Research Guide: Gaza

A note for students: our guide features two types of peer-reviewed journals: those that require an individual subscription or access via your institution, and open-access journals.  

Open-access journals are accessible to all researchers, free of charge. 

For access to paywalled journals, check to see if your university subscribes to the journal you are interested in, which will grant you physical and/or digital access. If your university does not provide institutional access to any of the journals listed below, here are some options that might be available to you: 

• Submit a request to your librarian to acquire institutional access, or to purchase access to a particular issue of the journal you are interested in. 
• Submit a scan-and-deliver request for the particular article you would like to read. Some universities have resource sharing agreements with one another and will fulfill requests for article scans, as well as scans of book chapters (limits apply due to copyright laws; consult your library policy guidelines). 
• Occasionally, paywalled journals will offer free access to selected articles in a particular issue, or free access to selected issues.  

Note that university librarians often consider requests from library patrons to acquire institutional access to books and academic journals.  

Arab Studies Journal (ASJ) 

Peer-reviewed academic journal published by the Arab Studies Institute (ASI), the parent organization to other initiatives including the Jadaliyya e-zine. ASJ is affiliated with Georgetown University’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS). Subscription/institutional access required. 

Arab Studies Quarterly (ASQ) 

Peer-reviewed academic journal co-founded by Palestinian American intellectuals Edward Said and Ibrahim Abu-Lughod in 1979. The establishment of ASQ emerged from a need to challenge pervasive orientalism and (largely unchecked) anti-Arab bigotry in US academic publications. ASQ was established by the Association of Arab American University Graduates (AAUG), a grassroots political organization that operated from 1967 to 2007 and was dedicated to promoting decolonization in the Arab world, global anti-imperialist solidarity, and Palestinian liberation. Subscription/institutional access required for issues published between 1979 and 2007; open access for all issues published since 2008.  

International Journal of Middle East Studies (IJMES) 

Peer-reviewed journal of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), a leading professional association for scholars and experts on the region. Subscription/institutional access required. 

Journal of Palestine Studies 

Peer-reviewed journal of the Institute for Palestine Studies (IPS), a research organization established in 1963 that also publishes academic journals Majallat al-Dirasat al-Filastiniyya (Arabic) and Jerusalem Quarterly. Subscription/institutional access required. 

Middle East Critique 

Peer-reviewed journal that promotes interdisciplinary approaches to the study of the region with a commitment to “heterodox theoretical perspectives” to advance knowledge production on the region. Open access. 

Middle East Policy 

Peer-reviewed journal of the Middle East Policy Council, a non-partisan educational organization focused on US interests in the Middle East. Dedicated to assessments of US policy in the region and how these policies align with national interests, Middle East Policy is an important forum for researchers interested in foreign affairs. Subscription/institutional access required. 

Al-Muntaqa: New Perspectives on Arab Studies 

Peer-reviewed journal of the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies (ACRPS) and the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies. Open access. 

For expert analysis, access to reports, announcements on new publications in the field of Palestine studies, research guides, finding aids, methodological primers, and informative digital projects, visit the sites of the following organizations:  

• Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights 
• Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies (ACRPS) 
• Arab Center Washington DC (ACW) 
• Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas Studies (AMED), San Francisco State University 
• Center for Palestine Studies (CPS), Columbia University 
• Gaza Mental Health Foundation 
• Institute for Palestine Studies (IPS) 
• Librarians and Archivists with Palestine 
• Middle East Studies Association (MESA) 
• New Directions in Palestinian Studies, Brown University 
• Palestinian American Research Center (PARC) 
• Palestinian Centre for Human Rights 
• Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR) 
• Palestine Program for Health and Human Rights, Harvard University FXB Center 
• Palthink for Strategic Studies 

The following databases and digital resources contain information that is relevant to a diverse set of researchers including students, scholars, journalists, and policy analysts. These include sources relevant for both historical and contemporary studies. 

Data – United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) 

Collection of data produced by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs to assist humanitarian aid organizations as they carry out their work. Resources include maps such as “West Bank Access Restrictions” and “Gaza Strip Access and Movement,” “Data on demolition and displacement in the West Bank,” “Gaza crossings: movement of people and goods,” “Electricity in the Gaza Strip,” and “Gaza Strip: Critical Humanitarian Indicators.” Full databases are limited to humanitarian agencies, but other data is made available to the public. Additionally, OCHA publications like the “Humanitarian Situation Update,” “Humanitarian Response Update,” and “Reported impact snapshot” are important resources for following unfolding developments on the ground in Gaza. 

Documenting the Targeting and Destruction of the Health Sector in Gaza – Institute for Palestine Studies (IPS) 

Platform that documents Israel’s attacks on healthcare facilities, resources, and personnel during its genocidal War on Gaza. Offers thorough and continuously updated information on matters including:   

• Gaza’s health facilities: including a timeline depicting attacks on each facility; data on the location, history, capacity, and current functionality; and testimonies related to attacks on the facilities and health care workers. 
• Health workers: documenting the killings, abductions, forced disappearances, and release of healthcare providers from Gaza. 
• Public records: archiving official statements, resolutions, press releases, and other documents by Palestinian organizations and international bodies like the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). 
• Key statistics: violence against and arrest of healthcare workers, attacks on healthcare facilities, public health impact of these attacks, and current availability (or lack thereof) of necessary medicine and medical supplies in the Gaza Strip. In numbers, updated regularly. 

