 The Bubonic Plague struck again in 1839 and the city stagnated , as it lacked political and economic stability . In 1840 , Egyptian and Ottoman troops battled outside of Gaza , with the Ottomans emerging victorious , effectively ending Egyptian rule over Palestine . The battles brought about more death and destruction , just barely after the city began to recover from the plague . The Church of Saint Porphyrius was renovated in 1856 , and in 1874 , French orientalist Charles Clermont @-@ Ganneau visited Gaza , gathering and cataloging a sizable collection of Byzantine inscriptions and describing the city 's Great Mosque in detail . Sultan Abdul Hamid II had the wells of Gaza restored in 1893 . 
