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Resources for Understanding the Current Conflict in Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank

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The current conflict between Israel and Hamas has caused world-wide tension and unease. We recognize the scale of the tragedy, loss of life, and suffering that civilians across the region are undergoing.  

We offer this list of resources on the Israel-Hamas war to aid those who seek a better understanding of the historical and political roots of this crisis.  

The list below, while not exhaustive, includes a range of recently published scholarly resources that may be helpful in understanding the current struggle in Israel and Palestine. To locate and read these books, copy and paste the title into the main search box of UC Library Search. Many of the titles are available electronically to UC Davis affiliates.

As research evolves and progresses in this area, the library will be providing access to new resources. Please feel free to recommend titles and sources as we build our collections and guides.

Please note: The UC Davis Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion offers resources for racial and identity-based trauma.

This resource guide was first published on Oct. 24, 2023. Last updated: Nov. 21, 2023.

Recently Published Books

  • Abu Toha, Mosab. Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear: Poems from Gaza. San Francisco: City Lights Books, 2022. Print.
  • Abu-Laban, Yasmeen, and Abigail B. (Abigail Bess) Bakan. Israel, Palestine and the Politics of Race: Exploring Identity and Power in a Global Context. London;: I.B. Tauris, 2020. Print.
  • Abusalim, Jehad, Jennifer Bing, and Michael Lotze, eds. Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire. Chicago, Illinois: Haymarket Books, 2022. Print.
  • Allen, Lori. A History of False Hope: Investigative Commissions in Palestine. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 2021. Print.
  • Al-Taweel, Hekmat. Come My Children. Ed. Ghada Ageel and Barbara Bill. First edition. Edmonton, Alberta: University of Alberta Press, 2023. Print.
  • Baroud, Ramzy. The Last Earth: a Palestinian Story. Ed. Daniela Loffreda. London: Pluto Press, 2018. Print.
  • Berdugo, Liat. The Weaponized Camera in the Middle East: Videography, Aesthetics, and Politics in Israel and Palestine. London;: I.B. Tauris, 2021. Web.
  • Bishara, Amahl A. Crossing a Line: Laws, Violence, and Roadblocks to Palestinian Political Expression. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 2022. Print.
  • Chaitin, Julia et al. Routine Emergency: the Meaning of Life for Israelis Living Along the Gaza Border. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2022. Print.
  • Dunsky, Marda. Stories from Palestine: Narratives of Resilience. Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 2021. Print.
  • Farsakh, Leila, ed. Rethinking Statehood in Palestine: Self-Determination and Decolonization Beyond Partition. Oakland, California: University of California Press, 2021. Print.
  • Fergusson, James. In Search of the River Jordan: a Story of Palestine, Israel and the Struggle for Water. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2023. Print.
  • Ghanem, As’ad, and Muhannad Muṣṭafá. Palestinians in Israel: the Politics of Faith after Oslo. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018. Print.
  • Groulx, David A. From Turtle Island to Gaza. Canada: Athabasca University Press, 2019. Print.
  • Hitman, Gadi. The Fatah-Hamas Rift: an Analysis of Failed Negotiations. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2022. Print.
  • Jones, Craig. The War Lawyers: the United States, Israel, and Juridical Warfare. First edition. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, 2020. Print.
  • Kretzmer, David, and Yaël Ronen. The Occupation of Justice: the Supreme Court of Israel and the Occupied Territories. Second edition. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2021. Print.
  • Leopardi, Francesco Saverio. Palestinian Left and Its Decline: Loyal Opposition. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan, 2020. Print.
  • Paul, Drew. Israel/Palestine: Border Representations in Literature and Film. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2020. Print.
  • Roy, Sara M. Unsilencing Gaza: Reflections on Resistance. London: Pluto Press, 2021. Print.
  • Sanagan, Mark. Lightning through the Clouds: ʻIzz Al-Dīn Al-Qassām and the Making of the Modern Middle East. First edition. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2020. Print.
  • Sen, Somdeep. Decolonizing Palestine: Hamas Between the Anticolonial and the Postcolonial. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2021. Web.
  • Seurat, Leila., and Martin. Makinson. The Foreign Policy of Hamas: Ideology, Decision Making and Political Supremacy. London: I. B. Tauris & Company, Limited, 2022. Print.
  • Shalom, Zaki. Israel, the United States, and the War Against Hamas, July-August 2014: the “Special Relationship” Under Scrutiny. Brighton;: Sussex Academic Press, 2019. Print.
  • Smith, Ron J. Freedom Is a Place: the Struggle for Sovereignty in Palestine. Athens: The University of Georgia Press, 2020. Print.
  • Sorkin, Michael. et al. Open Gaza: Architectures of Hope. La Vergne: The American University in Cairo Press, 2020. Print.
  • Tartir, Alaa, Ṭāriq Daʻnā, and Timothy Seidel, eds. Political Economy of Palestine: Critical, Interdisciplinary, and Decolonial Perspectives. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2021. Print.
  • Water in Circular Economy and Resilience: The Case of North Gaza. Washington, D.C: The World Bank, 2021. Web.
  • Yaqub, Nadia G., ed. Gaza on Screen. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2023. Print.

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The UC Davis Library, including our Archives and Special Collections, is committed to building and maintaining research-level multi-polar and multi-perspective collections in Middle Eastern Studies. 

Our subject guides on Middle Eastern / South Asian Studies, History, Anthropology, Political Science, and Sociology (among others) provide important gateways, pathfinders, and indexes to both academic literature and primary source materials.