Hamra (Beqaot)

Translated Dvora K.

A cold rainy day.

Summary:

The person responsible for security in the settlement of Maskiyot continues to make trouble for the residents in the area, in collaboration with military units serving in the region. Last week there were two incidents in which he initiated the illegal arrest of shepherds for 4-5 hours, and soldiers actually carried it out. In both cases they did not call the police, and that's proof that there was no legal reason for the deed. After 'the punishment was applied in full', the shepherds were freed to go home.

We heard complaints about unnecessary delays at the Tyasir CP. We ourselves saw an eight-minute halt in which no vehicle could go through the CP; there was no apparent reason for this. This was after we had left the CP and stopped to observe from a distance.

Gochiya Gate again was not opened until 15:45.

Tapuach Junction–11.25

There are no inspections. Near the guard tower that overlooks the road before Ossrin, a military vehicle is parked

Kussara

We met a man who told us that the Palestinian police are pursuing him, claiming that he is a collaborator [with Israel]. He was arrested several times and has spent time in jail. That is why he is having a hard time earning a livelihood for his family. His brother was killed by the Palestinian Authorities because he too was accused of collaboration. At the entrance to Kussara there is a  second hand goods store, for which the name 'second hand' is too grand. The items for sale are terribly ragged things that somebody has brought from the flee market in Jaffe and sells here.

Ma'aleh Efraim – 12.10:

There is no inspection. A military vehicle is parked near the CP. We did not see any inspections on our way back either.

Hamra CP – 12.30

A white Brinks van is parked near the CP and bars the left lane. When we returned it was still parked there in the same place. While we stayed there was a steady stream of people and cars in the usual speed. The passengers get out of the cars which come from the west, go through the pedestrian CP and wait for their vehicles in the cold rain for several minutes. Every time they refurbished the CP, no one has thoughtto have consideration for the thousands of people who go through the CP daily, whether they wish to or not, and must wait in the cold and in the rain in winter, and in the terrible heat of the summer.

The vehicles that come from the east, from the direction of area A, are not inspected.

In the encampment opposite Maskiyot: three weeks ago we talked with a shepherd who's been arrested illegally by R., the security person from Maskiyot, who was helped by a group of soldiers who actually carried out the arrest. This was done with the excuse that he'd come too close to the settlement fence with his herd. The shepherd was held in the CP for three hours, and then released.

Last Friday, he was arrested again. In the middle of the day he was taken from his herd which was left without anybody to watch it, for four hours.

In another encampment we were told about another case of a shepherd taken to the Tyasir CP – again on the initiative of R., who called on the army to make the arrest. The shepherd phoned N. from the Association for Human Rights. She arrived at the Tyasir CP but he was taken to the Hamra CP with the claim that he doesn't have an ID card and was kept there for five hoursa lltogether. In the end, he was released and no complaint was submitted to the police.

The same woman from the Association for Human Rights is calling a meeting of the Bedouin who live in the area in order to explain to them what their rights are and how they can fight for them. We appealed to the organization 'Yesh Din' ['There is Law'] after we received the agreement of the people involved to put in a complaint.

Tyasir CP – 13:50

When we arrived at the CP it was empty of cars. During the time we were there a few cars went through at the usual speed.

14:20– Three cars have already been waiting for five minutes and not a single one goes through. Only after an unexplained pause of eight minutes did the traffic begin to move.

Before this the residents of the encampments, who have to go through the CP regularly, told us that there are long delays to get to the urban center of Tubas . Somebody told us that yesterday at 10:00, not a rush hour for traffic, he's waited at the CP for about an hour, on a tractor open to the wind and the cold.

Guchiya Gate – 15:10

The gate is closed. We rang Zaharan at the Jericho DCO every ten minutes. He spoke with the person responsible for sending the soldiers to open the gate. They told him that the soldiers had been sent there, but none arrived. Those who needed to go through the gate did not get there either, because they knew it would not be opened.

Translator:  Charles K.

We pass through the area of the Za’tara checkpoint before 3 AM.  It’s completely deserted, no soldiers in position, just a light in the guard tower.

We go through the Ma’aleh Efraim checkpoint before 3:30 AM.  It’s also empty.

We pass by the Hamra checkpoint at about 3:45 AM.  No cars, no people; soldiers at the checkpoint.

