Gaza appears explicitly in the Bible as part of the land promised by God to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Later, when Joshua divided the land among the twelve tribes, Gaza was included in the territory assigned to the Tribe of Judah. As Joshua 15:47 records: “Ashdod, its towns and villages, Gaza, its towns and villages, unto the Brook of Egypt.”

Yet despite this designation, Joshua did not conquer Gaza. The Philistines – migrants from the Aegean region, likely from Cyprus or Crete – still controlled the entire coastal plain, including Gaza. They were a formidable military power with fortified cities, so Israel’s early conquests focused instead on the inland highlands, the region known today as Judea and Samaria.

Before Gaza ever came under Jewish rule, the famous story of Samson unfolded there, where he was captured by the Philistines and died when he collapsed the pillars of the city’s temple. This episode reflects Israelite presence and conflict in the Gaza region, but Gaza City itself remained under Philistine control for centuries.

2. Hasmonean Gaza (around 96–63BCE): Jewish Rule

Jewish rule first reached Gaza during the Second Temple period, when the Hasmonean dynasty – the ruling family that emerged from the Maccabean revolt – expanded Jewish sovereignty across much of the Land of Israel.

Around 96 BCE, the Hasmonean king Alexander Jannaeus (Yannai Hamelech) captured Gaza after a prolonged campaign against the coastal cities. The historian Josephus describes how Gaza fell after a fierce struggle and was brought under Jewish administration. This marks the first fully documented period of Jewish rule in Gaza and the beginning of permanent Jewish settlement there. Map of the Hasmonean Kingdom showing territorial expansion under Alexander Jannaeus (c. 96 BCE), including Gaza. Wikimedia Commons, by Efib, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Hasmonean rule in Gaza lasted until 63 BCE, when the Roman general Pompey conquered the region and brought Gaza under Roman control. After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, and especially following the Bar Kokhba revolt in 135 CE, Jews were barred from Jerusalem, prompting many to relocate to other cities, including Gaza.

3. Roman and Byzantine Gaza (63BCE–638 CE): A Flourishing Jewish Centre

By the Roman and Byzantine periods, Gaza had become an important Jewish centre with a well-established community. Archaeological evidence includes the Great Gaza Synagogue, dating to the 5th–6th centuries CE, whose mosaic floor famously depicted King David playing the lyre........

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