Hebron, Sansana, South Hebron Hills, Thu 7.10.10, Morning

translated by Bracha B.A.

The soldiers from Nahal are leaving Hebron, and the Kfir Brigade will take their place. 

Meitar-Sansana Crossing
The crossing is empty.  The workers have all crossed through and there are no prisoners' families.

Route 60
A special military vehicle is standing at Mitzpeh Eshtamua, apparently equipped with observation equipment.  Until we reach Dura Elfawwar the road is nearly empty, with no vehicles or pedestrians. After that, there were many school children going to school in the UNWRA School in Elfawwar. When we came back soldiers came down from the pillbox and began checking cars. 
Beneath Beit Hagai soldiers were standing on the road armed from head to foot. When we drove back they were gone.  The house taken over by soldiers at the Bnei Naim junction is now empty, but the road is full of military vehicles. 

Hebron
At the entrance to Kiryat Arba there is a large IDF contingent, and a new smiling soldier greets us. "Ah, it's you again?  There are two of you?" He lets us pass. The Avihai outpost is repopulated and there are cars and people milling about.  The city of Hebron is busy with morning traffic: with children going to school and a lot of soldiers. It is the last morning that the Nahal military unit is present in Hebron and their presence is felt at the Worshippers' Route, Curve 160, and Gross Square. At the pharmacy checkpoint and Tarpat Checkpoint soldiers are not checking the children. 
We met women from the CPT who were pleased to see us, and wanted to ensure that we could come next week, since they are apprehensive about what will happen once the soldiers from the Kfir Brigade arrive. They report that there have been no problems with the Nahal soldiers. 
A young soldier greets us with "Ah, machshomwatch women!" We ask him what he has heard about us and he says that he doesn't want to use foul language. We ask him if he is pleased to be leaving Hebron and he says yes, that no one wants to serve in Hebron. There is a group of soldiers patrolling again near Tel Romeida. There are a lot of army vehicles parked near the Patriarchs' Cave Tombs. The changeover of military forces is apparent. We hope that this time the Kfir soldiers will be more humane than they were the last time round.