Cablegate: Mggz01 - Jerusalem August 22 Sitrep

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DE RUEHJM #3752 2341514
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 221514Z AUG 06
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4408
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC PRIORITY

UNCLAS JERUSALEM 003752

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SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE, NSC FOR ABRAMS/DORAN/WATERS, USAID
FOR KUNDER/MCCLOUD/BORODIN

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PREL CASC ASEC KWBG KPAL
SUBJECT: MGGZ01 - JERUSALEM AUGUST 22 SITREP

1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) and
al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades gunmen threatened to open the Rafah
crossing by force on August 21. Seven Palestinians were
wounded in Gaza overnight August 21-22; three were injured in
an IDF operation near the Karni crossing, and four were
injured by Israeli airstrikes. In the West Bank, the IDF
arrested at least 10 Palestinians. The Rafah and
Karni/al-Mintar crossings are closed August 22. The Nahal Oz
fuel transfer crossing opened at 1430 local on August 22.

Military Developments
---------------------

2. (SBU) Approximately 80-90 Popular Resistance Committees
(PRC) and al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades gunmen gathered near the
Rafah Crossing on August 21 and threatened to open it by
force. PA police and presidential guards prevented the men
from entering the terminal area. Elsewhere in Gaza, three
Palestinians were wounded and five wanted militants were
arrested by IDF units near the Karni Crossing on August 21.
Israeli Air Force (IAF) planes destroyed two homes overnight
August 21-22. The first home was located near Rafah and
belonged to a Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) member. Three
Palestinians were wounded in that attack. The second home
was in Jabalia, and one Palestinian was wounded as a result
of that attack.

3. (SBU) In the West Bank, the IDF arrested at least 10
Palestinians in Nablus, Jenin, Ramallah, and Jericho
overnight August 21-22.

Humanitarian Update
-------------------

4. (SBU) The Rafah crossing is closed August 22, according
to USAID Gaza-based staff. Rafah was opened last August 19.
There are reports that several thousand people are waiting
for passage on both sides of Rafah, according to USAID
Gaza-based staff.

5. (SBU) The Karni/al-Mintar commercial crossing is closed
August 22, according to USAID Gaza-based staff. The crossing
was last open August 15. Despite the seven days of closure,
there are not yet any shortages of basic supplies, however
flour and rice stocks are running low, according to USAID
staff. Following the withdrawal of IDF forces from eastern
Gaza City, Nahal Oz fuel transfer crossing opened August 22
at 1430 local.

6. (SBU) Eight of ten electricity feeder lines from Israel
into Gaza are operational August 22, according to USAID
Gaza-based staff. Two of the four feeder lines into Gaza
City were damaged during the IDF incursion into the eastern
part of the city August 22.
WALLES

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