MGGZ01 - JERUSALEM JULY 31 SITREP

UNCLAS JERUSALEM 003252 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE, NSC FOR ABRAMS/DORAN/LOGERFO, USAID FOR KUNDER/MCCLOUD/BORODIN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL ASEC CASC KPAL KWBG PHUM SUBJECT: MGGZ01 - JERUSALEM JULY 31 SITREP ¶1. (SBU) Post is working with Embassies Tel Aviv and Cairo to facilitate the departure of approximately 80 Americans from Gaza via the Rafah crossing on August 1. Palestinian Chief Negotiator Sa'eb Erekat confirmed to the Consul General on July 31 that he was informed by Government of Israel contacts that Rafah would be open for outbound traffic only on August 1. ¶2. (SBU) Three Palestinians succumbed to injuries received during the July 26-28 IDF operation into Shijaya and surrounding neighborhoods in Gaza City, raising the number of Palestinians killed in that incursion to 34. The IDF continued artillery and tank fire at suspected militant targets July 29-31, resulting in one Palestinian teenager killed in Beit Hanoun July 31 and at least 11 others wounded by Israeli shelling as of 1500 L. Israeli aircraft July 29 fired rockets at the home of a Hamas member in Gaza City, injuring five persons. The IDF shelled a house and warehouses in northern Gaza overnight July 30-31, causing damage but no injuries. ¶3. (SBU) At least 15 Qassam rockets were launched from northern Gaza toward Sderot and the Western Negev since July 28, including 8 rockets fired since the Israeli air-strike on Qana in southern Lebanon. There were light injuries reported and some property damage. The Popular Resistance Committees (PRC),Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ),and the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades have each claimed responsibility for the rocket fire. ¶4. (SBU) In the West Bank, the IDF arrested 11 Palestinians overnight July 30-31, including two Fatah activists during an IDF raid into the Balatah refugee camp in Nablus. The IDF on July 30 entered Qalqilya and arrested five Palestinians in connection with the killing last week of an Israeli settler. IDF undercover units operating in Nablus on July 29 shot and killed two suspected militants affiliated with PIJ and al-Aqsa. ¶5. (SBU) Thousands of Palestinians have taken to the streets in Gaza, Ramallah, Nablus, Tulkarm, Jenin, and Hebron July 30-31 in response to the Israeli air strike on Qana. Demonstrators condemned the Israeli measures and accused the U.S. of bias towards Israel, while chanting pro-Hezbollah slogans. Protesters in Gaza attacked the main UN headquarters in Gaza City on July 30, destroying computers and vehicles, but causing no injuries. Several militant groups, including Hamas, PIJ, and al-Aqsa, threatened to carry out attacks against Israeli targets in retaliation. -------------- Humanitarian Update -------------- ¶6. (SBU) The Rafah crossing is closed July 31. Both the Karni/al-Mintar and Nahal Oz crossings are operational July ¶31. The Karni/al-Mintar and Nahal Oz crossings were closed July 29 but re-opened July 30, according to USAID Gaza-based staff. PalTrade reported that 275 truckloads transited the Karni/al-Mintar crossing into Gaza July 30, the first day it was in operation since July 25. ¶7. (SBU) Nine electricity feeder lines from Israel into Gaza are operational July 31. The single feeder line into Rafah is not operational. WALLES