Deir al-Balah

Deir al-Balah (Arabic: دير البلح, lit. 'Monastery of the Date Palm') is a city in the center of the Gaza Strip, Palestine, and the administrative capital of the Deir al-Balah Governorate. 7 mi) south of Gaza City. The city had a population of 75,132 in 2017. The city is known for its date palms, after which it is named. Deir al-Balah dates back to the Late Bronze Age when it served as a fortified outpost for the New Kingdom of Egypt. A monastery was built there by the Christian monk Hilarion in the mid-4th century AD and is currently believed to be the site of a mosque dedicated to Saint George, known locally as al-Khidr.

During the Crusader-Ayyubid wars, Deir al-Balah was the site of a strategic coastal fortress known as Deir al-Darum which was continuously contested, dismantled and rebuilt by both sides until its final demolition in 1196. Afterward, the site grew to become a large village on the postal route of the Mamluk Sultanate (13th–15th centuries). It served as an episcopal see of the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem during Ottoman times until the late 19th century.

Egyptian occupation after 1948 saw the population triple from the influ