am an old man and we are still refugees. They talk of taking Gaza like we nothing. But we are still here. We are still Palestinians.

[Maria Tomak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book. Very balanced. Opened my eyes to the Israeli-Palestine conflict. Can’t see how the current situation can be understood without this historical perspective that the author suggests. Absolutely vital. What is even more important is that it is an non-ideological book (in contrast to what Israel-Palestine conflict often becomes), but written via the human-centred perspective.

[The_enchanted.Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read. The truth of what’s happening in Gaza has been coming out way too slowly and the horrors faced by the Palestinians is beyond unfair. The way this was written was incredibly succinct and at the same time delved into looking at the current genocide without propaganda.

[Lanell · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read to allow one to see the conflict of the area and how long it has went on.

[Book Buying With Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essential. Read this one, then followcit with Someday Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sad and tragic summary and overview.
Death, tragedy, catastrophe, man-made destruction, unbalanced, asymmetrical data... and more ..!

[DaniPhantom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative whilst still getting to the point, telling us all sides of the war in Gaza.

[Jurij Fedorov · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author Anne Irfan is lecturer in interdisciplinary race, gender, and postcolonial studies at University College London. This book is pretty much what you expect. A very anti-Israel book overlooking the actual topic: Gaza.

I wanted to understand Gaza. Tribes, cultures, regional conflicts, what goods they produce. Education levels and how they treat their poor, how much power people have, how they treat outliers like gay people, Jews, or Black people. I wanted to know what happens to women who don't wear hijab, what happens to gay men, what happens if you publicly support Israel or Jews, what happens if a woman tries to get into a leadership position? What tribes are infighting? What does the average Gazan think about Jews and their right to live? Is their education anti-Semitic? What do they learn about Israel and Gaza? Can you abandon Islam? What are the jobs and wages? How do you get an apartment? How much money does UN give them? What food do they produce? What goods do they produce? How many have internet and how is speech limited? It's basic questions yet we get zero answers to any of them as she is busy attacking Israel.

The book is not really what you typically see in these books. For example, the intro is typically meant to entice readers by showing us how the author fell in love or started to get fascinated by Gaza. Food, songs, and the people. Instead we start out with the forewords mentioning the word genocide every few sentences in relation to the Gaza war. The issue is how all-encompassing the hate is making the author unable to focus on the topic at hand. This book is so one-sided you are missing half the story.

For example, she claims that Jewish militia came in and slaughtered the unarmed Deir Yassin. Yet the town is known for their extremely hard fighting something every single person from there would gladly brag about.

Every third historical point is about Israel countering terrorist attacks from Palestinian groups and then the author making Israel look bad by fully focusing on civilian victims. These victims are historically significant, but yet another name won't make me understand the culture in Gaza. Where are the Gaza lessons? Much of this is about West Bank. And it's always about IDF killing Gazans. What about Hamas and the poverty rate? I would have loved to learn about other sufferings. Issue is that there are better books if you just want to be disgusted by Israel. Many from Palestinian writers who know much more about the topic.

This all reads like a book she wrote to bash Israel after the Gaza War and then the publisher forced her to change the title to Gaza and rewrite a few things as there are way too many books in that other category.