Following the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, Israeli decision-makers opted to conquer, colonise, occupy and dominate the Gaza Strip. Why was this sliver of land - home and refuge to around 400,000 Palestinians - so important to Israel? Why did it come to play a major role in Israeli-Palestinian affairs, Israeli domestic and foreign policy, and - increasingly - Israel''s international relations? This book answers these questions. Placing the Gaza Strip within the context of Zionist ideology and practice and the wider Question of Palestine, the book charts Israel''s Gaza policy from early attempts to put the area under Israeli rule before 1967, and up until the military campaign against Gaza beginning in 2023. Based largely on Israeli archival material, official Israeli records , leaked US, Israeli and Palestinian documents, and international media reports, each chapter interrogates a pivotal moment in Israeli policymaking, its outcome, implementation and implications . While historical accounts and political commentary often suggest Israel has acted in an ad-hoc way based on military developments on the ground, unaware of the consequences of its actions, or the advantages and disadvantages of its policies, the book reveals that this is far from the case.

Autorentext
Trude Strand is Research Associate at the Centre on Conflict, Development and Peacebuilding at the Geneva Graduate Institute. She holds a PhD in history and has lived and worked in Gaza City for four years.

Klappentext

Since 1967, Israeli decision-makers have opted to conquer, occupy, colonize and dominate the Gaza Strip.

Why has this sliver of land - home and refuge to around 400,000 Palestinians at the time of the 1967 War - been so important? Why has it come to play such a major role in Israeli- Palestinian affairs, Israeli domestic and foreign policy, and - increasingly - Israel's international relations? This book answers these questions.

Placing Gaza within the context of Zionist ideology and practice, thequestion of Palestine and the fate of Palestinian self-determination, the book charts Israel's Gaza policy from early attempts to put the area
under Israeli rule before 1967 and up until Israel's attempted destruction of the Gaza Strip and its people in the wake of 7 October 2023.

Based on Israeli archival material, official records, international media reports and leaked documents, the book interrogates pivotal moments in the history of Israel and Gaza. It looks at the attitudes, behaviour and decisions behind Israeli policymaking, as well as policy implementation and its implications. Whilst historical accounts and political commentary often suggest Israel has acted towards Gaza and its Palestinian population in an ad-hoc way, the book reveals this is far from the case.

Inhalt

Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations

Chapter 1: Eyeless in Gaza?
Gaza at the Margins, Gaza at the Centre
Israel's Gaza Policy: A Note on Sources

Chapter 2: Explaining Israeli Foreign and Domestic Policy
Israeli Foreign Policy Choices in Context
The International Environment: The Tail Wagging the Dog
The Superpower Ally: The Road to 'Ironclad' Support
Regional Dynamics: Shifting Alliances, Fractured Unity
The Palestinian Nationalist Front
The Domestic Arena: Implications for Policy-Making
Ideology, Security, and Israeli Unilateralism

Chapter 3: Gaza in Context: Zionism, Expansionism, and Israel's Quest for Domination Pre-1967
The Zionist Project in Palestine
Making Palestine Jewish
The Zionist Strategy of Territorial Expansion and Colonization
Israel: A New State Without Borders
Gaza and the 1948 War: War Aims, Warfare and Armistice Agreements
The Creation of the Gaza Strip
Cross-Line Activity
The 1956 War: Israeli Occupation and Withdrawal

Chapter 4: A Bone Stuck in Their Throat? The 1967 War and the Onset of Israeli Occupation
Planning the 1967 Conquest of the Gaza Strip
Israel's Room for Manoeuvre: Domestic, Regional and International Pressure
From Conquest to Occupation
Post-War Decision-Making and Diplomacy
Gaza 'Normalization' and 'Refugee Rehabilitation'
To Have and to Hold

Chapter 5: An Inseparable Part of Israel: Strengthening Control and Domination, 1967-1987
Integration Without Annexation
Moshe Dayan's 'Invisible Occupation'
From 'Normalization' to Economic Dependence
Rooting Out Resistance, 'Thinning Out' Refugee Camps
Israeli Colonization: The Establishment of the First Gaza Settlement
The 'Five Fingers' Approach and Labour's Legacy
Keeping Control, Resisting Interference
Israel's Room for Manoeuvre: International and Domestic Approaches to Israel's Gaza Settlements
Likud Occupation Policy and Diplomacy
The Colonizing Drive
Prelude to a Crisis: Gaza at Boiling Point

Chapter 6: 'Gaza First': Recycling an Old Idea for Middle East Peace-Making, 1987-2000
The Intifada: An Uprising by the Palestinian People
Israel's Room for Manoeuvre: Changing International and Domestic Environments
The Game Changer: The First Gulf War, 1990-1991
Talking 'Peace' in Madrid, Washington and Sarpsborg
The 'Breakthrough': The Declaration of Principles on Palestinian Self-Government
'Gaza First': The Revival of an Old Idea
Maintaining Settlements, Maintaining Control
Israel and Gaza First: Abandoning Unilateralism?

Chapter 7: Painful Concession or Diplomatic and Demographic Necessity? Israel's Unilateral Evacuation, 2000-2005
The Breakdown of Negotiations and the Rise of the Second Intifada
Israel's Room for Manoeuvre: International and Regional Pressures
The Game Changer: The Roadmap for Peace
Erosion at Home
Sharon's Gaza 'Disengagement' and Israeli Political Realignment
Israel's Gaza Settlements: Lessons from the Sinai
Solving the Diplomatic Tangle and Israel's 'Demographic Problem'
Preparing for the 'Day After': Strategies for the Post-Evacuation Phase

Chapter 8: The Hostile Territory: Blockade, Separation and Fragmentation, 2005-2023
Keeping the Keys
The Hamas Dilemma
Israeli Policy: Elections and the Day After
Divide and Rule
Israel's Room for Manoeuvre: A Coalition of Convergence
Declaring Gaza 'Hostile Territory'
Israel: Gaza's 'Dietician'
By Blockade and By Force
Fragmenting Palestine: The Separation of Gaza from the West Bank

Chapter 9: Remember What Amalek Did to You: Bringing Down the House
Making the Case
Dehumanizing Gaza
The Room for Manoeuvre: Silence, Consent and Support
Israel: Samson in Gaza?