Reporting of Federici Studies Center
No more mines in the Franciscan convent on the banks of the Jordan
The demining work on the Qasr Al Yahud surface is proceeding quickly, near Jericho (Palestinian territories), locality on the western bank of the Jordan River where the baptism of Jesus is remembered. L'area, site of clashes during the Arab-Israeli war of 1967, it still preserves memories of the battles today. Arrive on site, it means taking a journey through time and history. Walk on the dusty paths lined with numerous shrines and chapels, cross the places traveled by Jesus and the apostles and before that by Elijah, look at the Jordan and Jordan on the other side, It is striking for its sense of peace.
Nevertheless, to remind you that this has not always been a land of peace, there are numerous signs that still warn, further away 51 years, of the presence of mines, sign of man's madness. Despite the yellow signs, the feeling of life that resumes, the force that pushes us to be reborn, it's palpable.

For years, demining work is underway which, in recent days, saw the completion of a first part of the area in which the Franciscan convent stands, built in 1935, but abandoned during the war. (…)
In the 1967 the Franciscan convent was hastily abandoned. Within, still some furniture and furnishings that recall the daily life of the friars before the war. The idea is to reopen it soon. «We have carried out the necessary inspections – explained Brother Sergey Loktionov, director of the technical office of the Custody of the Holy Land - and we will soon present the preliminary project and then the definitive one to restore this place and reopen it also to the visit of pilgrims".
Some – not many – are already arriving, thanks above all to the safe passages that the Halo Trust, the company since 2016 engaged in demining the area, he created. «It is a slow operation that requires a lot of attention», ha spiegato Ronen Shimoni, coordinator of the Halo Trust project. «Each mine contains 5 kilograms of explosives and the devices must be destroyed one by one. We'll finish in a few months, after getting all the 2.500 mine sparse in quest’area. We began operations last March, we think that by the middle of next year we will declare this area completely safe. a part, here around the convent, it's already safe. It was a challenge, but also an honor to clear mines from this area to allow pilgrims to come".
Last February, in the same area where the ancient road that connected Jerusalem and Jericho to other biblical places today in Jordanian territory also passed, such as Mount Nebo and Madaba, The Orthodox monastery dedicated to Saint John the Baptist Prodomos has reopened its doors, known locally as Deir Mar-Hanna. Another sign of the normalization underway in this holy place.
http://www.terrasanta.net/tsx/lang/it/p11194/Il-convento-francescano-al-Giordano-non–pi-minato