The Palestine Chronology – Institute for Palestine Studies (IPS) 

A day-by-day timeline of events in and related to Palestine from June 3, 1982, to the present day based on official sources, reports from human rights organizations, and journalistic reports from Arabic, Hebrew, and English-language news sources. Refine results by territory to find daily updates on events in Gaza. 

Settlement Reports – Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP) 

Documentation project of the Foundation for Middle East Peace that tracks Israeli settlement activity. Database contains quarterly reports on settlement activity in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip (occupied by Israel from 1967 to 2005) that were issued by FMEP from 1991 to 2014. Reports include information on Washington’s position on settlements as it transformed over time, and US complicity. Since 2017, FMEP has issued its settlement report on a weekly basis, also accessible through this database. 

World Bank Open Data 

World Bank Data Catalog, microdata, visualization tools, debt statistics, and more. Data relevant to research on Palestine at large and Palestine in US policy can be found by using key terms “West Bank and Gaza.” The US played a leading role in the World Bank’s founding in 1944, and according to the World Bank Group site, the US is the “only World Bank Group shareholder that retains veto power over certain changes in the Bank’s structure”; consequently, it “plays a unique role in influencing and shaping global development priorities.” With this in mind, World Bank data on the West Bank and Gaza provide a picture into such issues as Washington-approved economic plans for Palestinians, the impact of the so-called “peace process” and Oslo Accords, and US-Israel economic ties.  

World Bank Documents & Reports 

Collection contains World Bank documents, reports, publications, research, and legal records that are relevant to research on Palestine at large, Palestine in US policy, and plans for the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Use key terms “West Bank and Gaza” to find pertinent materials. The US played a leading role in the World Bank’s founding in 1944, and according to the World Bank Group site, the US is the “only World Bank Group shareholder that retains veto power over certain changes in the Bank’s structure”; consequently, it “plays a unique role in influencing and shaping global development priorities.” With this in mind, World Bank documents and reports on the West Bank and Gaza provide a picture into such issues as Washington-approved economic plans for Palestinians, the impact of the so-called “peace process” and Oslo Accords, and US-Israel economic ties.  

Atlas of Palestine 

Authoritative project detailing Palestinian land before and after the 1948 Nakba, useful for studies of Gaza’s history and the place of Gaza during the ongoing Nakba. A publication of the Palestine Land Society authored by Salman Abu Sitta, a Palestinian engineer, scholar, and Nakba survivor who fled his native Beersheba for the Gaza Strip in 1948. 

Maps, Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs (PASSIA) 

Collection hosted by PASSIA, featuring historical and contemporary maps. Pieces relevant to Gaza include:  

• “The Annapolis Conference and the Olmert Peace Plan, 2007-2008” 
• “The Israeli Disengagement Plan, 2003-2005” 
• “Agreed Documents on Movement and Access from and to Gaza, 2005” 
• “The Gaza Strip Today (2014)” 
• “Gaza-Jericho (Oslo I) Agreement, Cairo, 4 May 1994” 
• “Gaza, 2000” 
• “Protocol Concerning Safe Passage Between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, 1999” 
• “The Suez War, 1956” 

Palestine Land Society 

Research organization that publishes resources on Palestinian history and geography broadly, with a particular focus on producing scholarly materials for a general audience on Palestinian dispossession and claims to their land and property. The Palestine Land Society was founded by Salman Abu Sitta, a leading Palestinian scholar of the Nakba and a refugee displaced from his home in Beersheba to Gaza as a result of the 1948 Nakba. Through the Palestine Land Society, Dr. Abu Sitta has published several historical atlases of Palestine that serve to mark the claim of Palestinians to their original towns, villages, and cities. English and Arabic. 

Palestine Open Maps 

Repository of historical maps with interactive features that allow users to layer maps, view depopulated Palestinian towns, and more. Tool offers the ability to overlay historical and modern maps. Useful resource for studying the history of Gaza, Gaza and the Nakba, and Palestinian dispossession. A project of Visualizing Palestine. 

Phoenix of Gaza XR 

Virtual Reality 360 tour of Gaza City that allows users to experience 3D immersion into Gaza City’s urban environment, offering experiences of the city before October 2023 and after Israel’s destruction of the city in its ongoing genocide. 

The Avalon Project 

The Avalon Project, hosted at the Yale Law School, is a collection of primary source documents relevant to law and diplomacy, available online for free. Contains diplomatic records, including UN documents on Palestine and materials related to the Oslo Accords and negotiations conducted as part of the “peace process,” with reference to plans and agreements related to Gaza. Includes a searchable database. Consult the Avalon Project collection “The Middle East 1916-2001: A Documentary Record” for relevant UN documents on Gaza. 

