Second Battle of Gaza
Second Battle of Gaza was a battle fought on 17 April 1917 at Gaza City, in what is now Palestine; it lasted 2 days. It was part of the Middle Eastern theater of World War I, which ran from 1914 to 1918. The recorded result: Central Powers victory.
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Ottoman soldiers with some of them armed with MG 08s. Notice the MG 08s are mounted on tripods instead of sledge mounts that were common to the MG 08.. American Colony Jerusalem, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons .
Fought 17 April 1917 lasted 2 days
Where Gaza City, Palestine 31.489N, 34.474E
Outcome Central Powers victory
Belligerents Allied Powers: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Empire; Canada; Australia; Dominion of New Zealand; French Third Republic against Central Powers: Ottoman Empire; German Empire (military commanders & air force)
Where it sits in the Middle Eastern theater of World War I Fao Landing, 1914 Battle of Basra, 1914 Battle of Qurna, 1914 Battle of Ardahan, 1914 Battle of Manzikert, 1915 Battle of Kara Killisse, 1915 naval operations in the Dardanelles Campaign, 1915 Battle of Shaiba, 1915 Siege of Van, 1915 Landing at Cape Helles, 1915 Battle of Kumkale, 1915 Battle of Krithia, 1915 Battle for Baby 700, 1915 Battle for No.3 Post, 1915 Battle of Amara, 1915 Battle of Chamba, 1915 Battle of Gully Ravine, 1915 Battle of Nasiriyah, 1915 Landing at Suvla Bay, 1915 Battle of Lone Pine, 1915 Battle of Sari Bair, 1915 Battle of Krithia Vineyard, 1915 Battle of the Nek, 1915 Battle of Hill 60 (Gallipoli), 1915 Battle of Scimitar Hill, 1915 Battle of Es Sinn, 1915 Battle of Ctesiphon, 1915 Siege of Kut, 1915 Battle of Robat Karim, 1915 Battle of Sheikh Sa'ad, 1916 Battle of Koprukoy, 1916 Battle of Wadi, 1916 Battle of Hanna, 1916 Kermanshah Operation, 1916 Battle of Dujaila, 1916 Battle of Katia, 1916 Battle of Romani, 1916 Battle of Muş, 1916 Battle of Bir el Abd, 1916 Fall of Baghdad, 1917 Battles of Ramadi, 1917 Battle of Oramar, 1917 Raid on Bir el Hassana, 1917 Raid on Nekhl, 1917 Second Battle of Kut, 1917 First Battle of Gaza, 1917 Second Battle of Gaza, 1917 Battle of Istabulat, 1917 Battle of Seray Mountain, 1917 Battle of El Buggar Ridge, 1917 Battle of Beersheba, 1917 Third Battle of Gaza, 1917 Charge at Huj, 1917 Battle of Mughar Ridge, 1917 Battle of Ayun Kara, 1917 Battle of Nebi Samwil, 1917 Battle of Jaffa, 1917 Battle of Megiddo, 1918 Battle of Abaran, 1918 Battle of Mastara, 1918 Capture of Erzincan, 1918 Capture of Trabzon, 1918 Battle of Charah, 1918 Battle of Erzurum, 1918 Capture of Erzurum, 1918 Battle of Hijla, 1918 First Battle of Amman, 1918 First Transjordan attack on Amman, 1918 Battle of Choloki, 1918 Battle of Suldouze, 1918 Battle of Ushno, 1918 Action of Arsuf, 1918 Battle of Karamaryan, 1918 Battle of Goychay, 1918 Battle of Kurdamir, 1918 Battle of Salyan, 1918 Battle of Abu Tellul, 1918 Battle of Tulkarm, 1918 Battle of Arara, 1918 Battle of Nablus, 1918 Battle of Tabsor, 1918 Battle of Nazareth, 1918 Capture of Jisr ed Damieh, 1918 Battle of Haifa, 1918 Battle of Samakh, 1918 Second Battle of Amman, 1918 Capture of Damascus, 1918 Charge at Kaukab, 1918 Charge at Kiswe, 1918 Charge at Khan Ayash, 1918 Battle of Sharqat, 1918 Battle of Aleppo, 1918 Charge at Haritan, 1918 1914 1918 Second 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
Date 17 April 1917to 19 April 1917 Place Gaza City, Palestine31.489N, 34.474E Kind Battle, First World War Casualties and losses 2,043 killed or missing; 272 captured; 4,359 wounded; Total: 6,716 casualties; Equipment losses: 3 tanks destroyed 329–649 killed or missing; 200 captured; 1,337–1,364 wounded; Total: 1,866–2,213 casualties Commanders Archibald Murray Charles Macpherson Dobell
Second Battle of Gaza Second Battle of Gaza First Battle of Gaza Third Battle of Gaza Battle of Gaza Siege of Gaza Battle of Gaza First Battle of Gaza Tel Aviv Amman Jerusalem Nablus El Arish Al Karak Az Zarqa Irbid 100 km 31.489N, 34.474E The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.
Nearest engagements
Contested ground: this site was fought over 9 times between 720 BC and 1948.
Combat data (CDB90)
Attacker: BR ARMY OF EGYPTDefender: TK ARMY OF PALESTINEStrength 25,000 20,000 Casualties 6,400 (25.6%) 2,000 (10.0%) Mission accomplishment, 1 to 10 3 9 Outcome defender won Duration 3.1 days Front width 24 km 24 km Attacker advanced 0 km
From the US Army Concepts Analysis Agency Database of Battles (CDB90, battle 327), 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.
Second 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 Q388581 , released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Second Battle of Gaza , revision 1383625466, 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.
