Hamra (Beqaot), Huwwara, Ma'ale Efrayim, Tayasir, Za'tara (Tapuah), Khalat Makhul
Another victim of live ammunition is left in the area of the Jordan Valley after training. This time, a young boy of 16 from Tamn, who was badly burned. Generally, every year, 2 to 4 young shepherds are killed during grazing time. Hundreds, and perhaps thousands, fall scattered in the Valley. An internationl NGO maps them, but only the IDF is allowed to remove them. The IDF does this at a rate that doesn’t allow for an accounting of how many are collected from training practice to training practice.
Is it because we are referring to a Palestinian population that the IDF doesn’t work harder to find a solution to the problem?
Tapuah Junction/Checkpoint Za’tara – 10:00
On the service road in the direction of Huwwara, a police car, and beside it a private car and a taxi are parked. The driver of the private car says he was delayed by a quarter of an hour because his identity card and those of his travelers, were taken for clarification. The policeman and policewoman of the Border Guard explain that this is just a routine inspection, but they didn’t tell them how much time “routine” would take.
Checkpoint Ma’ale Efrayim – 10:30
No soldiers and none when we returned
Checkpoint Hamra – 10:45
Before the entrance to the checkpoint, on the side of the road, a large IDF semi-trailer and tractor were parked. The soldiers were reservists who generally, as we have come to realize, relate to the Palestinians with moderation and consideration. Today, as well, the passage in the checkpoint was managed with one lane in two directions. According to the soldiers, during the heavy traffic hours, they open an additional lane. On our return, at 15:10, the traffic was light and only one lane was open.
A person badly wounded from live ammunition was left in the area of training.
On Friday, 22 May 2015, a young boy of 16 from Tamun, Bara’a Bani Matar, was injured in an event, evidently from an explosive device found in a field. He played with it and it exploded, causing second degree burns on his chest and face. He is still hospitalized in Rafidia Hospital, in Nablus.
A Test on the Roads in the Jordan Valley
The road to Khalat Makhul was recently upgraded and a new layer of asphalt was added. It was a pleasure to drive on the road, even if a car goes over it once every 15 minutes, which is a sign that at the end of the road there is a settlement (Hemdat, in this case). It’s always so: a settler road receives treatment at a level that is not known, even in the midst of an area within the green line. Only a road used by Palestinians is always paved with pits, holes and cracks that are never fixed; for example, the road that goes up from Allon Road to Tayasir, in Area C, under Israeli control.
Tayasir CP - Open for travelers with no inspection. There are soldiers on duty in the tower.
A car from the Civil Authority enters an encampment on the way to Ein al Hilwe.
This is a bad sign. We entered to ask what news was received: An order to destroy the encampment and the (sheep/goat) pens. The family is able to present an “objection” by fax to the Civil Authority in Beit El within three days. What will the Bedouin do-- who does not read Hebrew, who lives in a remote hole in the Jordan Valley, who does not have a lawyer-- with these objections that he will send in a fax from a tent without electricity, that will prevent the Civil Authority from destroying his house?