Bseiso Family Archive 

Archive of Mahrous Afandi Bseiso, a Palestinian entrepreneur and landowner in Beersheba who meticulously documented his records and land deeds before Beersheba was ethnically cleansed in the 1948 Nakba. Bseiso sought refuge in the Gaza Strip, along with much of his extended family who became important leaders in diverse aspects of Gaza’s life, culture, and politics. Spanning the years 1906-1977, the collection contains business records, receipts, land deeds, maps, and photos. The Bseiso Family Archive is an important tool for researchers of the social history of Palestine, the history of the Gaza Strip, Beersheba, and the impact of the Nakba on Palestinians.  

Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question 

Joint project of the Institute for Palestine Studies (IPS) and the Palestinian Museum featuring timelines, biographies of key historical figures, interactive maps, and primary sources relevant to the study of Gaza. 

Library of Congress (LOC) 

The Library of Congress is the official national library of the United States, located in Washington, DC. Its digital collections contain reports, published texts, rare books, newspapers, photographs, and other primary and secondary sources that shed light on various dimensions of Gaza’s history. 

Manuscripts Collection of the Great Omari Mosque Library 

The Digitized Omari Mosque Collection preserves manuscripts from one of Palestine’s oldest and most important libraries. The library has suffered repeated damage from war, occupation, and poor preservation conditions, and has been severely damaged after Israel bombed and destroyed large parts of the historic mosque during the ongoing genocide. The digitization project, led by the University College of Applied Sciences, was carried out in collaboration with the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library. It began in 2019 and is part of the Endangered Archives Programme of the British Library. The project digitized 211 manuscripts to protect them from further loss. The collection includes rare and valuable texts spanning various fields of knowledge and periods of Palestinian history. 

United Nations Digital Library 

Digital archive of the UN. Includes voting records, official UN records and publications, speeches, oral history interviews, and datasets. Collections relevant to Gaza include records of the UN General Assembly (UNGA), human rights bodies, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), and the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). 

United Nations Information System on the Question of Palestine 

Digital archive of UN, League of Nations (predecessor to the UN), and other political documents related to Palestine spanning from 1915 to the present day. Main landing page lists features including a history section, information on the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People website, a legal study on the Israeli occupation, a list of Palestinian civil society organizations affiliated to the committee, digital booklets on UN exhibits on Palestine, and information on Palestine in the UN System which details all UN bodies, agencies, and committees that work on the different facets of the question of Palestine. Includes records and documents relevant to historical events in Gaza, international organizations’ engagement with Gaza, unfolding humanitarian concerns, Gaza in international law, and more. 

UNRWA Film and Photo Archive 

Digital photograph and film archive documenting the lives of Palestinians living in UNRWA refugee camps across generations as a result of the ongoing Nakba and ethnic cleansing by Zionist militias and Israel. Includes archival photographs of Palestinians as they are expelled and seek refuge in 1948. Contains images from Palestinian refugee camps in Gaza. 

A few notes on using physical archives for your research needs:  

• Most archives require appointments in advance of your visit. Check out this guide by the Society of American Archivists explaining what archives are, how to use archives effectively, and how to plan for your first visit. 
• Consult library special collections of nearby colleges and universities for sources pertinent to your research needs in their special collections. While access to university libraries is typically restricted to university affiliates, special collections in libraries are often accessible by appointment in coordination with library staff.  
• Many archives and libraries will accommodate requests for digital scans of materials within certain parameters, which are subject to copyright limitations and typically, a copy fee. Consult the archive or library’s policy to explore if this option is available for your research needs. 

Library of Congress (LOC) 

The Library of Congress is the official national library of the United States, located in Washington, DC. It serves as the research wing for the US Congress, offering support through the Congressional Research Service (CRS), a think tank housed in the LOC that provides research materials and original reports for members of Congress. The LOC is the largest library in the world, it is free and accessible to the public, and also hosts digital collections. In addition to government records, researchers concerned with Gaza will benefit from materials housed in the LOC’s expansive African and Middle Eastern Division. Explore the LOC catalog, LOC Research Guides, and the library’s digital collections to locate reports, published texts, rare books, newspapers, photographs, and other primary and secondary sources. 

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) 

NARA preserves, catalogues, and stores documents related to US government history for public access. Find primary sources related to Congress, the Supreme Court, and federal agencies like the State Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and more. Source types include but are not limited to paper records, photographs, and audiovisual materials. The National Archives digital collection contains a number of sources relevant to the study of Gaza, such as archival photographs from Gaza’s refugee camps, declassified documents, and speeches. NARA has several locations, and is responsible for the management of presidential libraries throughout the US. Consult this introductory guide and the National Archives Catalog to identify the location(s) relevant to your project. 

United Nations Archives and Records Management Section 

Located in New York, the United Nations Archives and Records Management Section provides access to its archives for UN diplomats, UN staff, and the general public. Find materials related to Gaza in the collections of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), United Nations Mediator for Palestine (1948-1949), and the collections of the Secretaries-General.