MGGZ01- JERUSALEM AUGUST 30 SITREP

UNCLAS JERUSALEM 003932 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 30 SITREP ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Nine Palestinians were killed in separate incidents throughout Gaza August 28-29. Palestinian militants fired several antitank shells against the IDF in Gaza, injuring one IDF soldier. One Qassam rocket landed near Sderot on August 29, causing no injuries. Israeli forces killed three Palestinians in separate incidents in the West Bank the evening of August 28-29. Rafah, Karni/al-Mintar and the Nahal Oz fuel transfer crossings were closed August 29 and 30. END SUMMARY Military Developments -------------- ¶2. (SBU) The Israeli Air Force (IAF) bombed the Shajayeh neighborhood of Gaza City August 28, killing two members of the PA's Force 17 and two members of Hamas' Executive Force. In a separate August 28 incident, the IDF killed a Palestinian in Rafah. A 15-year old Palestinian was killed and his brother injured while they were playing with a dud shell, which exploded, in Beit Hanun in northern Gaza August ¶28. August 29, the IDF killed three Palestinian gunmen in the Shajayeh neighborhood of Gaza City. An elderly women from Jabalia refugee camp died of her wounds which she received in July. PA sources in Gaza reported that the body of a Palestinian was found near the fence east of Gaza City the evening of August 29. ¶3. (SBU) An IDF soldier was lightly injured from an anti-tank missile fired at his tank near Karni crossing on August 28. Anti-tank missiles were also fired at IDF units in separate incidents in Shajayeh and near Karni on August ¶29. A Qassam rocket landed near Sderot on August 29, causing no injuries. ¶4. (SBU) In the West Bank, an IDF undercover unit killed a member of the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades in Ramallah at 2200L on August 28. On the morning of August 29, the Israeli Air Force killed two gunmen from the al-Aqsa Martyr's Brigades in the Balata refugee camp in Nablus. The al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades retaliated by firing at an Israeli bus at Hawara checkpoint south of Nablus later on August 29. A senior PIJ militant died on August 29 from wounds which he sustained several days before. Palestinian gunmen attacked a car belonging to al-Quds Bank the afternoon of August 28 outside Jerusalem and stole nearly NIS 1 million. Palestinian Police spokesman Adnan Domairy told media that "four armed men stopped the car and forced the driver and guard out before taking the car to an unknown direction." Humanitarian Update -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Rafah is closed on August 30. It was last open on August 26. ¶6. (SBU) The Karni/al-Mintar commercial crossing is closed August 30. The crossing was last open on August 15. Sufa and Erez crossings are open on August 30 for commercial good transfers, according to PalTrade. The Nahal Oz fuel transfer crossing is closed on August 30. Because Nahal Oz had been closed since August 27, cooking gas is no longer for sale on the commercial market, according to USAID Gaza-based staff reports of August 29. WALLES