4:05-5:45  Tayasir checkpoint

No people or cars at the checkpoint before 4:15.  Soldiers are at the vehicle checkpoint and the location where documents are checked up the hill above the road.  They didn’t object to our standing very close to each of those places.

The first car appears at 4:15 AM, then a minibus, then additional cars gradually arrive between 4:30-4:45, transporting laborers to their jobs at various locations, from Ro’i and Na’ama to Beit Ha’arava.

The inspection proceeds very slowly, 3-5 minutes per person, even though they’re only checking documents and the soldier in the booth has continual access to a computer.  The minibus driver waited from 4:20 to 5:40 for his passengers, and during this hour nine cars waited for their passengers.  People who have to begin work at Beit Ha’arava at 6 AM, for example, won’t get there on time.

We asked the shift commander why things are so slow, but he didn’t provide any explanation.  We telephoned the army’s “humanitarian office” who said there had been an infiltration attempt during the night so the roads are jammed.  An answer which is completely irrelevant to the situation at this checkpoint.

People told us that at this time of year, particularly during the coming month, there’s not much work, and most of it is in tomatoes.  The pay is still poor and the employers still avoid their legal obligations to their workers.  The people say that heads of families who have no supplementary source of food such as goats, chickens or a vegetable plot will have great difficulty surviving on that income, which also depends somewhat on the season.  Everyone – laborers and drivers – complained about how slow the Tayasir crossing was, both early in the morning and when they return in the afternoon.  Some said that it’s worse when religious soldiers are stationed there.

6:10-6:50  Hamra checkpoint

There are usually very few people here at this hour.  Today it was filled with people and cars.  38 vehicles waited for their passengers.  Some 200-250 people waited on a very long line behind the checkpoint buildings, many of whom had been there since 4:30 AM.  There were always 7-8 people in the building where detainees are held, waiting a long time for their names to be called and replaced by others.  Some went on to their jobs; others were turned back.  During the time we were there we counted 11 people who weren’t allowed through the checkpoint and went back.  Two of the detainees were there during our entire stay.

The line only started to get shorter quickly as 7 AM approached, people coming through in groups of three and four, much more rapidly.  Most of the vehicles had left by 7 with their passengers.

Teachers, most of whom work in Jericho, the Jiftlik and the school not far from the checkpoint, arrived slightly before 7.  They told us they cross quickly so as not to be late for school.  They, as well as others at both checkpoints, told us that the pupils cross at about 7:30.  They’re never allowed to remain on the school buses.  Even though they don’t have ID cards they must get off, go through the metal detector and walk a considerable distance (exposed to the winds at the Tayasir checkpoint) to the bus which is already waiting on the other side.

We told the humanitarian office about the long lines as well as about the two detainees who hadn’t been released.

The soldiers here also didn’t object to our standing near the checkpoint itself all the time we were there.  They didn’t have a clear answer to the question of why everything is so terribly slow.  The checkpoint commander didn’t either.  At about 6:45 we saw three men wearing coveralls, not Palestinians, going through the checkpoint in the opposite direction.  Who they were, what they were doing, did they have any connection to the fact that crossing was slow this morning – we can only guess.

A military vehicle was positioned in the area where cars waited.  Its soldiers detained two youths for a short time; they apparently hadn’t crossed through the checkpoint itself.  Two of the soldiers, faces almost completely hidden, weapons drawn, continued to stand next to the vehicle even after the youths had been sent back.

It was very cold the whole time.

The Ma’aleh Efraim checkpoint was empty when we crossed on our way back.

Translator:  Charles K.

11:30  We went through the Bezeq checkpoint

The rains have rinsed off the Jordan Valley; a few puddles along the roadside, water in the wadi east of the Tevetz junction.

Alon road – an army jeep parked by the roadside near the Gochia gate.  A soldier sits on its hood.  A new earthen berm has risen parallel to the Alon road.  It begins 3 kilometers north of the Hamra junction and is 1.5 kilometers long.  The barriers west of the road have also been made higher for two kilometers before reaching the checkpoint.

12:55  Hamra checkpoint
Minibuses and vans transporting laborers.  No delays crossing westward.  Almost no cars or people going east.  Signs of the rains that fell are visible around the checkpoint, as are the efforts to clean and rake the area (by a tractor).  Four concrete blocks have been placed next to the (stinking!!!) garbage containers.  A pile of junk and garbage next to them (fence parts, plastic barriers, etc.).  An army backhoe parked at the checkpoint goes to work.  A Central Command engineering officer guides the backhoe operator.  We saw two new water lines that had been laid across a route parallel to the road.  We don’t yet know the significance of the work being done here.  The Central Command engineering officer didn’t answer our question.

