page_title: History of Gaza
section_title: Israeli control
hierarchical_section_title: History of Gaza / Israeli control
caption_attribution_description: The newly appointed mayor of gaza rushdi shawa speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the gaza municipal council. (26/11/1956) מושל עזה החדש, ראשדי שאווה, נואם בטקס חנוכת מועצת עזה
context_page_description: The known history of Gaza spans 4,000 years. Gaza was ruled, destroyed and repopulated by various dynasties, empires, and peoples. Originally a Canaanite settlement, it came under the control of the ancient Egyptians for roughly 350 years before being conquered and becoming one of the Philistines' principal cities. Gaza fell to the Israelites in about 1000 BCE but became part of the Assyrian Empire around 730 BCE. Alexander the Great besieged and captured the city in 332 BCE. Most of the inhabitants were killed during the assault, and the city, which became a center for Hellenistic learning and philosophy, was resettled by nearby Bedouins. The area changed hands regularly between two Greek successor-kingdoms, the Seleucids of Syria and the Ptolemies of Egypt, until it was besieged and taken by the Hasmoneans in 96 BCE.
  Gaza was rebuilt by Roman General Pompey Magnus, and granted to Herod the Great thirty years later. Throughout the Roman period, Gaza maintained its prosperity, receiving grants from several different emperors. A 500-member senate governed the city, which had a diverse population of Greeks, Romans, Jews, Egyptians, Persians and Nabateans.
context_section_description: Gaza was occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War after the defeat of a coalition of Arab armies. Under Israeli occupation, existing structures of administration in Gaza would be maintained and administrative tasks would continue to be executed by Palestinian civil servants. Although this policy of "government but not administration" was declared, some felt that the Israeli military frequently interfered in the city's administration in order to control local violent incidents. In the immediate aftermath of the 1967 War, the military governor of Gaza threatened to dismiss the municipal council and cut off utility services if the local leadership was unable to force the residents of the city to turn in their weapons. This action was deemed excessive and was revoked by the Israeli military governor of the Gaza Strip, however. Organized armed struggle against Israel peaked between 1969 and 1971, but was largely crushed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) under the command of Ariel Sharon. Ehud Yaari recounted that "by the beginning of 1970, 90% of Arab terrorism in Gaza was directed against Arab men and women employed by Israeli companies."
  In 1971, the Israeli Army attempted to disperse the high concentration of Palestinian refugees in al-Shati camp and developed new housing schemes that resulted in the establishment of the northern Sheikh Radwan district. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and the PLO were vociferous in their opposition to the move, claiming it was forced resettlement. In 1972, Gaza's military governor dismissed the city's mayor, Rashad al-Shawwa, for refusing to annex al-Shati camp to the municipality of Gaza. Since the 1970s, frequent conflicts erupted between Palestinians and the Israeli authorities in the city, leading to the First Intifada in 1987. Gaza became a center of confrontation during this uprising, and consequently, economic conditions in the city worsened.
caption: The newly appointed mayor of Gaza, Rushdi al-Shawwa, speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the Gaza municipal council, 26 November 1956
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