The story behind Israel's assault on Gaza, by acclaimed Ha'aretz journalist Gideon Levy. Israel's 2009 invasion of Gaza was a vicious act of aggression that left more than 1,400 Palestinians dead and devastated the infrastructure of an already impoverished enclave. In this examination of Israel's policies, Levy shows how the ground was prepared for the assault and documents its continuing effects.

From 2005, the year of Gaza's "liberation", and to 2009, he tracks Israel's abandonment of the pretense of diplomacy in favor of a policy of provocation and raw military power, with the ultimate aim of denying Palestinians any chance of forming their own independent state. Punished by Israel and the Quartet of international powers for the democratic election of Hamas, Gaza has been transformed into the world's largest open-air prison.

From Gazan families struggling to cope with the random violence of Israel's blockade and its "targeted" assassinations, to the machinations of legal experts and the continued connivance of the international community, every aspect of this ongoing tragedy is eloquently recorded and forensically analyzed. Levy's powerful journalism shows how the brutality at the heart of Israel's occupation of Palestine has found its most complete expression to date in the collective punishment of the residents of Gaza.