Hebron Hills Sunday 23/10/05 AMObservers: Yeela L (reporting in Hebrew) Elena L,(reporting in English)6:45- 10:00Summary The army presence is a somehat less than it was in the first days after the killing of the settlers, but traffic is still sparse, Hebron is encircled, and the limitations imposed on movement remain severe. Routes 35 and 317 (south of Zif Junction) remain closed to Palestinian vehicles. The UmmTuba school children continue to come to school in Tawani by the long route without a military or police escort. [NOTE: These escorts, recently discontinued, had protected the schoolchildren from settler attacks.]Sansana CP – there are no detainees and we were not stoppedCongo CP – no cars and no detainees.The CP at the turn-off to Beth Yatir – The soldiers reported that yesterday (Saturday) they had prevented a car with 4 persons who said they taught at the school in Dirijat village from going through the CP (they were coming from Yatta). The soldiers said that they have updated lists of authorized teachers and the 4 persons were not on them. Tawani – We saw the Umm Tuba children coming to the Tawani school on donkeys and on foot by the long way and without an army escort. The children from Susiya had already arrived by the tractor-drawn cart. The driver told us that 14 children had come today. He said that his salary (still unpaid) and the money for petrol comes from a European organization.We again met F’, the girl who could not go to school because her father couldn’t pay the fees- her mother told us that the reason why they couldn’t pay the fees was that both she and her husband have been without any source of income since the beginning of the intifada. We must try to get hold of schoolbooks in Arabic suitable for a 12 year old. Zif Junction: The CP is closed. Soldiers were standing on the road and preventing every Palestinian vehicle going south from continuing. The reason may well be to prevent them from driving near Carmel and Ma’on. The soldiers had no idea what the reason was. There were 7 detainees who wanted to enter Yatta via the CP (they had come from Ramallah) whose IDs had been taken for checking. They later phoned to tell us that their IDs had been returned and they had been let through. They had been detained for about 20 minutes altogether.Shiyuch –Hebron Crossing ( the girls’ school): There were no soldiers on the ground. The crossing was open to pedestrians as usual. There were taxis on the near side of the roadblock to Shiyukh –with access to route 60. Usually we see taxis only on the far side of the roadblock.Sair-Halhul East Crossing –the access to both Sair and to East Halhul was blocked. The barbed wire that had blocked the entrance to East Halhul last Thursday (20/10) has been replaced by cement blocks. At the centre of the crossing there is a road block and soldiers are checking motor traffic going along route 60. Pedestrians are randomly checked, especially men with bulging pockets. Palestinian taxis are allowed through in both directions (after IDs and the baggage trunk have been checked). Private Palestinian cars are not allowed through the roadblock. Palestinian trucks carrying “humanitarian” goods (this mainly means food) are allowed through after the driver’s papers have been checked and the truck’s license number has been registered on the police computer. This checking procedure can take from 10 minutes to three hours, according to the roadblock CO. The soldiers are polite and efficient.Route 35: is closed to all Palestinian vehicles.The Humanitarian CP is manned and the gate to Hebron is open. UN vehicles are observed coming through it from Hebron; also cars with yellow license plates ( by law they are not allowed to be in Hebron and the drivers are reprimanded by the soldiers). An ambulance was observed going through and even a Palestinian (yellow) taxi (perhaps a VIP was traveling in the taxi)Sheep’s Crossing: no military presence. Pedestrians crossing in both directions.At Beit Hagai –a female settler is standing on route 60 trying to hitch a ride – Incredible!Dura – Al Fawwar Crossing: Closed to cars. A barrier of cement blocks is manned by soldiers checking vehicles driving on route 60. They did not check the IDs of pedestrians.Dirt barriers have been topped up all along route 60 south of DuraDahariya- The gate is open but boulders bar the passage of vehicles.