As a devastating war takes the lives of tens thousands of Palestinians in Gaza, and threatens thousands more, it is vital that we understand how we got here - and why.

The Gaza Strip is one of the most politically significant and widely-reported-on parts of the world, but misunderstandings about this tiny piece of land and its history abound. Dr Anne Irfan, a lecturer at University College London and an expert in modern Palestinian history, will chart the history of the Gaza Strip through six key events, from the expulsion of 700,000 Palestinians in 1948 – when Gaza was truncated to a ‘strip’ that absorbed large numbers of Palestinian refugees – to the rise of Hamas. She will explain how the Israeli occupation of 1967 gave birth to the intifada, the movement for Palestinian resistance, and how pivotal Britain and the United States were to the politics of Israel-Palestine.

Bringing to the forefront the people of Gaza, Irfan will show how Gaza went from being a thriving port town that birthed poets, feminists and revolutionaries to a place known mostly for its poverty and as a battleground for war. In the process, placing the voices of Palestinians at the centre, she will bring clarity to the current crisis, the geopolitics of the region and Western foreign policy. This is an urgent, gripping and accessible introduction to Gazan history that illuminates the events of today, and we cannot afford to ignore it.