The siege of Jaffa was a military engagement between the French Army under Napoleon Bonaparte and Ottoman forces under Ahmed al-Jazzar. On March 3, 1799, the French laid siege to the city of Jaffa, which was under Ottoman control. It was fought from March 3 to 7, when French forces managed to capture the city. For the pillaging of the city, the murder of its civilian population and the execution of 4,100 Ottoman prisoners of war, the siege has been called "one of the most tragic episodes of [Napoleon's] Egyptian campaign".