13:55  We left.

Soldiers on maneuvers are scattered alongside the road up to Tayasir.  And also – an almond tree with splendid white blossoms.

14:30  Tayasir checkpoint
Very light traffic. 
The sign at the entrance to the base announces the presence of Battalion 97's "Mahatz [The ”Smiters”] Company" (from the March, 2011, wave of draftees), and cites the text on which the unit's name is based: "I have smitten them through, so that they are not able to rise." 
A smiling captain comes over to ask what we’re doing in the area under his command.  He proudly told us that he was the one who named his company “Mahatz.”  We didn’t ask what the sign meant.  [The text is from Psalms 18:39; the previous verse provides the full context:  "I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them; neither did I turn back till they were consumed."]    Unlike his predecessor, he confirmed what everyone knows, that it’s not a military area and that we’re permitted to be here.  Just not interfere..

A., a taxi driver, says that the soldiers delay traffic in the morning.  As a result, people are late, especially the teachers.  One of the people crossing mentioned insulting inspections of women.  He asks whether we can do anything about them.

14:50  We left

15:15  We crossed through the Bezeq checkpoint.

Translator Dvora K.

M.Z., a shepherd who lives close to the settlement of Maskiyot, has been arrested at the Tyasir CP two days ago at 21:00, by the person responsible for security in the settlement and a group of soldiers who backed him up. M.Z. was held without their calling the police, that is to say, without any legal reason for his arrest, and released at midnight. The excuse was that his herd was too close to the settlement. This is a repeated phenomenon. We saw the same thing in the neighborhood of the B'kaot settlement. Those in charge of security use the authority that they actually do not have and make their own laws in order to keep shepherds away from the settlement fence. The same person in charge of security notified the shepherds that they are not allowed to come closer than four kilometers from the fence. From an officer at the Zaharan DCO we learned that by decision of the local command, the actual distance is only 300 meters. And still, the person in charge of security gets backing from the local army officers to carry out an illegal arrest as punishment. We gave this shepherd and others the telephone number of Zaharan.

On the other hand, we must mention that the Guchiya CP has begun to open exactly on time, since the change of the army unit at Tyasir. This is happening after several months during which it wasn't. One of the commanders, Lieutenant H., whom we met earlier at the CP, promised that from now on the CP will be opened on time.

Za'atara CP (Tapuach Junction) 11.25

There are no inspections. One soldier is in the watchtower at the junction.

Maaleh Efraim CP 11.35:

There are inspections at the entrance to the valley. A taxi is being inspected. The passengers remain seated in the taxi. When we came back at 15:45 there were no soldiers at the CP

Hamra CP. 12.00

Passage is quick. There are no queues. This is a quiet time of the day. In the CP courtyard there is a bachoe and piles of fence parts. Apparently they are going to build a new fence, even though the CP has a good fence on all sides. We have already become used to the fact that the army does not make efforts to save money.

In the encampment opposite the Settlement of Maskiyot, M.Z. tells us that the night before last R., who is in charge of security in the settlement, came there accompanied by a group of soldiers, and they arrested him and brought him to the Tyasir CP, where they kept him for three hours. Details at the beginning of the report.

In this family, the little children study in a school that was opened in Badri's encampment beneath Maskiyot. The older ones study in Tyasir or in Beida. There's busing, and they pay three shekels a day for each child. The school belongs to the Palestinian Authority and is free until the age of 18.

Tyasir CP- 13/15

When we arrived at the CP there were no cars. Lieutenant H. came up to us and we learned from him that the unit of Military Engineers that manned the CP during the last several months has been replaced. And now the place is manned by soldiers from the Kfir Brigade. He promised that he will take care of opening the Guchiya CP according to plan, and that there would be no unnecessary delays.

In the Encampment of K. beneath Maskiyot–

There too, they told us that R., who is in charge of security in the settlement makes trouble for the shepherds and instructs them to stay 4-5 kilometers away from the fence. It is important to note that recently a new fence has been installed in Maskiyot and this fence extends to at least twice the area it enclosed before.

