On Sunday, Israeli and foreign engineers announced that the western bank of the Jordan River is finally cleared from mines after the end of the wars that ravaged the land decades ago.
The river banks were once a war zone betwene Israel and Jordan and several landmines and unexploded ordinances were buried throughout the land. The two neighbors ended the war with a peace agreement in 1994, but it was only recently did they start defusing and clearing the land from mines and ordinances.
At least seven churches were abandoned for more than 50 years, about a kilometer from the Qasr al-Yahud baptism site in the West Bank, a Christian pilgrimage site.
The Israeli Defence Ministry said that mine-clearning operations were completed around three of the shrines - belonging to the Franciscan order and the Greek Orthodox and Ethiopian churches - however, they have yet to be reopened to the clergy or the public.
In a statement, the head of the ministry's de-mining department Marcel Aviv said "The clearing and releasing of this land, and the opportunity to return it to its religious guardians, is a project in which we take great pride."
Work around the other four shrines - Syrian Orthodox, Coptic, Russian Orthodox and Roman Catholic - is underway but it may take a while to be completed. Engineers have expressed concerns that some of the shrines were booby-trapped.
The Halo Trust, a Scottish-based charity that has cleared minefields worldwide and was once sponsored by the late Princess Diana, has also been involved in the project near Qasr al-Yahud.
The charity's CEO, James Cowan, said donations had come from Christians, Jews and Muslims worldwide.
"This Christmas/holiday season, the Halo Trust has reached a pivotal point in our work to clear the Baptism Site of landmines and other remnants of war ... which will ultimately benefit all humanity," he said.
