Beit Iba, Tue 26.2.08, Morning

 According to the soldiers, confirmed by the Palestinians, notably taxi drivers, as of today there's no closure nor separation.  

07:35-08:45  Beit Iba- The soldiers are surprisingly friendly, even offer us cookies which we politely decline. This is their last day at this checkpoint, which may explain it. The  passage is quick. Most of the people are students. At first the ones entering the city are not checked at all, then they are checked randomly, most of the time men only. The very few people coming out pass the magnometer, take off belts and sometimes shoes, all as usual.

A dog-handler and her dog check some cars, obviously to train the dogs and not due to any particular suspicion. The owners of the vehicles watch this with disgust.

Three young men are led to the detainees' enclosure. They are "drippers", to use army lingo. They walked through the surrounding hills to evade the checkpoint. The checkpoint commander explains to the father of one of the men (and to us) that this was quite unnecessary: there are no lines at all, why "drip"? This is suspicious.