GAZA
One of the five royal cities of the Philistines. Of great antiquity, it is already mentioned in Gen. 10:19 as the limit of the Canaanites.
The Anakims dwelt there, but Judah conquered Gaza and its common lands (Joshua 11:22; Judges 1:18).
By the time of Samson, the Philistines had conquered it again; Samson was taken prisoner there (Judg. 16:21).
Then Solomon took possession of it (1 Kings 4:24).
Hezekiah took it again (2 Kings 18:8).
The king of Egypt later attacked her (Jer. 47:1, 5).
Having been a Philistine stronghold, the prophets pronounced woes upon it (Am. 1:6, 7; Zeph. 2:4; Zech. 9:5).
Gaza was a station for caravans going to and returning from Egypt; Its strategic location south of Canaan gave it great commercial importance.
It was taken in turn by Cambyses, by Alexander the Great, and by the Ptolemies; In the 12th century AD it was conquered by the Knights of the Temple.
During the Turkish empire it was the capital of its province.
It became part of the territory of Egypt following the defeat of Turkey against Great Britain in the First World War (1914-1918); In 1967 it was taken from the Egyptians by the Israelites, who continue to maintain it under their administration.