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.

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Humanitarian Update
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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