 Gaza experienced destructive earthquakes in 1903 and 1914 . In 1917 , during World War I , British forces captured the city . Gaza grew significantly in the first half of the 20th @-@ century under Mandatory rule . The population of the city swelled as a result of the Palestinian exodus during the 1948 Arab @-@ Israeli War . Gaza came under Egyptian rule until it was occupied by Israel during the 1967 Six Day War . Gaza became a center of political resistance during the First Intifada , and under the Oslo Accords of 1993 , it was assigned to be under the direct control of the newly established Palestinian Authority . Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza in 2005 . By 2007 , Hamas emerged both as the victor in Palestinian elections and in factional fighting with rival Fatah in the city and in the wider Gaza Strip and has since been the sole governing authority . Israel subsequently blockaded the Strip and launched assaults against it in 2008 – 2009 , 2012 and 2014 , as a response to rocket attacks . 