The children here all study in Tyasir. The daughter (16) is studying in a seminar for physical education teachers. The older son studies at the Open University in Tubas, because the University in Nablus is very expensive. They pay NIS4000 per semester. All of them are waiting for rain. That is the 'drug' of life. When will it rain????

GuchiyaCP –

At 15.00 exactly a jeep arrived. Lieutenant H. came in it to make sure that everything is alright. No one come to the gate, because they know that there is no chance that it will open. That has been the situation for the last three months at least. I called Abu Sacher to tell him that we were given a promise that from now on the gate would open as it should, and we asked him to notify people.

Translation: Bracha B.A.

09:30 – The Shomron (Samaria) Gate

The checkpoint is empty.

09:45 – Salafit

There were two soldiers at the checkpoint, which was also empty.

10:00 – Tapuach Junction

There was a jeep at the junction but no police or soldiers present.

10:15 – Maaleh Efraim

There were three soldiers at the checkpoint, which was unusual.

10:50 – Hamra Checkpoint

There were four soldiers present.  We met a man who told us that Danny Ashkenazi, the person responsible for security, is constantly harassing Palestinians.  Passage is going smoothly.

11:20 – Tayasir Checkpoint

Four cars are waiting for passengers who are being checked.  One of the drivers told us that they have been waiting for more than a half hour, and it was unusual for so many cars to be waiting there on Saturday.  We met a lot of people who were waiting and we asked if people were ever allowed to show their documents and pass through without getting out of their cars.  They explained that everything depended upon the soldier and whether he was pleasant or not.  Some soldiers let people through quickly and other "bad" ones deliberately make people wait for an hour and a half.  This is particularly true of people going from Tubas to the Jordan Valley.

By 11:40 all the cars that had been waiting and their passengers had crossed through.

12:30 – Hamra Checkpoint

There is a long line of cars waiting and there are  six soldiers, a bulldozer, and a command car at the checkpoint.

13:00 – Maaleh Efraim Checkpoint

The soldiers who were there this morning are now gone and the checkpoint is empty.  There is at least one soldier in the watchtower.

13:10 – Tapuach Junction

There are no soldiers present.

13:45 – Hawara Checkpoint

There are no soldiers present.

13:55 – There is a temporary road block at the entrance to Tzaara.   At 14:05 a jeep arrived and evidently gave an order to leave, and the roadblock is taken away.  People can pass through freely again.

14:20 -  – Eliyahu Gate

There is a long line of cars waiting to cross into Israel.

Translation: Bracha B.

We passed through Bezek Checkpoint. 

Alon Road

They are no longer working on the piles of earth.  Evidently they are already high and broad enough to please those responsible for security.   On the other hand soldiers from the Kfir Brigade are training intensely and the entire area is filled with clusters of tents and vehicles.

12:05 – Hamra Checkpoint

It is quiet and there is very little traffic.  Pedestrians pass through the checkpoint, holding their belts, and a few greet us.  The soldiers ignore us completely.  We left at 12:45.

12:55 – Tabatz Junction (Ascent to Tayasir)

Students are getting out of their transport vehicle.

13:05 – Tayasir Checkpoint

Here, too, there is a lot of noise and shooting from military exercises.  There is very little traffic.

We began to approach the position and were immediately shouted at to "get back, this is a military area".  Looking at the flag at the entrance we noticed that the soldiers had changed, and there is now a white flag with an emblem of a lion and a word.  A soldier comes out of the camp with a heavy jerrycan and asks us if we have permission to be there.  The road is empty and there is no traffic.  We presume someone has told the soldier about us. 

13:35. We left and saw no cars on our way back either.  We drove through Bezek Checkpoint at 14:00.

Translator:  Charles K.

12:30  Bezeq checkpoint is the same as always – the guard behind the concrete shelter pointing his weapon at the cars on the road.

Near al-Farsiyya– pupils walk along the roadside.  Palestinian cars stop to pick up some of them.

12:50  Hamra checkpoint

A line of five cars from the east.  The soldiers’ lunches are unloaded.  The soldier in the tower comes down to get his meal and immediately climbs up again.  The line of cars shortens.  The soldiers wear flak jackets, no helmets.  Some of them stand with legs apart in a line across the road.  A small truck loaded with metal cages and fence components waits at the emplacement on the road, not allowed to continue eastward.  It reverses and parks on the side of the road; perhaps someone’s finding out about it.  Five minutes later it returns to the emplacement, then drives back west (it didn’t go through) and disappears.  The soldiers briefly found time to discuss us:  Are we allowed?  Forbidden?  Why are we permitted to be here?

