Abu Ageila
Abu Ageila is a strategically important road junction and dam in the north of the Sinai peninsula, because of its proximity to the border with Israel, approximately 25 km from Auja al-Hafir and 45 km southeast of El Arish. It was the site of major battles in the 1948, 1956 and 1967 wars between Israel and Egypt. The adjacent location Umm Katef was another key Egyptian position in the Abu Ageila battles.
In 1930, there were about 10,000 and, in 1948, only 3,500 'Azazme living in this area. Furthermore, the ownership of the land they inhabited was often disputed.
According to a recent biography of Ariel Sharon by David Landau, in preparation for an attack on the Suez Canal were war to break out between Israel and Egypt, Sharon ordered the secret expulsion of 3,000 Bedouin from Abu Ageila, in late January 1972, to clear the way for a military exercise code-named Oz. No warning was given, and the expulsion order was executed during the onset of freezing temperatures in the desert, over three days. Moreover, no time was allowed for the Bedouin - the 'Azazme, kin to the Tarabin in El Arish - to collect their belongings. Lt. Gen. David Elazar later ordered that the Bedouin be allowed to return.
