In December 2008, when Israeli forces launched Operation Cast Lead, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip thought they knew what to expect. But it was unlike any previous incursion: the destruction was unprecedented. It was the start of a radical change in Israel's approach to Gaza, one whose full effects are only now being understood.
Breaking the Silence, a group of Israeli veterans dedicated to exposing the truth of their country's actions, traces the evolution of the IDF's strategy, showing how the small and densely populated Gaza Strip is treated as a conventional battlefield free of civilians. It probes how Israel's fiction of symmetrical war has ultimately served its goal of maintaining control over Palestinians and fragmenting their territory. Unveiling this fiction is at the heart of this book: what it involves, how it has been sustained, and, crucially, how it has allowed Israel to ignore the reality of unfathomable human loss.
Drawing on soldiers' testimonies, Palestinian accounts, and military documents, The Wars Before the War is essential reading for all those concerned with human rights, global politics, and the future of Israel and Palestine. It is at once a landmark investigation and a shocking chronicle of a catastrophe foretold.
