Ktzi'ot Prison 2.07

Ktzi'ot Prison is an Israeli detention facility located in the Negev desert 45 miles south-west of Beersheba. It is Israel's largest detention facility in terms of land area, encompassing 400000m2. It is also the largest detention camp in the world.During the First Intifada, Ktzi'ot was the location of the largest detention camp run by the Israeli army. It held three quarters of all Palestinians held by the army, and over half of all Palestinians detained in Israel. According to Human Rights Watch, in 1990 it held approximately one out of every 50 West Bank and Gazan males older than 16. Amongst Palestinians it was known as Ansar III after a similar prison camp set up in South Lebanon by Israel during the South Lebanon conflict (1982–2000). Ktzi'ot camp was opened in March 1988 and closed in 1995. It was re-opened in 2002 during the Second Intifada.BackgroundOn September 28, 1953 the Israel Defense Forces established a fortified settlement, Ktzi'ot, overlooking the al-Auja junction. Despite housing soldiers in civilian clothes and engaging in little farming activity the Israelis maintained it was a pioneering farm settlement which did not break the Egyptian-Israeli Armistice Agreement relating to the 145 km2 Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) around al-Auja. The remaining members of the 'Azazme tribe, who depended on the well at al-Auja, were attacked and driven across the border into Egypt.