We’re continuing our look at global conflict with books about the Israel-Hamas war, which started in October 2023. As it stands in late May 2026, the military leader of Hamas was just killed in an airstrike, despite the ceasefire that’s been in place since October 2025. Israel and Hamas have both been accused of committing war crimes, and numerous international organizations and sovereign states have recognized Israel’s military actions as genocide. It’s too early to tell when or how the war will resolve.

As I said in my post about the war in Iran, I am a terrible historian and an even worse geopolitical expert, but I am a librarian who can find contextual works by experts and firsthand narratives by those whose lives are directly affected by these conflicts. I’ve compiled as many different perspectives as possible. Some perspectives may not exist in printed book format, or they haven’t been translated into English. If you know of an informative resource that’s not on the list, please feel free to leave a comment so other readers can find it!

Before the War

We have no shortage of books dedicated to the current Israel-Hamas conflict. However, if you want to go way back in history before Israel was even a state, try A History of Zionism by Walter Laqueur. Originally published in 1972, Laqueur covers the philosophical development of Zionism, touching on figures like Benjamin Disraeli, Moses Hess, and Theodor Herzl. For a more political context, there’s David Fromkin’s A Peace to End All Peace (1989). It’s a great read on how the modern Middle East was created in the wake of World War I and the dismantling of the Ottoman Empire – and how those new borders set the stage for many conflicts that followed. And if you’re looking for a quicker and less academic read, you could try Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth by Noa Tishby (2021). 

Do you want to read and compare just two books, one from an Israeli perspective and the other Palestinian? Then you can’t go wrong with Righteous Victims: A History of the Zionist-Arab Conflict, 1881-1998 by Israeli Benny Morris (1999) and The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917-2017 by Palestinian-American Rashid Khalidi (2020). Morris and Khalidi are both academics with a number of other well-researched, thoughtful works available in our library consortium.

After the War

For firsthand accounts of the war, give a try to Hostage by Eli Sharabi (2025) and 10/7: 100 Human Stories by Lee Yaron (2024). Both of these books cover the Israeli side of the October 7, 2023 attacks. Meanwhile, The Eyes of Gaza: A Diary of Resilience by Plestia Alaqad (2025) recounts what happened in Gaza in the immediate aftermath of those attacks.

If you’re interested in responses to the war across the globe, there’s One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by novelist and journalist Omar El Akkad (2025). It won the National Book Award in nonfiction last year. Another title worth checking out is Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning by Peter Beinart (2025), who is an American journalist and professor. There are many more accounts, and undoubtedly more will continue to be published as the world comes to terms with its losses on both sides of the border and beyond.