BEIT IBA, SARRA,SHAVEI SHOMRON, Monday 12 July 2004 PM Observers: Ruti K., Maya K. (reporting) colour= red>In summary: a calm day in Beit Iba13:45 — Sarra Arriving at the checkpoint we found an ambulance and a transit car wanting to travel eastwards, and a transit-taxi facing westwards. There were no soldiers visible – although there were some on the neighbouring hillside. The ambulance had come from Tulkarm to transport a patient from Nablus to a hospital in Ramallah. The passengers in the transit car were members of a medical team (a doctor, a dentist, two nurses and an ecologist), who had just finished work in Sarra village and were returning to Nablus. The taxi’s passengers were villagers on their way home. Ten minutes after our arrival, two hostile soldiers appeared and let the cars go, but told the ambulance driver he couldn’t use this checkpoint and must go via Beit Iba. 14:15 — Beit Iba The checkpoint was calm, the soldiers and their officer were courteous and attentive both to the Palestinians and to us. Most of the detainees (not more than six) waited about 20 to 30 minutes , although one of them told us, as we arrived, that he’d been waiting for four hours. The soldiers called the General Security Services (GSS, or , from the Hebrew acronym, the Shabak or Shin Bet ) immediately they detained anyone [ they send ID card details to the GSS for cross-checking against that organization’s central list of security suspects, this check frequently takes a very long time during which detainees are virtually prisoners at the checkpoint because the soldiers there hold their ID cards until an answer comes back from the GSS], and received answers very quickly . Amazing! Two detainees had been held for a longer time, and were still waiting when we left. According to the officer, they had tried to avoid going through the checkpoint by climbing over the mountains where they’d been caught and arrested; their case was being dealt with by the soldiers who had stopped them. That’s something new!15:30 Shavei Shomron Two calm, pleasant soldiers were doing their job efficiently. The cars, three to four in each direction , went through quite quickly.