The purpose of the shift: a trip to Khursa, following a phone call from Tawfiq, who has a shop (and maybe also lives) in front of the pillbox.

Road 60

Meitar checkpoint – empty, because the closure has  been extended until Sunday, due to the escape of the prisoners.

Opposite the settlement Sham’a : In the new outpost, which is a kind of ‘extension’ of the outpost Eshtamo’a, there is a caravan standing on a truck. And it has already been reported that there are molds or foundations which will be moved it to a permanent base . A neat dirt road leads a neat dirt road. The method has already been reported: to take over land by raising sheep, to make the lives of neighboring Palestinians so hard and bitter and then the land they own becomes worthless, and then they will sell!

Other grazing farms in the area, which operate in the same method – the farm of Israel Kaplan, which bothers Abu Safi, and a farm above Zanuta, apparently controlled by Federman’s son

Improvised gas stations: We have seen gas tanks that serve as a gas station – placed on vehicles, or at the entrance to localities. The Israel that rules here does not care, and the PA does not enter.

Khursa: A reminder : Khursa is located on a wide road that connects Road 60 with Road 358 leading to Kiryat Gat. This road is entirely in Area A. On this road also resides the Negohot settlement and all its ramifications. About four years ago, the army set up a pillbox at the entrance to the village, and since then the pillbox has expanded to a fortified military position (see photo). The position is decorated with Israeli flags from all directions – so there will be no confusion. The picture emphasizes the intolerable mix between the army and the residents: the building on the left is the Diwan which is a meeting place for the villagers. Just below the pillbox, and on the right, these are the railings of the shops and the residents’ houses opposite. The pillbox allows residents of Negohot to travel through this road, and with it a significant shortcut to Hebron, to the north and south. However, the pillbox makes life difficult for residents. It is located above the Diwan, and maintaining the position keeps shoppers away from nearby stores. In short, the easing of the lives of the residents of Negohot is achieved at the cost of toughening the regime on the Palestinian residents. We reported this four years ago

https://peacenow.org.il/pillbox-area-a https://machsomwatch.org/he/reports/checkpoints/15082017/morning/55845 

https://machsomwatch.org/he/reports/checkpoints/14082017/morning/55838

Tawfiq called to report to ask if it was possible to come. Since the escape of the prisoners the situation has been heating up on both sides. Among the locals – euphoria: Hamas, the Popular Front, Jihad, and Fatah – all quarrel endlessly, but they all have a common enemy – Israel, and now it unites them. So all the time there are flareups near the army post. .

On the morning we arrived, children (he claimed that they were not locals) threw stones at the army and  the army post there. According to officers we spoke to later, they also threw a Molotov cocktail – we saw signs of fire on a concrete wall. Many more army forces arrived. It is not clear whether the soldiers chased the children, but they left the fenced area  of the post. We arrived when it was almost over. Most of the military vehicles left. We spoke to two officers who were very restrained. Tawfiq was pleased to be recognized as a sane representative of the neighbors, and also to have Israeli friends.

In short: a solution without a solution, which creates difficult extreme events – occupation.