MGGZ01 - JERUSALEM AUGUST 4 SITREP

C O N F I D E N T I A L JERUSALEM 003415

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

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

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/03/2016
TAGS: PREL PHUM ASEC CASC KPAL KWBG
SUBJECT: MGGZ01 - JERUSALEM AUGUST 4 SITREP


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


1. SUMMARY: Three Palestinians were killed and two wounded
August 4 as a result of IDF operations in Gaza. In the West
Bank, the IDF arrested 11 Palestinians. The Rafah crossing
remains closed as of August 4, but the Karni/al-Mintar and
Nahal Oz crossings are operational. Nine of ten electricity
feeder lines from Israel into Gaza are operational on August

4. Israeli authorities reportedly are preventing the timely
entry of Palestinian dailies into Gaza. Palestinian
activists in Ramallah August 3 called for a boycott of U.S.
and Israeli-made products.

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MILITARY DEVELOPMENTS
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2. (SBU) IDF tank-fire killed two Hamas gunmen and an
Israeli airstrike killed a third near Rafah in the early
morning hours of August 4. Also in Gaza, two homes were
destroyed overnight August 3-4 by an Israeli airstrike. The
houses were reportedly weapons depots for the Palestinian
Islamic Jihad and Hamas. Two Palestinians were wounded in
the attack. There were no reports of Qassam launches on
August 4.


3. (SBU) In the West Bank, the IDF arrested 11 Palestinians
overnight August 3-4 in Tulkarm, Nablus, Ramallah, and the
Jericho area. Among those arrested was the Hamas mayor of a
village west of Ramallah, his son, and a member of another
village council. Israeli security forces also arrested a
Palestinian woman from Nablus for allegedly plotting to
kidnap an Israeli.

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Humanitarian Update
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4. (SBU) The Rafah crossing remains closed as of August 4
but is scheduled to open August 5 for 48 hours for the
following categories of Gazans to depart Gaza: businessmen,
students, those with jobs abroad, and humanitarian cases.
The Karni/al-Mintar crossing is operational on August 4, as
it was August 3 when approximately 220 truckloads entered
Gaza, according to PalTrade Official Mohammed Skaik. The
Nahal Oz crossing is operational August 4.


5. (SBU) Nine of ten electricity feeder lines from Israel
into Gaza are operational on August 4. The single feeder
line from Israel into the Rafah area, damaged in an August 2
military operation, has not yet been repaired.


6. (SBU) A Palestinian media source reported that Israeli
officials had prevented the three Palestinian daily
newspapers from entering Gaza since July 27. ConGen contacts
in Gaza confirmed that on two days, the Israeli total closure
of Gaza prevented the newspapers from entering at all, while
on the other days the newspapers' arrival was delayed until
the early evening.


7. (SBU) Palestinian activists in Ramallah August 3 called
for a boycott of U.S. and Israeli-made products to protest
U.S. policy vis-a-vis Israel's military operations in Gaza
and Lebanon. Approximately 60 activists gathered in the main
Ramallah square and displayed products for the public to
boycott.

WALLES