Arab occupation of the Palestinian region

The region of Palestine was under Roman regime since the period of the Roman Republic in the 1st century BC. With the division of the Roman Empire into two parts - west and east in the 4th century, the eastern part of the empire (which is the Byzantine Empire) got the control on the country of the region of Palestine. The region of Palestine was an important link because it connected the center of the empire in the geographic region of Anatolia to the lands of the empire in Egypt.

The occupation waves of the Arabs which created a political entity called the Arab Empire originated from the Arabian Peninsula and reached the region of Palestine at the start of the 7th century. The Muslim conquerors succeeded to vanquish the Byzantine Empire which weakened from its wars with the Sassanid Empire (Iran of today) and after a defeat in a single battle the Byzantine Empire lost control of Syria and as a result, also of the region of Palestine.

War expedition

The first raid of an Arab army on the region of Palestine occurred in 629 (during the time of prophet Muhammad), according to Hunayn ibn Ishaq whom wrote the history of the prophet Muhammad, the portion of the Arab army was 3000 men. This raid, which was held against the Byzantine Empire, was an absolute failure and the three high commanders of the Arab army were killed during the battle. The location of the battle in the Moab hills, south-east to the Dead Sea in a place called Mauta. The second raid, which occurred in 632, happened after a very important event in Islam history: The occupation of the city Mecca, which also evoked many repercussions outside of the Arabian Peninsula. The second raid happened a short while before the death of Muhammad. The second raid failed also. After the death of Muhammad in 632, Muhammad's father-in-law Abu Bakr was elected as a Caliph and the successor of Muhammad. Abu Bakr took care of the anarchy which prevailed after the death of Muhammad in the Arabian Peninsula, and united the Arab tribes. In 634, Abu Bakr declared a holy war against the non-Muslims. At first Abu Bakr's armies conflicted with other Arab tribes (which lived in southern Jordan of today) which maintained} close connections with the Byzantine Empire, and were even in the process of becoming christians. According to the Arabs historians, the task of occupying the whole region was imposed on three Arab commanders: 'Amr ibn al-'As which was supposed to occupy Judea and the southern coastal plain of the region of Palestine, Shurhabil ibn Hasana which was supposed to occupy the Galilee, the northern part of the Jordan Valley and the Jezreel Valley, and Yazid ibn Abu Sufyan which went towards Damascus.

The first battle between the Arab armies and the Byzantine armies took place in an unidentified place, in a distance of 12 miles from Gaza. Gradually the Arab armies began to encounter a gradual resistance against them. The Byzantine army started preparing to fight the Arab invaders. When the Arabs figured out that the situation had worsened, they sent a messenger to Medina to request help. Abu Bakr, the Caliph sent them Khalid ibn al-Walid, one of the most talented commanders in the Arabic-Muslim Army. Khalid commanded a military unit which was estimated to be about 3,000 men according to different sources, and he lead courageous battles and led the Arab army to a victory in Damascus which was occupied. After the occupation of Damascus, the Arabs deserted it just like they did in all the other cities which were occupied in Syria. The main motive for the abandonment of Damascus and the other cities of Syria was the knowledge about a possible future attack from the Byzantine Empire which was organizing in Aleppo and Antakya. Later on the occupation of the Golan and the Choran were added to the collection of victorious Arab occupations. After he united his forces with the army of another Arab commander by the name of 'Amr ibn al-'As, one of most important battles in the process of occupation of the region of Palestine by the Arabs took place.

In the meantime, the Caliph Abu Bakr dies in 634, and a new Caliph was crowned: Umar ibn al-Khattāb.

In July 1, 634, the Muslims won a great victory against the Byzantine army, which eventually made them outnumber their enemies. After this victory they occupied all the cities of the region were occupied by Arabs one by one: Lod, Nablus, Gaza, Sebastia and more. But not all of the country was occupied - Between 635 - 636 the Byzantine Empire concentrated in organizing a new army which would protect the remaining territory controlled by the Byzantine Empire, which consisted of two cities which had great importance to them: Caesaria and Jerusalem. Jerusalem was occupied by the Caliph Umar himself and the Mosque of Omar is therefore called after his name. Most sources indicate that the occupation of Jerusalem was held in 638. Caesaria and Jerusalem ended up surrendering to the Arabs, mainly because they became isolated after all the other cities were occupied, and all the roads were blocked by the Arabs, which lead them to an economic crises, and as a result, to the surrendering of the city of Jerusalem, and later on to the occupation Caesaria. And so the occupation of the region of Palestine was completed until 641. According to the Muslim tradition, Umar entered Jerusalem riding on a camel.

Battle of Yarmouk

The Battle of Yarmouk took place between the Muslim empire and the Byzantine Empire in 636. Many historians see it as one of the most significant battles in human history, since it symbolizes the start of the Muslim occupation wave outside to the Arabian Peninsula, and the start of when the Islam moved into the region of Palestine, Syria and Mesopotamia and further on to other regions in the world which were occupied by the Islam.

Occupation of Jerusalem

Jerusalem was occupied by the Caliph Umar (586 - 644) without blood shedding. According to sources which originate mainly from the Arabs historians, the Patriarch of Jerusalem which was originally appointed by the Byzantine regime handed the city into the hands of the Caliph without a struggle after Umar promised the Christians that their religious rights would be kept.

Umar visited the temple mount. He ordered to clean the mountain from the rubbish that was dumped outside of it. While the Arabs renovated the mountain a big stone was discovered on the temple mount. The Muslims believed that it was the place of where the Binding of Isaac happened and therefore they named the stone "The Foundation Stone".

In the first century of the Arab regime in Jerusalem it was controlled by Caliphs from the Umayyad dynasty. The Caliph Abd al-Malik, from the most prominent Caliphs in the Umayyad dynasty, built the Dome of the Rock on the temple mount. The dome was inaugurated in 691. The Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the southern part of the temple mount in Jerusalem became one of the most holy places to the Muslims in the world.

In 750 the Caliphs from the Abbasid dynasty came instead of these from the Umayyad dynasty. In the days of the Caliph As-Saffah from Baghdad, Baghdad became the capital city of the Arab empire instead of Damascus. The gradual withdrawal from the region of Palestine from the central of the Arab regime lowered its importance in the political and economic aspects. Jerusalem remained central in the Muslim religion. Ever since then the rulership of the region of Palestine was in the hands of many different Muslim rulers until 1099 when Jerusalem was occupied by the crusaders.