The city of Gaza (sometimes called Gaza City, to distinguish it from the Gaza Strip), is the principal city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 300,000. It is currently under the control of the Palestinian Authority, which took over it from Israel following the 1993 Oslo Accords.
The city was already known at biblical times, when it was one of the major cities of the Philistines. The Philistine city was built on a hill about 150 feet (45 meters) above sea level, about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from the Mediterranean Sea. It was a walled city of about 200 acres (80 hectares).
During World War I on November 7, 1917 the Battle of Gaza ended and United Kingdom forces captures Gaza from the Ottoman Empire.