The Ottoman Empire built a police station in 1902. Before World War I it was the site of a military base.[11] From 1905 to 1915 there were built a railroad and a large administrative centre together with administrators apartment building.[12] In the middle of January, 1915, a Turkish Army force of 20,000 entered Sinai by way of El Auja on an unsuccessful expedition against the Suez Canal.[13] At this time most of the dressed stone was taken from the ancient buildings for building work in Gaza.[4]