C O N F I D E N T I A L JERUSALEM 003403

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE, NSC FOR ABRAMS/DORAN/WATERS, USAID
FOR KUNDER/MCCLOUD/BORODIN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/02/2016
TAGS: PREL PHUM ASEC CASC KPAL KWBG
SUBJECT: MGGZ01 - JERUSALEM AUGUST 3 SITREP

REF: A. JERUSALEM 3316


B. JERUSALEM 3357

Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles, per reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (SBU) Post facilitated the departure of 49 Americans from
Gaza on August 3 via the Erez crossing enroute to Jordan
through the Allenby Bridge. The departure of 10 Public
Diplomacy grantees has been deferred.


2. (SBU) Israeli police closed the Haram al-Sharif/Temple
Mount to all non-Muslim visitors on August 3. The police
decision came just two days after the High Court of Justice
granted permission for members of the Temple Mount Faithful
-- an extreme right-wing Israeli group dedicated to
rebuilding the ancient Jewish temple on the site -- to enter
during the August 3 Jewish holiday of Tisha B'Av (ref A and
B).


3. (C) Eight Palestinians -- including one Palestinian
Islamic Jihad (PIJ) gunman, five Hamas gunmen, one child, and
one 50-year old man -- were killed in Shoka village, near
Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on August 3 during an IDF
incursion (with about 50 tanks and APCs). Sources in the
President's office reported a heavy exchange of fire early in
the morning of August 3, as the IDF searched for tunnels in
the area. Fighting has reportedly subsided as of 1600 local,
but the IDF tanks and APCs are still operating in the area.


4. (SBU) Palestinian militants launched three Qassam rockets
the morning of August 3 from northern Gaza in the direction
of the Western Negev. No damage or injuries were reported.
Both PIJ and the military wing of Hamas claimed
responsibility for the rockets.


5. (SBU) In the West Bank, the IDF conducted arrest
operations in the early morning hours of August 3, arresting
33 Palestinians. The arrests took place in Nablus, Tulkarm,
Jenin, Ramallah, Hebron, and Qalqilya.

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Humanitarian Update
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6. (SBU) The Rafah crossing remains closed as of August 3.
Both the Karni/al-Mintar and Nahal Oz crossings are
operational on August 3, as they were August 2, according to
Gaza-based Paltrade official Mohammed Skaik. 235 truckloads
transited the Karni/al-Mintar crossing into Gaza, August 2.


7. (SBU) Nine of ten electricity feeder lines from Israel
into Gaza are operational on August 3. The single feeder
line from Israel into the Rafah area was damaged in a
military operation August 2 and the Gaza Electric
Distribution Company (GEDCO) repair crew has not yet been
able to access the site, according to USAID Gaza-based staff.
The Acting Mayor of Rafah, in an August 2 press conference,
announced that this specific feeder line has been damaged 13
times between July 7 and 31 and each time GEDCO has made the
necessary repairs, averaging eight hours for each repair.

WALLES