A city of southwest Asia in the Gaza Strip, a narrow coastal area along the Mediterranean Sea adjoining Israel and Egypt. The territory was part of the British mandate for Palestine (1920-1948), passed to Egypt in 1949, and was occupied by Israel in 1967. Palestinian autonomy was promised in the 1979 Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty, and limited autonomy was granted in a 1993 Israeli-Palestinian accord. The city of Gaza was one of the five major Philistine city-kingdoms.