Given the onset of yet another conflict between Hamas and Israel, Moment has updated our Gaza timeline to give our readers additional context on the current situation. Our last update was on October 10, 2023.
Today, the Palestinian enclave of Gaza is known as a flashpoint for conflict that far eclipses its minuscule size. At 140 square miles—sharing an eight-mile frontier with Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula and hugging Israel’s border for nearly 32 miles—the sliver of desert is only twice the area of the District of Columbia. Yet modern Gaza’s reputation for turmoil is not new: Throughout its history, this Middle Eastern territory has rarely been at peace. Known as “the outpost of Africa, the door to Asia,” in ancient times, Gaza was a key port city and a hub of religious diversity, with Jews and Christians once living in harmony under Muslim rule. Unfortunately, its prime trade location also made it a perennial target for invaders. Cycles of conquest—from the Hyksos of Syria to the Philistines to King David to Alexander the Great to Napoleon Bonaparte—have wracked Gaza’s much-trespassed borders for millennia, leaving upheaval and devastation in their wake. In modern times, the region made up of 1.8 million inhabitants is at the heart of a drawn-out struggle with its neighbors. Moment asked Matt Rees, former TIME Jerusalem bureau chief and author of The Palestine Quartet series, to step back from the headlines about this historic city and illuminate the deep roots of the ongoing turbulence. His timeline, published in the November/December issue of Moment, has been updated.