[1] During the first year of his term, Mehmed Pasha launched two punitive expeditions against the Bedouin tribes who had taken over the roads around Gaza and exacted tolls on the local inhabitants.
About 200 peasants and Bedouin tribesmen were killed and Mehmed Pasha returned to Jerusalem with the severed heads of eleven rebels which were placed atop the city's gates to deter potential dissent.
[5] In May 1703, during Friday prayer at the al-Aqsa Mosque and while Mehmed Pasha was leading a punitive expedition around Nablus, a rebellion against the government was announced.
A mutasallim appointed by Mehmed Pasha and a small number of troops had been left to govern the city and were apprehended by the Jerusalemite rebels, who were assisted by local sipahi and janissary units.
Mehmed Pasha's abilities to marshal resources for the caravan was helped by the fact that he still served as governor of a number of sanjaks, from which he derived tax revenues.