In 909, the Fatimids took over the Aghlabid metropolitan province of Ifriqiya, and with it Sicily. The Fatimids continued the tradition of jihad, both against the remaining Christian strongholds in the northeast of Sicily and, more prominently, against the Byzantine possessions in southern Italy, punctuated by temporary truces.

The Battle of the Straits was fought in early 965 between the fleets of the Byzantine Empire and the Fatimid Caliphate in the Straits of Messina. It resulted in a major Fatimid victory, and the final collapse of the attempt of Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas to recover Sicily from the Fatimids.

This defeat led the Byzantines to once more request a truce in 966/7, resulting in a peace treaty leaving Sicily in Fatimid hands, and renewing the Byzantine obligation to pay tribute in exchange for the cessation of raids in Calabria.