A former city of west-central Israel on the Mediterranean Sea. An ancient Phoenician city, it was taken by the Israelites in the 6th century AD and later fell to the Arabs (636), Crusaders (12th century), and Ottoman Turks (16th century). Jaffa was inhabited mainly by Arabs until the state of Israel was proclaimed in 1948. Since 1950 the city has been part of Tel Aviv-Yafo.