13:05  A taxi from the west that reached the emplacement on the road is sent back. 

13:10  It’s returned to the emplacement, passengers get out, already holding their belts in their hands.  The taxi is sent back again.  One of the passengers tells us she’s from Jenin, a teacher.  She’s had some kind of operation, and is on the way to Amman to see a specialist.  The taxi arrives at 13:20.  The driver says that the delay was because all the bags had to be inspected.  In the past we’d been able to see the vehicle with the scanner.  Today it wasn’t visible.

Many Transits, minibuses and buses going west without being delayed, transporting laborers who’d been working in the Jordan Valley. A group of laborers gets out of an Israeli vehicle and goes through the checkpoint on foot.

A., from Nablus, says that the long-time entrance to the fruit orchards and vegetable fields south of the checkpoint has been closed (photo, left); now the entrance is via a route that’s at the mercy of the weather (photo, right).  When it rains, the mud makes it impassable (the road isn’t paved; cars sink into the mud).  A family lives in the house next to the groves; they’re also “stuck” until the road dries out.  A. drove us in his car to show us both roads.  He said their complaints to the DCO didn’t help.  We understood he grows vegetables there, and markets them.  I asked whether the soldiers won’t make trouble for him because he took us in his car.  “They’ll make trouble,” he replied, “So what?  They make trouble all the time, but we keep going.”

13:55  We left.

Alon road:  We enjoy seeing the slopes along the road which are now tinted green.  There are no soldiers in the areas where the Kfir unit trains.

Because of an unforeseen need to bring the car home (again), we didn’t drive up to the Tayasir checkpoint.

Bezeq checkpoint– we went through.

 Translation : Hanna K.

"we have good neighbours and there are bad neighbours" (A. From Qusra)

09:55 The Samaria Passage – Three cars are waiting at the crossing to enter Israel. We entered the WestBank, those entering are not subject to checks.

10:15 The checkpoint to Salfit – at the entrance to Ariel, there are two soldiers here, at the moment there is not traffic.

In answer to our question we are told that the entrance for vehicles (public and private) is only if one has an authorization to pass through that particular crossing. The fact that there are also private vehicles that have an authorization for this checkpoint is news to us!

At this checkpoint they check only the car authorization and not the IDs of the passengers, unless somebody looks suspicious.

10:30 Zaatara\Tapuah CP – there are no soldiers\border policemen\police. Little traffic.

On our way to the Jordan valley we turned to Qusra.
At the inner entrance to the village, just before the fork to Migdalim settlement or Qusra , there is a military jeep and soldiers who check every vehicle that enters the village (papers, trunk, parcels) and to us they signaled to continue to the Migdalim settlement. We advance and said that we were heading to Qusra, the soldier said there was no problem and didn't check us at all.

At the village (our first time there) the shops were open and children were waving "hello, hello, bye, bye"

We stopped to chat a little. Here is a diagnosis they expressed, which does offhand indicate where the problem is:

A.  "Migdalim took land from us, but little. They come down to the village to buy at the grocery, drink coffee, show respect, do not disturb. Thos are good neighbours. That's alright"

"Esh Kodesh" (an illegal outpost) took land too, but also continue making trouble -  cut down trees, kill sheep and goats, throw stones. Lunatics. Bad neighbours".

11:10 Ma'ale Ephrayim CP – it is empty.

11:25 A jeep patrols on road no. 57.

11:27 – Hamra/Beqaot CP –

Coming from the West bank: two passenger wait for their car to be checked. The car passes within a minute and so does a tractor.

Going to the West bank: four cars wait for two minutes.
And then the soldier signals with his hand and continues his gesture so that all the cars including a truck which joined them pass in a convoy (my first time here that they do not pass one by one) without checking.

At the CP itself an enormous tractor stands (with a huge paddle – is this the tractor that builds the high earth mound along the roads?)

Four women who descended from a vehicle come out together three minutes later.

There is a lot of traffic leaving the Bank.

11:30 Two full taxis arrive. The passengers descend, wait at a great distance from the checking porthole.

11:33 A soldier signals to the first three to approach the porthole.

11:37 Another five are allowed to advance.
One taxi goes on its way.

11:40 A second taxi went on its way. 10 minutes.

