Atlas of Battles

battle, major, First World War

First Battle of Gaza

First Battle of Gaza was a battle fought on 26 March 1917 at Gaza City, in what is now Palestine. It was part of the Middle Eastern theater of World War I, which ran from 1914 to 1918. The recorded result: Central Powers victory. Recorded strength: 31,000 against 19,000.

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Officers of the regiment that successfully defended Gaza during the first battle.
Officers of the regiment that successfully defended Gaza during the first battle.. American Colony Jerusalem, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fought26 March 1917
WhereGaza City, Palestine31.489N, 34.474E
OutcomeCentral Powers victory
BelligerentsAllied Powers; United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Empire: Canada; British India; Australia; Dominion of New ZealandagainstCentral Powers; Ottoman Empire; German Empire; Austria-Hungary
Part ofMiddle Eastern theater of World War I1914 to 1918

Where it sits in the Middle Eastern theater of World War I

Fao Landing, 1914Battle of Basra, 1914Battle of Qurna, 1914Battle of Ardahan, 1914Battle of Manzikert, 1915Battle of Kara Killisse, 1915naval operations in the Dardanelles Campaign, 1915Battle of Shaiba, 1915Siege of Van, 1915Landing at Cape Helles, 1915Battle of Kumkale, 1915Battle of Krithia, 1915Battle for Baby 700, 1915Battle for No.3 Post, 1915Battle of Amara, 1915Battle of Chamba, 1915Battle of Gully Ravine, 1915Battle of Nasiriyah, 1915Landing at Suvla Bay, 1915Battle of Lone Pine, 1915Battle of Sari Bair, 1915Battle of Krithia Vineyard, 1915Battle of the Nek, 1915Battle of Hill 60 (Gallipoli), 1915Battle of Scimitar Hill, 1915Battle of Es Sinn, 1915Battle of Ctesiphon, 1915Siege of Kut, 1915Battle of Robat Karim, 1915Battle of Sheikh Sa'ad, 1916Battle of Koprukoy, 1916Battle of Wadi, 1916Battle of Hanna, 1916Kermanshah Operation, 1916Battle of Dujaila, 1916Battle of Katia, 1916Battle of Romani, 1916Battle of Muş, 1916Battle of Bir el Abd, 1916Fall of Baghdad, 1917Battles of Ramadi, 1917Battle of Oramar, 1917Raid on Bir el Hassana, 1917Raid on Nekhl, 1917Second Battle of Kut, 1917First Battle of Gaza, 1917Second Battle of Gaza, 1917Battle of Istabulat, 1917Battle of Seray Mountain, 1917Battle of El Buggar Ridge, 1917Battle of Beersheba, 1917Third Battle of Gaza, 1917Charge at Huj, 1917Battle of Mughar Ridge, 1917Battle of Ayun Kara, 1917Battle of Nebi Samwil, 1917Battle of Jaffa, 1917Battle of Megiddo, 1918Battle of Abaran, 1918Battle of Mastara, 1918Capture of Erzincan, 1918Capture of Trabzon, 1918Battle of Charah, 1918Battle of Erzurum, 1918Capture of Erzurum, 1918Battle of Hijla, 1918First Battle of Amman, 1918First Transjordan attack on Amman, 1918Battle of Choloki, 1918Battle of Suldouze, 1918Battle of Ushno, 1918Action of Arsuf, 1918Battle of Karamaryan, 1918Battle of Goychay, 1918Battle of Kurdamir, 1918Battle of Salyan, 1918Battle of Abu Tellul, 1918Battle of Tulkarm, 1918Battle of Arara, 1918Battle of Nablus, 1918Battle of Tabsor, 1918Battle of Nazareth, 1918Capture of Jisr ed Damieh, 1918Battle of Haifa, 1918Battle of Samakh, 1918Second Battle of Amman, 1918Capture of Damascus, 1918Charge at Kaukab, 1918Charge at Kiswe, 1918Charge at Khan Ayash, 1918Battle of Sharqat, 1918Battle of Aleppo, 1918Charge at Haritan, 191819141918First Battle of Gaza, 1917
96 placed engagements of the Middle Eastern theater of World War I in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date26 March 1917
PlaceGaza City, Palestine
31.489N, 34.474E
KindBattle, First World War
Strength31,00019,000
Casualties and losses1,035 killed or missing; 2,932 wounded; Total: 3,967 casualties16 killed or missing, 41 wounded; 900 killed or missing, 750 wounded; Total: 1,707 casualties
Commanders
First Battle of GazaFirst Battle of GazaSecond Battle of GazaThird Battle of GazaBattle of GazaSiege of GazaBattle of GazaSecond Battle of GazaTel AvivAmmanJerusalemNablusEl ArishAl KarakAz ZarqaIrbid100 km31.489N, 34.474E
The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

The ground today

Relief of the ground around the site of First Battle of Gaza
Relief within about 10.0 km of the site, contours every 10 m. Copernicus DEM GLO-30, ESA.
Satellite view of the site of First Battle of Gaza today
The same ground from Sentinel-2 on 2023-07-14. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2023.

The recorded site stands at about 80 m; within 10.0 km the ground runs from 0 to 123 m, 123 m of relief, gently rolling country and today it is 46% built-up, 27% cropland, 19% tree cover.

built-up: 46%cropland: 27%tree cover: 19%bare ground: 4%shrubland: 3%built-up 46%cropland 27%tree cover 19%bare ground 4%shrubland 3%
west to east, 10.0 km25 to 79 mnorth to south, 10.0 km19 to 83 m
Elevation from the Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (ESA, Airbus); land cover from ESA WorldCover 2021 (CC BY 4.0), within about 5 km of the recorded site. Computed, not recorded.

Nearest engagements

Contested ground: this site was fought over 9 times between 720 BC and 1948.

In the same war

Elsewhere in 1917

Combat data (CDB90)

Attacker: BR ARMY OF EGYPTDefender: TK 8TH ARMY
Strength25,00026,000
Casualties4,000 (16.0%)2,450 (9.4%)
Mission accomplishment, 1 to 1048
Outcomedefender won
Duration2.3 days
Front width12 km19.2 km
Attacker advanced0 km

From the US Army Concepts Analysis Agency Database of Battles (CDB90, battle 326), public domain, in the CC0 tidy edition by Jeffrey B. Arnold. Figures are the database's estimates, compiled in 1990 from published histories, and may differ from the Wikipedia infobox above.

First Battle of Gaza is one of 2,997 engagements of the 20th century in the atlas and one of 43 in present-day Palestine.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q2791318, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article First Battle of Gaza, revision 1370618661, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.