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Gaza Conflict 2021 skillfully documents the 2021 Israel-Hamas conflict in the larger context of Iran's shadow war across the Middle East. Written by Jonathan Schanzer, Senior Vice President for Research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, the book's sharp, analytical account of those eleven days breaks from what Western media was reporting at the time. Although Schanzer admits he had "the benefit of hindsight," the 2021 conflict was no exception to the "disconnect between reporting and reality" during the past three Gaza wars in 2008, 2012, and 2014.1 Failing to grapple with the many complexities of Hamas, media coverage resulted in "flawed news and thin analysis that framed the war as just one more battle between Israelis and Palestinians."2 Instead, the author's no-frills analysis expertly and accessibly encapsulates the history, present, and future of Hamas. By revealing financial, political, and military connections between Hamas and Iran, Schanzer emphasizes how "Gaza is … ground zero in a struggle for the future stability of the Middle East."3
During the eleven days of conflict, Schanzer argues that reporters flooded media outlets with haphazard reporting that "ignored history," instead relying on tropes about the Arab-Israeli conflict.4 Schanzer attempts to correct those misperceptions with deeper contextualization.
In August and September of 2020, long before war erupted, Israel signed the Abraham Accords, normalizing relations with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco. While these new agreements did not signal "the Arab world had given up on the Palestinian cause," they conveyed that other security, economic, and political concerns would be prioritized.
Despite this shift by some of Israel's neighbors, Iran continues to work "overtime to keep the conflict burning through its proxies."5 Regardless of changing realities, Schnazer argues that Iran's goal remains the same: "the destruction of the Jewish state."6 By providing Hamas with financial and political backing––over $50 million annually by 2000––Iran aims to achieve its hegemonic ambitions.7 However, Iran is not alone in backing Hamas, as the terrorist group also enjoys support from "the Islamist-leaning governments of Qatar, Turkey, and even Malaysia."8 Schanzer notes that "[reports] barely noted [this] during the 2021 conflict."9 Through a narrative that seamlessly "bounces back and forth between the distant past and...