Negev Desert (Ketziot) Prison

The Negev desert prison, was opened in 1988 where more than fifty thousand Palestinian prisoners were incarcerated until it was closed in 1995 after the signing of the Oslo Accords.  It was then re-opened with the outbreak of the Aqsa Intifada in 2002. The prison is located about 180 km south of Jerusalem and about 10 km east of the Egyptian borders. The prison consists of 3 large sections: Section A) which consists of 8 interior sections, each of which can contain 120 prisoners. Each section includes 6 camps. Section B) which consists of caravans, or virtually mobile rooms, which were built in 2008 after the prison was burned down, martyring the prisoner Mohammed al-Ashqar. This newer caravan section contains 4 units; though section B contains another 4 units on the opposite side that consist of regular camps. Section C) which is referred to as “the rooms” was built in 2007. With all of its units combined, section C can contain 3500 prisoners, some of which are administrative detainees.