THE GATES OF GAZA

A timely, dramatic and essential read for anyone who wants to understand the Hamas attack against Israel on October 7th, the history that led to that moment, and the war that has unfolded in its wake.

On that Saturday morning, Amir Tibon and his wife Miri were awakened by the sounds of mortar exploding near their home in Nahal Oz, a kibbutz near the Gaza border. By the time the rocket sirens went off, they were holding their two young daughters in their reinforced "safe room." Soon, Hamas terrorists were shooting at their house, attempting to gain entry. Amir texted his father, retired general Noam Tibon, "They're here." "I'm coming," Noam replied, and raced into battle armed only with a pistol. Over the course of a violent and terrifying day, Noam saved his son's family. What unfolded for this family during those 11 hours became an international story, covered by covered by The New York Times, The Atlantic, and 60 Minutes. Negotiations for the film rights to the story are ongoing. THE GATES OF GAZA tells the story of October 7th through the prism of one family's tale of survival. The book also describes life on Kibbutz Nahal Oz and the community's decades-long struggle to live and flourish at one of the world's most dangerous borders. Tibon's account of Nahal Oz provides a larger understanding of the kibbutz movement what it stood for, and what its future will be. A deeply personal book by a noted journalist, THE GATES OF GAZA is a thoroughly researched examination of the most important questions about October 7th: Why did it happen? How did Israel fail to prepare for it? What did Hamas, the terror group responsible for the attack, get out of it, and what will it mean for the future of both Israel and Gaza? Amir Tibon is an award-winning diplomatic correspondent for Haaretz, Israel's paper of record. Tibon's first book, The Last Palestinian: The Rise and Reign of Mahmoud Abbas (2017), was the first-ever biography of Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the Palestinian Authority since 2004 and one of the most influential figures in the history of Palestinian politics.