EGYPT-GAZA BORDER: GOE UPDATE SEPTEMBER 24

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 007418

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/25/2015
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER KPAL MOPS EG IS
SUBJECT: EGYPT-GAZA BORDER: GOE UPDATE SEPTEMBER 24


Classified by ECPO Minister Counselor Michael Corbin for
reasons 1.4(b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: During a September 24 meeting, NEA Deputy
Assistant Secretary Elizabeth Dibble and General Emir and
Colonel Osama of the Liaison Agency with International
Organizations (LAWIO) discussed the situation at the
Egypt-Gaza border, the reason for the confusion following IDF
withdrawal, and plans for building a new terminal at Kerem
Shalom. General Emir confirmed that the GOE reopened the
Rafah terminal to allow approximately 1,000 Palestinians to
return to Gaza and to allow Egyptians to return home, but
said the GOE intended to close the terminal at 0600 on Sunday
September 25. Thereafter, General Emir said, the GOE will
consider on a case by case basis Palestinian requests to
enter Egypt for humanitarian reasons. Colonel Osama said
that the GOE is waiting for Israel to fix the location of its
Kerem Shalom crossing before it begins planning a terminal in
Egypt. End summary.

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Border update-September 24
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2. (C) General Emir and Colonel Osama of LAWIO advised DAS
Dibble during their September 24th meeting that the GOE
opened the gate outside the Rafah Terminal on Friday and
would close it at 0600 on September 25 after allowing
Palestinians who were able to prove their identity with a
passport or identification card to return to Gaza and
Egyptians to return to Egypt. (Note: In a follow-up
conversation on September 25, a LAWIO officer said the GOE
closed the gate on September 24 at 1830. End note.) General
Emir noted that representatives from the Palestinian
Authority, the GOI, and the Egyptian General Intelligence
Service (EGIS) would be present at the Rafah terminal to
coordinate this effort. General Emir said that following the
"reclosure" of Rafah, the GOE will consider on a case by case
basis Palestinian requests to enter Egypt for humanitarian
reasons, such as medical treatment, and will treat as
criminals any Palestinians remaining in Egypt illegally. It
is in the GOE interest, Colonel Osama stressed, to preserve
stability in Egypt and ensure that there is no smuggling.

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Plans for the future unclear
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3. (C) The DAS noted that Palestinian contacts had cautioned
that closing Rafah would increase tension in Gaza. General
Emir agreed but explained that negotiations on reopening the
border would be conducted on a political level -- through
General Soliman of EGIS. From LAWIO's perspective, according
to General Emir, the reopening may come in phases. First,
the Rafah crossing could be reopened to traffic from Gaza to
Egypt. Next, General Emir said he could foresee third party
monitoring of a Rafah crossing for both people and goods.
General Emir predicted that in a final stage, Kerem Shalom
would be opened for three way (Gaza-Egypt-Israel) traffic.
Colonel Osama acknowledged that the GOE has not yet started
to construct any new facilities opposite Kerem Shalom.
Colonel Osama said that when he asked his Israeli counterpart
about GOI plans for the crossing, he said they are still in
the "drafting on paper" phase. Until the Israelis fix the
location of their terminal, Colonel Osama noted, the GOE will
not start planning their own. Colonel Osama confirmed that
the Kerem Shalom crossing will be for goods only, and Rafah
will be for people because it would not be right for the
Palestinians to have to use the Kerem Shalom crossing to
enter Egypt.

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The cause of the confusion
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4. (C) Colonel Osama blamed the recent border confusion on
the sudden departure of the IDF on September 11-12. The
deal, Osama said, was that the GOE would begin deploying its
Border Guard Forces (BGF) on September 15 and have them in
place by October 15. Osama said that his IDF counterpart
told him that the IDF was to remain in the Philadelphi strip
until the end of 2005, but definitely would not leave before
the end of October. The IDF pull-out took place without any
coordination with the GOE, Colonel Osama and General Emir
said. This left the GOE with two options to control the tide
of Palestinians entering Egypt -- they could fire on them and
provoke public outrage or exercise self control, increase the
number of police in the area, and allow the Palestinians a
period of celebration. The GOE opted for the second option,
Colonel Osama explained, because they believed the bulk of
the Palestinians were coming to celebrate the "end of 38
years of oppression," to reunite with family members living
in Egypt, and to buy goods both for resale in Gaza and for
Ramadan. "We do not," Colonel Osama stressed, consider such
people "infiltrators."


5. (C) Colonel Osama said that, in his opinion, the IDF
withdrew without notice and before the BGF deployment in
breach of their agreement in order to embarrass the
Egyptians. The IDF, he said, also wanted to show that the
Palestinians have no control over their people and prove to
the international community that the IDF needs to remain in
the Philadelphi strip to prevent smuggling and preserve
security. As for smuggling, Colonel Osama said that there
was some sign that arms and ammunition smuggling occurred
before the BGF deployment. However, the Israeli allegation
that seven missles were smuggled into Gaza was unsupported by
evidence, according to Colonel Osama. There are not even
seven such missles on the open market, he observed, so they
would need to come from the MoD directly.


6. (C) Israeli press criticism of the GOE handling of the
border situation, Colonel Osama said, was both confusing and
frustrating. He noted that cooperation with Israeli liaison
has always been good, and the condemnation of the GOE was
inconsistent with the messages exchanged privately between
the parties. The DAS agreed that the press coverage of the
matter did not square with the comments she had heard from
GOI officials regarding the excellent cooperation between the
GOI and GOE on this issue.


7. (U) The DAS did not have an opportunity to clear this
message.


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