Here's what you can read to better understand the Israel-Hamas war
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Understanding the Israel-Hamas war is difficult, and social media isn’t always helpful, clear, accurate, or well sourced. We compiled five expert lists of recommended reading from diverse authors, viewpoints, and backgrounds to help explain the history, context, and experiences shaping the war.
Financial Times
Published on Oct. 9 , just days after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, this list by Financial Times editor Roula Khalaf is a selection of books recommended by Financial Times specialists, including:
- “Bibi: The Turbulent Life and Times of Benjamin Netanyahu,” Anshel Pfeffer
A portrait of Netanyahu’s combative politics and his relationship with Palestinians and the two-state solution
- “Footnotes in Gaza,” Joe Sacco
A graphic novel that offers a nonfiction account of Israel’s 1956 killing of over 100 Palestinians in Rafah following armed Palestinian raids. Sacco’s illustrations make tangible the Gaza Strip’s isolation.
- “Hamas: The Islamic Resistance Movement,” Beverly Milton-Edwards and Stephen Farrell
Explores the origin and evolution of Hamas and its rivalry with other Palestinian political organizations
- “The Iron Cage: The Story of the Palestinian Struggle for Statehood,” Rashid Khalidi
A look at why Palestinians did not get their own state as regional colonial rule collapsed during the 20th century. A nuanced analysis of how outside actors shaped Palestinians’ political futures, but the author – a Palestinian American historian – finds Palestinian leaders also bear responsibility.
The Globe and Mail
This Canadian newspaper asked its foreign correspondents, reporters, and editors for their suggested reading to make sense of the history behind the Israel-Hamas war. Their list included:
- “After the Last Sky: Palestinian Lives,” Edward Said
A Palestinian American author and scholar explores sites of Palestinian memory through photography from Jean Mohr.
- “Drinking the Sea at Gaza: Days and Nights in a Land Under Siege,” Amira Hass
A child of Holocaust survivors, Hass was born in Jerusalem but stayed in Gaza for years. This book, released in 1996, chronicles her life.
- “The Seventh Million: The Israelis and the Holocaust,” Tom Segev
An Israeli journalist explores how the Holocaust impacted the thinking of David Ben-Gurion, Menachem Begin, and Nahum Goldmann and the formation of Israel.
- “In Search of Fatima: A Palestinian Story,” Ghada Karmi
This memoir tells the story of a Palestinian family forced to flee Jerusalem for the U.K. The family unknowingly moved to a predominantly Jewish suburb of London where Karmi wrestled with her sense of self and identity.
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Foreign Policy
Foreign Policy recently compiled a list designed to help readers understand the Israel-Hamas war, including these two books:
“In careful but compassionate prose, Roy, a political economist, chronicles the systematic immiseration of Gaza, the devastating consequences on the people trapped there, and the failed peace process that has enabled Hamas to endure and attract support.” — Stephen M. Walt, Foreign Policy columnist
- “Blind Spot: America and the Palestinians, from Balfour to Trump,” Khaled Elgindy
“Elgindy served as an advisor to the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah on permanent status negotiations with Israel from 2004 to 2009 and thus had a front-row seat to Washington’s peacemaking efforts. His book provides a deeply researched historical examination of how U.S.-Palestinian relations shaped the peace process over the decades and contributed to the crisis of Palestinian leadership we see today.” —Jennifer Williams, Foreign Policy deputy editor
Middle East Institute
In 2022, the Middle East Institute’s book review editor shared recommended reading from books reviewed in The Middle East Journal, including these:
- “The Middle East Crisis Factory: Tyranny, Resilience and Resistance,” Iyad El-Baghdadi and Ahmed Gatnash
“Western readers hungry for didactic primers about Middle East politics confront bookshelves of forgettable volumes. What makes this offering notable is that the authors themselves are activists from the region and write as sensitive insiders rather than as foreign journalists or retired diplomats penning yet another screed.” —Sean Yom, Temple University
- “Reaching for the Heights: The Inside Story of a Secret Attempt to Reach a Syrian-Israeli Peace,” Frederic C. Hof
“Fred Hof, a retired military officer and experienced Middle East negotiator, tells the story of the last effort to reach an Israel-Syria peace agreement.” —Daniel Kurtzer, Princeton University
American Enterprise Institute
A former CIA officer turned Middle East scholar at AEI, Kenneth Pollack recommended the best books on Middle East military history, including:
- “Elusive Victory: The Arab-Israeli Wars, 1947-1974,” Col. Trevor N. Dupuy
“…Dupuy extensively interviewed nearly all of the major political and military leaders on both sides of every war … it is why his book remains the single best work on the subject and the foundation on which all later histories rest.”
- “On the Banks of the Suez: An Israeli General’s Personal Account of the Yom Kippur War,” Avraham Adan
Adan was a senior military official in the war. Pollack recommends this book as “...an outstanding first-hand account … Adan’s book is also distinguished by his ruthless honesty in pointing out his own mistakes as well as those of the larger Israel Defense Forces.”
