authorities built a railroad, as well as a large administrative centre complete with an apartment building for the clerks. However, the town didn't develop until it became an outpost on the Egyptian front during World War I. In mid-January, 1915, a Turkish Army force of 20,000 entered Sinai by way of El-Auja on an unsuccessful expedition against the Suez Canal. At this time most of the dressed stone was taken from the ancient buildings for building work in Gaza. British Mandate According to the 1931 census Auja al-Hafir had a population of 29 inhabitants, all Muslims, living in 9 houses, in addition to 35 people living at the police post. The local population were not involved in the disturbances of 1929 and 1936 but there was some disorder in the summer of 1938. At the start of the 1936 disturbances the British Mandate authorities used Auja as a prison camp for arrested Palestinian Arab leaders including Awny Abdul Hadi. It was also used to hold Jewish Communists who were being deported. The prisoners were later transferred to the army base at Sarafand. The central route across the desert to the Suez Canal crossed from El Auja to Ismailia, until 1948 this was the only paved road between Palestine and Egypt. During the British Mandate of Palestine it was part of the District of Beersheba. An elementary school was established by the Mandate Government, but closed in 1932 due to insufficient and irregular attendance. It was reopened in 1945 at tribal expense and had 23 pupils. In 1947, 'Auja al-Hafir was granted an official Town Planning Scheme. According to the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine, the area was designated as part of the Arab state. 1948 Arab–Israeli War In 1948 the Egyptian Army used the area as a military base. In the Battle of 'Auja, a campaign of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, it was captured by the 89th Mechanized Commando Battalion of Israel, which had an English-speaking platoon of volunteers from England, Germany, the Netherlands, Rhodesia, South Africa, and the U.S. Israel As a result of the 1949 Armistice Agreements, the area around the village, known as the al-Auja Zone, became a 145 km2 demilitarized zone (DMZ), with compliance monitored by the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO). On 28 September 1953 the Israeli army established a fortified settlement, Ktzi'ot, overlooking the al-Auja junction. The first name given to this