But nevertheless, why wait like this in the sun, at a distance, for a soldier to signal that they should approach the porthole?

12:05 Ma'ale Ephrayim – empty, in the tower too.

12:25 Za'tara\Tapuah junction – there are two border policemen, on at the inspection post, looking at the people who go through. We didn't see that they stopped anybody.

12:50 Huwwara CP – is empty, in the tower too. There is a lot of traffic.

13:00 Beit Furik CP – empty.

We returned through Burin\Yitzhar, Jit, Al Funduq, Nabi Elias, Eliyahu Passage.

13:20-15:30

13:20 Bezeq CP– We went though.

It is hot!!!! It is dry!!!

The shoveldozer is still parked in the middle path.

13:40: Hamra

here are many planes, three ofthem passed very low to the east of the CP.

Traffic is thin. Cars with workers are going west. Private taxis leave for the east. A Palestinian truck with packages of fruits and vegetable familiar from Israel goes through. A driver comes to pick up his wife; in the meantime he tells us that "today the CP is ok. There are ups and downs, but today it's ok."

A sergeant and an additional soldier walk over to us: "You are from ???? (apparently forgot) women watch (remembers). You don't have to be afraid." He finds out if we know the rules. This time, too, the rules we know are different from those he knows. "Stand there …. Stand behind the concrete hut …." We ask about the knives that he and his colleagues have attached to their feet. Naively and proudly he tells us that the knife is obligatory for every soldier in the engineering corps because the general says that this is the way we show that we are in the corps". They call it 'kalach', short for kalachnikov, or 'storm knife'.  He didn't agree for us to take a picture of the foot with the knife (for that there has to be a permit from the commander). "There are instructions from the colonel to freeze the CP if the women of the Watch do not stand behind the concrete hut --- there. It seemed as if he would not go against the colonel's instructions, so we went to observe on the other side of the road. The sun's rays were especially strong, many people were waiting at the western entrance of the CP, so it wouldn't have been right to let him 'freeze' the CP. The passage was quick. People greeted us, speaking, shaking hands, waving from the windows of the cars.

14:20All of them went through. We left.

The Alon Road: A blue tent or shed was added from the Maskiyot settlement. It is hard to see exactly what it is from the road.

14:45 Tyasir CP

Lots of squills are blooming on the hills and around the base. A midibus arrives at the CP. They give him a sign to advance, to stop. And then all the passengers get out. This time, they are put in a line at the side of the road. One by one they approach the soldier, receive their ID and get back on to the midibus. When a smaller minibus arrives, the ritual of returning the IDs is carried out through the windows. The traffic is thin

15:15. We left.

15:50: Bezeq CP– we went through.

Translated by Ilil Naveh-Benjamin

5:45 Bezeq checkpoint

It’s dry.  Not hot yet this morning.  The dominant colour here is brown.  In front of Al-Farsia three soldiers are running around.  We haven’t met others later.

The way to the Hamra checkpoint reveals (after 5 weeks of our absence) a dirt embankment continuing south and near the road.

6:00 Hamra checkpoint

Five soldiers are standing at the checkpoint.  Later on, a female soldier emerges too. We’ve missed the crossing of the labourers through the checkpoint.  Traffic is only moving east now (from the West Bank to the Valley).  Most of those crossing are families in taxis.  A taxi driver tells us of the usual meticulous examination of bags, but adds that today it’s absent because we’re there.  We don’t perceive this as any particular cause for relief.

We discover a new building, a low one, standing adjacent to the southern fence of the checkpoint area and in front of the fenced shed (the one that once held a water container and space for the dogs to rest and eat).  We ask about this new building, and the response fits what we call a “detainees shed.”  Our photograph of the shed shows that its northern side has no wall, but only something like a gate.  Also, one of its sides – bottom left – is falling apart.

7:00 - We left.

7:30 Meeting with Abu-Saker

Abu Saker asks us to join him in his house – or in what’s left of the sheds and tents where he’s resided with his family and cattle since the army destroyed everything.  It’s sad to see.  In the meantime, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has built him a tent, and a shed for the cattle.

The electricity generator isn’t working.  They couldn’t fix it in Tamoon. We loaded it onto our truck; maybe we can fix it in Afula.  Afterwards, given our newly heavy load and fuel contents, we gave up going through the winding roads to the Tayasir checkpoint.

8:30 Bezeq checkpoint

The checkpoint opened with no problems.