West Asia sits at the crossroads of power, faith, and conflict. Rich in energy resources and commanding some of the world’s most critical maritime routes, the region has been shaped by rivalries, shifting alliances, and unresolved historical disputes. At the centre of these tensions lies the Palestine question, a deep faultline that has defined region`s political and strategic landscape for decades.

For a brief moment, early part of this decade appeared to promise change. The Abraham Accords of 2020, the Saudi Arabia-Iran rapprochement of 2023 and the possibility of Saudi-Israel normalisation suggested that decades of hostility might finally give way to diplomacy.

Those hopes collapsed on 7 October 2023, when Hamas launched a devastating attack on Israel, triggering the deadliest and most destructive war Gaza had witnessed in decades. Israel’s military response soon turned it into a regional crisis.

The war took a dangerous turn when Iran entered the conflict in April 2024, leading to the first direct military confrontation between Tehran and Tel Aviv. What began in Gaza quickly evolved into a wider regional struggle involving proxy militias and global powers. The crisis peaked during the ‘12 Day War’ of June 2025, when the US struck Iran’s nuclear facilities, pushing West Asia to the brink of a wider war.

Between Tehran and Tel Aviv: Gaza Story of an Unending War captures this dramatic and turbulent period. Through sharp analysis and vivid narration, the book examines how the Gaza war unfolded, why Iran and Israel entered direct conflict for the first time, and how the war reshaped the strategic landscape of West Asia. It relives moments of victory, defeat, death, anxiety and hope along the way.

A gripping account of war, power, and geopolitics, this is the story of a conflict that may have paused, but is far from over.

Colonel Rajeev Agarwal is a well-established researcher in international relations and security studies.His research specifically focuses on the West Asian region. He has written extensively on the Gaza War, Iran Nuclear Issue, Gulf Security Architecture etc.

He is a graduate from the National Defence Academy, Pune and the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun and is also an alumnus of the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington. He commanded his artillery unit on the ‘Line of Control’ in Kashmir. He has been a UN Military Observer in the Democratic Republic of Congo and later served as a Director in the Military Intelligence and as Director in the Ministry of External Affairs.

In his journey of research, he has been a Research Fellow and later, the Assistant Director at MP-IDSA, New Delhi. He is currently associated with Chintan Research Foundation, Delhi.

He holds a Master’s Degree in Defense and Strategic Studies from the University of Madras. He has published a number of peer reviewed research papers, issue briefs, and policy papers. He has published over 250 articles and opinion pieces in all leading media platforms and think tanks.

He has also delivered talks at the Army War College, Delhi University, JNU Delhi, College of Defence Management, Secunderabad etc. He has travelled extensively in the region; to Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Israel and UAE.