In Governing Gaza, anthropologist Ilana Feldman examines how Gaza was governed under the British Mandate (1917–1948) and Egyptian administration (1948–1967) – two regimes that never claimed Gaza as their own sovereign territory.

Drawing on archives and interviews with former civil servants, Feldman focuses on the everyday work of bureaucracy: filing systems, civil service jobs, relief services for refugees and the management of daily life. She shows how government continued and claimed authority through these routine practices, even through war, displacement and political upheaval. The book offers an original view of Gaza’s history before Israeli occupation.