VZCZCXYZ0000
OO RUEHWEB
DE RUEHJM #3932 2421420
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 301420Z AUG 06
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4643
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC PRIORITY
UNCLAS JERUSALEM 003932
SIPDIS
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 30 SITREP
1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Nine Palestinians were killed in
separate incidents throughout Gaza August 28-29. Palestinian
militants fired several antitank shells against the IDF in
Gaza, injuring one IDF soldier. One Qassam rocket landed
near Sderot on August 29, causing no injuries. Israeli
forces killed three Palestinians in separate incidents in the
West Bank the evening of August 28-29. Rafah,
Karni/al-Mintar and the Nahal Oz fuel transfer crossings were
closed August 29 and 30. END SUMMARY
Military Developments
---------------------
2. (SBU) The Israeli Air Force (IAF) bombed the Shajayeh
neighborhood of Gaza City August 28, killing two members of
the PA's Force 17 and two members of Hamas' Executive Force.
In a separate August 28 incident, the IDF killed a
Palestinian in Rafah. A 15-year old Palestinian was killed
and his brother injured while they were playing with a dud
shell, which exploded, in Beit Hanun in northern Gaza August
28. August 29, the IDF killed three Palestinian gunmen in
the Shajayeh neighborhood of Gaza City. An elderly women
from Jabalia refugee camp died of her wounds which she
received in July. PA sources in Gaza reported that the body
of a Palestinian was found near the fence east of Gaza City
the evening of August 29.
3. (SBU) An IDF soldier was lightly injured from an
anti-tank missile fired at his tank near Karni crossing on
August 28. Anti-tank missiles were also fired at IDF units
in separate incidents in Shajayeh and near Karni on August
29. A Qassam rocket landed near Sderot on August 29, causing
no injuries.
4. (SBU) In the West Bank, an IDF undercover unit killed a
member of the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades in Ramallah at 2200L
on August 28. On the morning of August 29, the Israeli Air
Force killed two gunmen from the al-Aqsa Martyr's Brigades in
the Balata refugee camp in Nablus. The al-Aqsa Martyrs'
Brigades retaliated by firing at an Israeli bus at Hawara
checkpoint south of Nablus later on August 29. A senior PIJ
militant died on August 29 from wounds which he sustained
several days before. Palestinian gunmen attacked a car
belonging to al-Quds Bank the afternoon of August 28 outside
Jerusalem and stole nearly NIS 1 million. Palestinian Police
spokesman Adnan Domairy told media that "four armed men
stopped the car and forced the driver and guard out before
taking the car to an unknown direction."
Humanitarian Update
-------------------
5. (SBU) Rafah is closed on August 30. It was last open on
August 26.
6. (SBU) The Karni/al-Mintar commercial crossing is closed
August 30. The crossing was last open on August 15. Sufa
and Erez crossings are open on August 30 for commercial good
transfers, according to PalTrade. The Nahal Oz fuel transfer
crossing is closed on August 30. Because Nahal Oz had been
closed since August 27, cooking gas is no longer for sale on
the commercial market, according to USAID Gaza-based staff
reports of August 29.
WALLES