Glory to Gaza, Glory to God

[Hereno]

Having lost contact with their Neapolitan benefactors, the peoples of the Italian Levant were restless. Divided among various religious, ethnic, and cultural lines, it seemed impossible - at least in the present - for a unified state to emerge. Local authorities, based on historical borders, began to spring up all around the protectorate, one of which was the Republic of Gaza. Centered around Gaza city, it was much larger than the former Gaza Strip, having drawn under its wing territories as far north as Ashkelon and Ashdod, and as far east as Kiryat Gat, with its eastern boundary being formed by the Yitzhak Rabin highway.

 

Soon, however, the threat of outside invasion - in particular, worry about invasion from neighboring Egypt - led the peoples of Palestine to unite, and an agreement was reached between the city-states of Gaza and Hebron to reunite under the Palestinian Authority. Seen as a threat by the Jewish-majority cities of Be'er Sheva, Jerusalem, and Tel Aviv, another state of Israel was formed. Wasting no time, it quickly began invading the independent territories, seeking strength through unity and rejecting Palestinian claims of sovereignty.

 

While the northern territories of the West Bank fell by the hour to encroaching Israelis, the city of Be'er Sheva found itself cut off from the rest of the state of Israel, attacked from both sides after having been pinched off like a turd. It fell, not quickly but within a few days, and by the end almost half of the city population was dead. While ruthless and brutal, it would serve an important part in preserving relative independence for the Palestinians later. But, in retaliation for the massacre at Be'er Sheva, the Gazan city of Ashdod was completely leveled, and tens of thousands of citizens in the West Bank were slaughtered on international television.

 

With casualties in the extreme on both sides and in recognition that this division would only invite outside invasion - which was, of course, the exact opposite of what anybody wanted - a deal was reached between the governments for peace. [b]Gaza, Hebron, Haifa, Jerusalem, and Tel Aviv were to form a confederacy of five mostly-independent regional powers based around each capital. Each of the city-states would have its own laws, citizenship requirements, borders, standing armies, and governments, but a national council would be formed with representatives of each to discuss such matters as economic and military coordination. Its composition and president were soon to be elected nationally. In the interim, the nation would be represented by the Governor of Gaza, Hashim al-Rashid Faysal Ghassan El-Ghazzawy.[/b]