"When we were defeated in Gaza, we lost Palestine"

Gaza is being mercilessly bombed without consideration for innocent people, and inhumane practices, including cutting off water and electricity, have been added to the atrocities it has endured for years. Due to its significant location, Gaza has been a region that has been sought to be captured and associated with war throughout history. It has witnessed numerous military operations from the Crusades to Napoleon. During his Egyptian campaign, Napoleon referred to it as the 'Gateway to Asia.' By 1917, the First World War was raging on all fronts. However, the Ottoman forces had begun to retreat after losing many positions on the southern front. Baghdad had fallen on March 11, 1917. The British aimed for Jerusalem, while the Ottoman army sought to halt the British by holding the Gaza-Beersheba line. The conflicts intensified in Gaza. In their articles, Cemal Kemal and Tuncay Yılmazer describe the battles in Gaza in detail. Upon approaching Palestine, the British were aware of the highly significant religious and historical territories they were entering. The memories of the soldiers refer to both the Bible and especially the Third Crusade of Richard the Lionheart. Just like in the Gallipoli campaign, the metaphor of the Crusade was used. For some soldiers, this operation was the Tenth Crusade. The British commenced an attack on March 26, 1917, besieging Gaza. However, having been defeated in the First Battle of Gaza, the British suffered twice the casualties of the Ottoman forces and retreated. The Commander of the 4th Army, Cemal Pasha, had decided that the Gaza-Beersheba line must be held, just as in the first battle. On April 17, 1917, the British army launched an attack by land and sea. However, in the Second Battle of Gaza between April 17 and 20, 1917, similar to the first battle, they failed to capture Gaza and suffered significant losses before retreating. The Ottoman troops were weaker in terms of the number of soldiers and equipment compared to the enemy. Enver Pasha couldn't decide where to concentrate his troops in the face of the advancing enemy. While the southern front was falling one by one, there were still Ottoman troops on the European front. Moreover, there were differences of opinion between the German commanders in the Ottoman army and the Turkish commanders. After the Second Battle of Gaza, Enver Pasha, the Acting Commander-in-Chief, and the Minister of the Navy and Commander of the 4th Army, Cemal Pasha, could not agree on the tactics to be applied against the British in the Palestine Front. While Enver Pasha advocated a counter-attack to cut off the British's connection to Egypt, which they supported in every way, Cemal Pasha considered staying on the defensive to weaken the enemy's combat power. Enver Pasha held a meeting in Aleppo on June 24, 1917, with the participation of his commanders to discuss the current situation of the armies. While Enver Pasha deemed organizing the defense appropriate, he did not give up the idea of launching an attack on the rear of the British right wing. The Ottoman army had stopped the British by winning two battles in Gaza. In response, the British sent Edmund Allenby, an important commander fighting on the Western front, to the region. British Prime Minister Lloyd George had given the order to take Jerusalem by Christmas. In August 1917, the Ottoman administration reinforced the Ottoman armies in the region by incorporating German battalions and formed the Yıldırım Army Group. Erich von Falkenhayn, who had fought on the Western front, was appointed as its head. Many of our important commanders such as Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Fevzi Çakmak, İsmet İnönü, Refet Bele, Ali Fuat Cebesoy, and Fahrettin Altay were in the Palestine Front. Many units that had fought in Gallipoli were also on this front. There was no clear plan on the Turkish side, and even though months had passed since the end of the Second Battle of Gaza on April 20, 1917, discussions among the commanders continued, and no decision was made on the appropriate course of action. The superiority of the combat power had gradually shifted in favor of the British. By reinforcing their troops, the British had achieved a fourfold superiority on the Palestine front. On the other hand, the Ottoman administration had not brought its units from the European front to the region, and had even shifted some of the units to Iraq, causing the weakening of the Ottoman army on the Palestine Front. Britain launched the Third Gaza Operation on November 2 while seeking to win the support of the Jewish lobby to secure more support from the United States, and issued the Balfour Declaration. A Jewish brigade had been sent first to Egypt and then to the Palestine Front to fight against the Turks alongside the British. Von Kress Pasha, responsible for the Ottoman forces in the Gaza-Beersheba line, was primarily expecting an attack on Gaza. However, he would be mistaken. Compared to Gaza, the defense of Beersheba was weak. On October 10, the British intelligence dropped a bag containing special letters about the plans for the Gaza attack during reconnaissance near the Turkish lines, while escaping from Turkish patrols. On October 27, the ships belonging to the British and French navy and the artillery in front of Gaza started a very intense bombardment. The purpose of the intense bombardment of Gaza was not to damage the Turkish positions but to mask the movements of the units shifted to the front of Beersheba. The Beersheba garrison could not resist a force approximately 10 times larger than itself. While we were waiting for the attack in Gaza, the British had captured Beersheba on October 31, 1917. As the British gained a significant bridgehead, the Gaza-Beersheba line collapsed. The attacks launched by the Ottoman forces to retake Beersheba did not yield any results. The British razed Gaza to the ground with intensive bombardment from both land and sea. Refet Bele Pasha preferred martyrdom to withdrawal. However, when there was no more means of defense, we withdrew from Gaza on the night of November 6-7, 1917. After the Third Battle of Gaza, where 4th Army Commander Cemal Pasha, who successfully defended Palestine in the First and Second Battles of Gaza, was relieved of his duty and the responsibility of the front was given to Marshal Falkenhayn, the newly established Yıldırım Army Group Commander, the British Army captured Beersheba and Gaza and helped open the Palestine Front along the coast and in Tel el-Sheria. Thus, the foresights of both Cemal Pasha and Mustafa Kemal Pasha regarding the German commanders were proven. The lack of a clear command structure among the Ottoman troops was one of the significant reasons for the loss of Gaza. The enemy had captured the Gaza-Beersheba line, thus opening the gateway to Palestine. The loss of Gaza would lead to the occupation of part of Jerusalem and Palestine by the British.