We drive past Deir Muheisin, the scene of our baptism of fire. The houses are deserted. Our curious eyes seek out "our" positions. I even manage to take a picture of "my" house as we drive quickly past.
* * *
Between Deir Muheisin and Latrun we come under fire. In the armored vehicle it is hard to judge the direction the shots are coming from. Some say that they are coming from Latrun. To me however it seems - wrongly, as it turns out - that the shots are coming from Beit Jiz, to our right. The people in the first vehicles jump out and storm up the hill in front of us. They run as if in a field exercise. It is a plea-sure to watch them. Somewhere nearby, a machine gun barks. As our comrades reach the summit, the firing stops. The enemy escapes.
This little battle has delayed us. Meanwhile it has got dark. It is clear to us that we will not make it to Bab al-Wad. We consider what we should do - return to base or set up a position here?
* * *
Esra, the company runner, brings us the command: forward. The armored car moves cautiously. Around us it is pitch dark. We drive without lights. After another five hundred meters we stop. The command: get out! We jump - as agreed, Asriel takes the right-hand side and I, with my group, the left. We lie at the edge of the road in a defensive position.
A few bullets whistle over our heads. I press my head against the ground and dig a little hollow with my hands. Aryeh and Peretz, the members of my group who haven’t been exposed to live fire before, lie there motionless. I reassure them - the bullets are flying too high to threaten us. And in the dark the enemy can’t see us anyway.
X- X- X-
Bulli calls me. We cross the road. One after the other we jump across. In front of me is a little white hut behind a peculiar form of barbed wire fence. What is that? Then it dawns on me: we are by the internment camp of Latrun. A strange feeling - not so long ago some of us were threatened with an extended period of rest in there. Now we are breaking our way in, in the middle of the night. The words of a song come to me, that I have read somewhere: "Even Latrun is part of the land of Israel..."
We manage to get in through a hole in the fence. I understand the intention: we will spend the night here. A good idea. As long as we are