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JORDAN VALLEY, West Bank — Mansour Arara, 24, sits in the shade of a tree with a group of friends next to the Al-Auja freshwater spring. His young nephew and a friend jump and splash in the cool water. It’s a hot July day, nearly 100 degrees, and the sun beats off the dusty landscape around them.
Arara and his friends are boiling water from the spring for tea over a small cooking stove, keeping an eye on the younger boys as they play.
“We were so happy to get here today and not be stopped by the soldiers,” he says.