MGGZ01 - JERUSALEM AUGUST 28 SITREP

UNCLAS JERUSALEM 003870 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE; NSC FOR ABRAMS/DORAN/WATERS; USAID FOR KUNDER/MCCLOUD/BORODIN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PHUM ASEC CASC KPAL KWBG SUBJECT: MGGZ01 - JERUSALEM AUGUST 28 SITREP ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Nine Palestinians were killed and several others wounded in separate incidents throughout Gaza August 25-28. An Israeli Air Force (IAF) plane bombed and destroyed the home of a Hamas military wing member overnight August 25-26. Two journalists were wounded by an IAF airstrike in Gaza on August 27. Israeli forces killed two Palestinians in separate incidents in the West Bank between August 25 and August 27. Two Qassam rockets were launched from Gaza into the western Negev, but there were no reports of damage or injuries. Rafah and the Karni/al-Mintar crossings and the Nahal Oz fuel transfer crossing were closed on August 28. END SUMMARY. Military Developments -------------- ¶2. (SBU) An Israeli Air Force (IAF) plane bombed and destroyed the home of a Hamas military wing member in Gaza overnight August 25-26. On August 26, IDF troops entered Gaza City, killing one Palestinian and wounding seven others. On August 27, the IDF killed one Hamas gunman, and one gunman injured the day before succumbed to his wounds. In a separate incident on August 27, the IDF killed a Palestinian in Gaza City. In eastern Gaza on August 27, two journalists working for Reuters and Dubai TV were injured in an IAF airstrike. In the early morning hours of August 28, members of the PA Ministry of Interior's (MOI) "executive force" killed a Palestinian east of Khan Younis. The Palestinian reportedly failed to stop at an "executive force" ad hoc checkpoint. In Gaza City, four members of the MOI executive force were killed by an IAF air strike. Two Qassam rockets were launched from Gaza into the western Negev over the weekend of August 25-27. There were no reports of damage or injuries. ¶3. (SBU) In the West Bank, one Palestinian was killed and 22 others were injured in clashes with Israeli forces in Nablus on August 26. On August 27, the IDF killed a Palestinian in a village near the West Bank city of Jenin. The IDF arrested 11 Palestinians, including a Hamas Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) member, over the period August 25-27. Humanitarian Update -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Rafah is closed on August 28, as it was August 27, according to USAID Gaza-based staff. Rafah was open on August 25 and 26. According to EU Border Assistance Mission (EU-BAM),3,104 people crossed from Gaza into Egypt, and 3,204 crossed from Egypt into Gaza on August 25. Statistics for August 26 are not yet available. ¶5. (SBU) The Karni/al-Mintar commercial crossing is closed on August 28, as it was August 27, according to USAID Gaza-based staff. The crossing was last open on August 15. As a result, the Sufa and Erez crossings are open on August 28, as they were on August 27. (Note: Sufa and Erez crossings are each handling approximately 70 truckloads per day, as compared to 200 trucks per day through Karni when it is open. End note.) The Nahal Oz fuel transfer crossing is closed on August 28, as it was August 27, according to USAID Gaza-based staff, due to ongoing military operations in the area. ¶6. (SBU) Nine of ten electricity feeder lines from Israel into Gaza are operational on August 28, according to USAID Gaza-based staff. One of the four feeder lines into Gaza City was damaged last night during an IDF incursion. WALLES