Dayr al Balaḩ

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. 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 influx of refugees during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. It was a prosperous agricultural town. Israel captured the region during the Six-Day War. Deir al-Balah became the first city to come under Palestinian self-rule in 1994.