Gaza is a coastal strip of land that has been inhabited for thousands of years and fought over by many dynasties, empires, and peoples. Here are some of the major milestones in its history:

• 16th century: Gaza was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire.
• 1917: Gaza was taken by British troops during World War I and became part of the British Mandate of Palestine.
• 1948: The British mandate ended, and on the same day, the first Arab-Israeli war began. Egyptian forces soon entered the town of Gaza, which became the headquarters of the Egyptian expeditionary force in Palestine. As a result of heavy fighting in autumn 1948, the area around the town under Arab occupation was reduced to a strip of territory 25 miles (40 km) long and 4–5 miles (6–8 km) wide. This area became known as the Gaza Strip. The Gaza Strip was under Egyptian military rule from 1949 to 1956 and again from 1957 to 1967.
• 1967: In the Six-Day War of June 1967, the Gaza Strip was taken by Israel, which occupied the region for the next quarter-century.
• 1987: Rioting and violent street clashes between Gaza’s Palestinians and occupying Israeli troops marked the birth of an uprising that came to be known as the intifada (Arabic intifāḍah, “shaking off”) .
• 1994-1999: Israel transferred security and civilian responsibility for much of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank to the Palestinian Authority.
• 2005: Israel withdrew all of its settlers and soldiers and dismantled its military facilities in the Gaza Strip, but continues to control maritime, airspace, and other access. In early 2006, the Islamic Resistance Movement, HAMAS, won the Palestinian Legislative Council election and took control of the PA government.
• 2007-08 and 2012: Brief periods of increased violence between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip led to Egyptian-brokered truces.
• Present: The status quo remains with HAMAS in control of the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian Authority governing the West Bank. Palestinians in Gaza say Israels restrictions and its air strikes on heavily populated areas amount to collective punishment.

In summary, Gaza has a long and complex history, with various dynasties, empires, and peoples ruling, destroying, and repopulating the area over the course of 4,000 years. The region has been under British, Egyptian, and Israeli military rule, and is now a fenced-in enclave inhabited by around 2.3 million Palestinians, most of them refugees[[5]](https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/brief-history-gazas-centuries-war-2023-...