The Gates of Gaza: A Story of Betrayal, Survival, and Hope in Israel's Borderlands

by Amir Tibon

Overview

A gripping first-person account of how one Israeli grandfather helped rescue two generations of his family on October 7, 2023—a saga that reveals the deep tensions and systemic failures behind Hamas's attacks that day.
 
On the morning of October 7, Amir Tibon and his wife were awakened by mortar rounds exploding near their home in Kibbutz Nahal Oz, a progressive Israeli community less than a mile from Gaza City. Soon, they were holding their two young daughters in the family’s reinforced safe room, urging them not to cry as gunfire echoed just outside the door. With his cell phone battery running low, Amir texted his father: “The girls are behaving really well, but I’m worried they’ll lose patience soon and Hamas will hear us.”
 
Some 45 miles north, Amir’s parents had just cut short an early morning swim along the shores of Tel Aviv. Now, they jumped in their Jeep and sped toward Nahal Oz, armed only with a pistol but intent on saving their family at all costs.
 
In The Gates of Gaza, Amir Tibon tells this harrowing story in full for the first time. He describes his family's ordeal—and the bravery that ultimately led to their rescue—alongside the histories of the place they call home and the systems of power that have kept them and their neighbors in Gaza in harm’s way for decades. 
 
Woven throughout is Tibon's own expertise as a longtime international correspondent, as well as more than thirty original interviews: with residents of his kibbutz, with the Israeli soldiers who helped to wrest it from the hands of Hamas, and with experts on Gaza, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the failed peace process. More than one family's odyssey, The Gates of Gaza is the intimate story of a tight-knit community and the broader saga of war, occupation, and hostility between two national movements—a conflict that has not yet extinguished the enduring hope for peace.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316580960
Publisher:	Little, Brown and Company
Publication date:	09/24/2024
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	275,314
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.25(h) x 1.19(d)

About the Author

Amir Tibon is an award-winning diplomatic correspondent for Haaretz, Israel's paper of record, and has previously served as the paper’s correspondent in Washington, D.C., and as a senior editor for its English edition. He is the author of The Last Palestinian: The Rise and Reign of Mahmoud Abbas (co-authored with Grant Rumley), the first-ever biography of the leader of the Palestinian Authority. He, his wife, and their two young daughters were evacuated from their home in Kibbutz Nahal Oz after the October 7 attack, and are currently living in temporary housing in north-central Israel.

Editorial Reviews

Amir Tibon survived the October 7th Hamas attack on his kibbutz thanks to his father, who jumped in a car, drove south from Tel Aviv—dodging rockets and bullets—and pulled off a daring rescue of Amir and his young family. As a newspaper journalist, Amir brings a reporter’s eye to this vivid, truthful, and at times emotional account—not only of the fear and terror of that day, but also of life along the Israeli border with Gaza, and of the struggle between the Jews and Palestinians. The Gates of Gaza is both sweeping and deeply personal; it is grand and granular, historic and suspenseful, compassionate and wise.”

—Lesley Stahl, correspondent, 60 Minutes

“Amir Tibon has captured the horror and hope of October 7 in this compelling story of Hamas’ murderous rampage across southern Israel, of his family’s agonizing experience in their safe room while terrorists roamed outside, and of the heroism of his father, Noam, who came to their rescue. The Gates of Gaza would be an engrossing read if it were fiction; the fact that it is a true story is simply extraordinary.”—Daniel Kurtzer, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel and Egypt

“More than an account of horror, Amir Tibon's riveting book is a story of courage. Tibon's extraordinary family and community offer a glimpse into Israel's resilience, and help explain why it may be premature to despair over the hope for peace."—Yossi Klein Halevi, senior fellow, Shalom Hartman Institute, author, Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor

“A riveting minute by minute account of one of Israel’s darkest days, Amir Tibon’s telling of his family’s horrific ordeal — hiding for hours while terrorists overtook his kibbutz — is captivating. His father’s heroic mission to rescue them, woven together with the storied and bloodied history of the kibbutz, makes for a remarkable read.”—Bianna Golodryga, Anchor and Senior Global Affairs Analyst, CNN

From the Publisher