Alexander the Great’s siege of Gaza and the heroism of its Arab garrison in defending it, led by the Arab governor of the city, Battis. Gaza, which was inhabited by an Arab majority and enjoyed autonomy within the borders of the Achaemenid state in the fourth century BC. It has a pivotal strategic location on the incense and aromatics trade line.

1. Which made it the target of Alexander’s ambitions, so he began the siege of it in the fall of 332 BC. The city’s defense was commanded by the Arab governor Batis, whose name is probably a variation on the word “Batish”. Batis (or Batash), unlike most of the rulers and governors of other cities in the Levant, refused to surrender the city voluntarily to the Macedonian army.

He equipped the city’s defenses and brought in additional Arab forces (most likely from the neighboring Arab population in Sinai and the Negev, and perhaps also from the Nabataeans, who had a strong trade relationship with the port of Gaza).

1. The Arab defenders showed ferocity in the fighting, as they launched surprise attacks outside the city walls, burning siege equipment, and almost defeating the Macedonian forces had it not been for Alexander’s intervention. Alexander saved his forces from defeat, but he was seriously injured at the hands of the Arab defenders from which he did not fully recover until months later.

1. The city’s defenses held out for two full months and even succeeded in wounding Alexander again as a result of a slingshot in the leg. But in the end, the numerical and military superiority of the Macedonian army led to the fall of the city.
2. As for the fate of Patis, he remained bravely fighting the invaders when they invaded the city until his body was covered with wounds and his blood mixed with the blood of his enemies. When he was captured, he was brought to Alexander, but Batis refused to kneel and submit before him, but rather directed challenging looks at the Macedonian king. Alexander became angry with Batis’s self-esteem and ordered him to be brutally killed.

Tyre

It is noteworthy that the forces of Alexander the Great, during their siege of the Phoenician city of Tire, were subjected to fierce attacks by Arabs from the mountains of Lebanon, leaving a number of dead and prisoners among the Greeks, which required Alexander to launch a campaign himself against their homeland, which Greek historians described as part of Arab countries.