Rihan, Shaked, April 18, 2006, AM Observing and reporting: Hannah H., Raya Ts.10.20-12.45Rihan, 10.20We go down through the sleeve. There are a few pedestrians who go through the CP without any problems. In the Palestinian parking lot, vehicles loaded with agricultural produce are waiting to go through, and there is also a pile of eggs in the sun, covered in part by canvas. The drivers tell us about something that turned out to be a big mixup (“a mess of eggs”) they say that they have been waiting since 5.00 AM (the soldiers say since 7.00), but today, there is no passage for eggs. Yesterday there was. The drivers say that they have all the permits, including a permit from a veterinarian. We talked to the soldiers. Yesterday evening there were new instructions from the Ministry of Health not to let eggs go through the CP, because of the health hazard. The instructions are final and absolute; the drivers can go back home with the eggs (except that the home of at least one of them is in Umm al-Rihan, “out of the country” as he puts it).Another subject that came up in the conversation with one of the drivers and with the soldiers was transport of rolls of plastic. The driver claims that they are not letting him take them through the CP; the soldiers say that it is possible if the passage is coordinated in advance with the DCO. We called the District Coordination Office and, after being cut off a few times, we discovered that the matter of the eggs is known and is now being discussed. After some more gentle pressure, the DCO spokeswoman added that there would be a solution within the next half hour; and indeed, to our surprise, after 20 minutes, the woman soldier called Ibrahim from Umm al-Rihan to come up to the CP with the eggs. Transporting them is allowed, but first they have to be transferred from one vehicle to another. We left at 12.15; the passage of the eggs and the rest of the agricultural produce was going on, but very slowly.Shaked, 12.20The gate is still shut, and a few women are waiting on the other side. At 12.30, the school children begin to go through one by one. After we saw that passage was proceeding in good order, we left at 12.45.