Hamra (Beqaot), Tayasir

13:40  We pass the checkpoint at Bezek.

The ascent to Tayasir

The sky is blue, the air is clean and fresh after last night's rain, the wet slopes are covered in fuzzy green.

Goats and cattle are grazing in all the open areas and along the road. On the road, spots of mud are reminders of streaming water and erosion. The view is magnificent, but still, the occupation in all its ugliness is present everywhere.

Hammam-al-Maliah

Next to the road, a car with a reporter and a photographer from the Jordanian television is parking. We stop to ask questions. They are here to report about the occupation. One of the residents confirms that indeed, in the summer they moved west because of the heat and the fast. The reporter says that he does not know of a shepherd having been shot and killed by soldiers from the army base opposite the' hammam' (the hot spring).

14:10 Tayasir

The big bulldozer is still parked on the side of the road. There are 3 soldiers and an officer at the check post. One of them asks us who we are. He says that we cannot take pictures, since this is army territory. The soldiers make a phone call to inquire what to do with us. We do not know the answer. We stay at the checkpoint for half an hour. There is not much traffic, cars and taxes cross in both directions. ID cards, and sometimes the inside of the cars, are checked. No army vehicles are driving on the road.

14:40 We leave

The Alon Road 578

The roadwork next to the Gochia gate and along the rampart has proved effective at creating a moat full with water. Eroded soil is blocking the road south of the Bekaot settlement. One of the national companies for road construction is clearing the soil away.

15:05 Hamra

There is not much traffic. At most, there are 2-3 cars waiting in line. We already know that most people arrive after 16:00 when they reach the junction on their way home from work. Two army policemen approach us asking who we are and then return to the checkpost on the road. The whole junction is covered with a slippery layer of mud.

15:40  We leave.

A strong smell of sewage is coming from the wadi below the Maskiot settlement.

16:00 Bezek

They ask us where we come from. We leave.