Cablegate: Mggz01 - Jerusalem August 28 Sitrep

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DE RUEHJM #3870 2401437
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 281437Z AUG 06
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4571
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC PRIORITY

UNCLAS JERUSALEM 003870

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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: PREL PHUM ASEC CASC KPAL KWBG
SUBJECT: MGGZ01 - JERUSALEM AUGUST 28 SITREP

1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Nine Palestinians were killed and several
others wounded in separate incidents throughout Gaza August
25-28. An Israeli Air Force (IAF) plane bombed and destroyed
the home of a Hamas military wing member overnight August
25-26. Two journalists were wounded by an IAF airstrike in
Gaza on August 27. Israeli forces killed two Palestinians in
separate incidents in the West Bank between August 25 and
August 27. Two Qassam rockets were launched from Gaza into
the western Negev, but there were no reports of damage or
injuries. Rafah and the Karni/al-Mintar crossings and the
Nahal Oz fuel transfer crossing were closed on August 28.
END SUMMARY.

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

2. (SBU) An Israeli Air Force (IAF) plane bombed and
destroyed the home of a Hamas military wing member in Gaza
overnight August 25-26. On August 26, IDF troops entered
Gaza City, killing one Palestinian and wounding seven others.
On August 27, the IDF killed one Hamas gunman, and one
gunman injured the day before succumbed to his wounds. In a
separate incident on August 27, the IDF killed a Palestinian
in Gaza City. In eastern Gaza on August 27, two journalists
working for Reuters and Dubai TV were injured in an IAF
airstrike. In the early morning hours of August 28, members
of the PA Ministry of Interior's (MOI) "executive force"
killed a Palestinian east of Khan Younis. The Palestinian
reportedly failed to stop at an "executive force" ad hoc
checkpoint. In Gaza City, four members of the MOI executive
force were killed by an IAF air strike. Two Qassam rockets
were launched from Gaza into the western Negev over the
weekend of August 25-27. There were no reports of damage or
injuries.

3. (SBU) In the West Bank, one Palestinian was killed and 22
others were injured in clashes with Israeli forces in Nablus
on August 26. On August 27, the IDF killed a Palestinian in
a village near the West Bank city of Jenin. The IDF arrested
11 Palestinians, including a Hamas Palestinian Legislative
Council (PLC) member, over the period August 25-27.

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

4. (SBU) Rafah is closed on August 28, as it was August 27,
according to USAID Gaza-based staff. Rafah was open on
August 25 and 26. According to EU Border Assistance Mission
(EU-BAM), 3,104 people crossed from Gaza into Egypt, and
3,204 crossed from Egypt into Gaza on August 25. Statistics
for August 26 are not yet available.

5. (SBU) The Karni/al-Mintar commercial crossing is closed
on August 28, as it was August 27, according to USAID
Gaza-based staff. The crossing was last open on August 15.
As a result, the Sufa and Erez crossings are open on August
28, as they were on August 27. (Note: Sufa and Erez
crossings are each handling approximately 70 truckloads per
day, as compared to 200 trucks per day through Karni when it
is open. End note.) The Nahal Oz fuel transfer crossing is
closed on August 28, as it was August 27, according to USAID
Gaza-based staff, due to ongoing military operations in the
area.

6. (SBU) Nine of ten electricity feeder lines from Israel
into Gaza are operational on August 28, according to USAID
Gaza-based staff. One of the four feeder lines into Gaza
City was damaged last night during an IDF incursion.

WALLES

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