Analysis: Israel-Hamas war: six key moments for the Gaza Strip

Writing in The Conversation, Dr Anne Irfan (UCL Arts & Sciences) looks at six key moments over the past 75 years that have led to Gaza, a strip of land less than half the size of Berlin, becoming so critical for the stability of the entire Middle East. Once again, the Gaza Strip is at the epicentre of violence in the Middle East. This tiny 41km-by-13km band of territory on the Mediterranean, sandwiched between the often hostile neighbours of Israel and Egypt, has faced repeated rounds of violence in recent history - but the current war is the deadliest by a long way. More than 5,700 people in Gaza have been reportedly killed by Israeli airstrikes in two weeks of relentless bombardment - at least 2,000 of whom are children. The aerial assault on Gaza has followed Hamas's brutal attack on Israel on October 7, in which it crossed the Gaza border in several places, attacked towns and settlements, and killed around 1,400, people, mainly civilians - including an unspecified number of children. More than 200 more people, including women, children and elderly people, were seized and taken into Gaza. Analysts are now warning of the danger of a full regional war, which could involve Iran and Lebanon as well.