Their rule was arbitrary. Pilgrims proceeding to Jerusalem from Jaffa were compelled to get permission from the Pasha at Gaza.
If anyone built a house, or owned anything particularly interesting, the Pashas would lay claim to it by using the expression "Mabrook" (Blessed). If the owner did not reply favourably he was immediately hanged.
Hussein Pasha (c. a.d. 1660) made Gaza the capital of Palestine. His serai, which was furnished with great luxury, stood in the middle of a beautiful Gaza garden.[36] One family was called the Frangi. They were the Pashas' gardeners. Their descendants became Muslims.
When the Turks came to Gaza the Pashas only lost the serai and barracks, their other property was not interfered with. It now belongs to their descendants, who are all poor people, and live on their rents.
These Pashas had their own burying ground, which is still seen, and known as the Pashas' cemetery.
When Napoleon Bonaparte came to Gaza (a.d. February 1799) the city was not ruled by any power, and the taxes were collected for him by a private individual.[37]
After the rule of the Pashas, the Muftis governed Gaza—the Turkish Government coming into office in 1852.
It has been extremely difficult to obtain this scanty information about the Gaza Pashas.