 Soon after gaining Jerusalem , Baibars conquered Gaza and an @-@ Nasir Yusuf sent his army to Nablus in response . A battle ensued and the Mamluks ultimately fled across the Jordan River to the Balqa area . From there they reached <unk> at the southern tip of the Dead Sea where they sent their submission to Karak . Al @-@ Mughith Umar 's new relationship with Baibars solidified his independence from an @-@ Nasir Yusuf 's Syria . To ensure his independence , al @-@ Mughith Umar began to distribute the territories of Palestine and Transjordan among the Bahri Mamluks . The new allies assembled a small army and headed for Egypt . In spite of initial gains in Palestine and al @-@ Arish , they withdrew after seeing how overwhelmingly outnumbered they were by the Egyptian army . Al @-@ Mughith Umar and Baibars were not discouraged , however , and launched an army 1 @,@ 500 regular cavalry to Sinai at the beginning of 1258 , but again were defeated by the Mamluks of Egypt . 
