A short history of Gaza (Thank you Waseem Altaf)

From 2500 BC to about 1100 BC Canaanites lived in Gaza. The term "Canaanite" itself does not refer to any particular racial or ethnic attribute. They were idolaters and worshipped a family of gods while their primary god was El.
In about 1190 BC the Philistines of Aegean origin captured Gaza. They were defeated by Israelite King David in the 10th century BC.
It later came under Assyrian rule followed by Persian.
The Roman Empire invaded the region in 63 BC which continued till the end of the Empire when the Byzantine Empire captured it.
Prior to the advent of Islam during the 4th and 5th century Gaza was mainly inhabited by Christians as part of the Byzantine Empire.
The Prophet Mohammad visited Gaza more than once before prophet-hood. It is said that the prophet's great grandfather Hashim ibn Abd Manaf lived in Gaza as a merchant.

In 634 AD, during the reign of Caliph Abu Bakr, Gaza was besieged by Muslim army commanded by Amr Bin Al-aas and Khalid Bin Walid, until it fell to the Muslims. After the Muslim occupation, churches were converted into mosques while Christians and Jews were given the option to convert, pay Jizya or face dire consequences. Hence, many fled and a very insignificant Christian and Jewish population remained till the Ummayad and Abbasid periods. (661-1258 AD)
It was in Gaza that Imam Shafi wrote his "fiqah". And in 796 AD the city was destroyed during infighting among Muslim Arab tribes.
In 909 AD it became part of the Fatimid Caliphate ( A Shia caliphate descended from the daughter of the Prophet named Fatima.

In 1100 AD Gaza was invaded by Byzantine Christians as part of the Crusades- military campaigns launched to regain Christian territories lost to the Muslims.
In 1187 it was re-conquered by Salah-ud-Din Ayyubi who founded the Ayyubid dynasty and remained a strong advocate of jehad. However, the bulk of Saladin's activities from 1174 until 1187 AD involved fighting other Muslims and eventually bringing Aleppo, Damascus, Mosul, and other cities under his control.
The Ayyubid period of rule virtually ended in 1260 after the Mongols under Hulagu Khan completely destroyed Gaza. It was followed by Mamluk rule.
In 1516 Gaza was Invaded by the Turks and incorporated into the Ottoman Empire. In 1832 the Egyptians captured it. In 1842 it was recaptured by the Turks defeating the Egyptians.

After Turks were defeated during World War I, Gaza became a British mandate.
In 1948,when the state of Israel was one day old it was invaded by Arab armies of all neighboring countries. They were all defeated and Gaza was again captured by Egypt.
In the 6-day Arab-Israel war of 1967 Israel recaptured it and Gaza remained under Israeli occupation until Oslo Accords were implemented in May 1994 and Israel handed over power to the Palestinian Authority. (To be continued)
Waseem Altaf