Nablus

Upon our arrival we saw a crowd of 200
people waiting to cross over to Nablus and were told that on the
north side it was worse. It was a new unit, and officer Y from DCO
was present all the time. The soldiers were letting through women,
children, handicapped, men over 40 and below 16 and men provided
with papers for medical appointments at Nablus. Also allowed
through were teachers and doctors holding a card. All the other men
had no chance whatsoever to pass, not the students nor men
accompanying their children, wives or parents. Men with IDs showing
they lived in Nablus could not pass either. One of the soldiers was
pleasant towards us and towards the Palestinians. He was concerned
about those standing in the sun, and said that he had ordered 700
litters of water for them. One sergeant was mocking the
Palestinians and shouting at them from time to time, but the others
didn't follow suit, and the atmosphere on whole was much much
better than previously. The most suffering group is the men aged
16-40. Passage through the hills is very long and risky. One
student told us that he was caught there last Wednesday with
another 150 men, and they were detained for five hours in the sun
with hands cuffed. The soldiers affirmed that they shoot there at
any suspicious movement.