GAZA-ISRAEL COMMERCIAL CROSSINGS UPDATE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TEL AVIV 001817

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/10/2016
TAGS: ECON PGOV PREL KWBG KPAL IS ISRAELI PALESTINIAN AFFAIRS ECONOMY AND FINANCE
SUBJECT: GAZA-ISRAEL COMMERCIAL CROSSINGS UPDATE

Classified By: DCM Gene A. Cretz, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

This cable was cleared by Consulate General Jerusalem.


1. (C) Summary: The crossings between Gaza and Israel are
important commercial ports. The GOI is devoting significant
resources to upgrade and expand several crossings, including
Erez, Kerem Shalom and Tarqumiya. The GOI has also
instituted a risk management scheme in order to promote
security and accelerate the processing of cargoes exported
into Israel. The flow of Palestinian goods from Gaza through
Karni/al-Mintar crossing, however, remains severely
restricted. End summary.



2. (SBU) The Agreement on Movement and Access (AMA),
brokered in November 2005, calls for the opening and
continuous operation of a number of crossing points that
serve as a lifeline into Gaza for food and humanitarian
supplies and as portals for economic growth though which
agricultural produce and other Gazan exports can get to
market. Due to the serious security situation, however, the
GOI has frequently closed the crossings. In fact,
Karni/al-Mintar, the most important commercial crossing, has
been closed for much of the year. The following is an update
on the various crossing points.

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KARNI/AL-MINTAR CROSSING
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3. (C) Karni/al-Mintar is the main crossing for the passage
of commercial goods between Israel and Gaza. Karni operates
under a &back-to-back8 system whereby Israeli and
Palestinians trucks remain on their respective sides of the
crossing and goods pass between them through a secured
loading/unloading station, or &cell,8 within the
crossing,s barrier wall. Karni has 32 stations where goods
can be loaded/unloaded. Due to security threats, the
crossing has been open only 47 percent of the time in 2006.
From January 1 until May 8, a total of 18,473 truckloads were
imported and 1,767 truckloads were exported through Karni.
(Note: According to OCHA, a mimimum of 25 truckloads of wheat
flour, 5.6 truckloads of sugar, 3.6 truckloads of rice, and
2.2 truckloads of cooking oil must be imported daily to meet
basic consumption needs in Gaza. End note.) Since its
reopening on March 21, closures have become less frequent and
imports have averaged over 200 truckloads per day, including
aggregates, when the crossing is open. (Note: Karni has been
open 73 percent of the time since the March 29 Knesset
elections. End note.) Based on security concerns and a
policy of giving priority to humanitarian imports into Gaza,
the GOI has severely limited exports leaving Gaza. (Comment:
USAID believes that scanners currently deployed at Karni
working in two shifts could easily handle 150 export trucks,
as outlined in the Agreement on Movement and Access. End
comment.) Agricultural products, for example, are allowed to
be exported out of Gaza through only a single cell. (Note:
Fuel transfers at Karni can be done by means of a pipe across
the green line. Flour and grain can also be transferred via
pipe. End note.)


4. (C) According to Israeli Airports Authority (IAA) Deputy
Director General Yoram Shapira (IAA controls border
crossings),Karni uses a risk management system for checking
exports. All cargo from Gaza is offloaded into a lion-cage
type device or transit cell that allows the cargo to enter
and then closes. It is then sniffed by dogs and given an
initial inspection. Cargo can also go through a palette
scanner. Depending on the security status of a particular
cargo, the general security situation, the type of cargo, the
availability of Israeli trucks, and the requirement for
additional scanning, cargo will be sent for additional
inspection. For example, a risk management percentage of
cargo (generally 5-10 percent) from loaded trucks can be
taken off and scanned or cargo can be 100 percent scanned by
the mobile scanner. Suspect cargoes are removed and taken
through a secondary scanning process. Currently,
agricultural produce is removed from the exchange cell by
forklift and then placed on inspection tables that are
located in the scanner,s purpose-built installation
compound. A USAID-funded scanner is fully operational within
the existing site and is scanning cargoes of agricultural
products being exported out of Gaza. (Note: United State
Security Coordinator team and USAID are working on developing
a more efficient risk management system. End note.)


5. (C) Shapira told econoffs that the GOI has invested
millions of dollars in refurbishing Karni, including the
purchase and installation of cameras, lighting,
infrastructure and other equipment. Shapira said there are
three outstanding issues for the IAA at Karni. He said that
the IAA needs two more high-penetration scanners for palettes
to replace eight old screeners that they are currently using.
Such a switch would double or triple the speed of the
quantity of cargo they could check, thereby accelerating
operations. Shapira also said that the main road to Karni
needs to be paved, but there is disagreement within the
Israeli government over who should pay for road. The last
outstanding issue is the need to obtain land to build a
parking lot.

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KEREM SHALOM
--------------


6. (C) Kerem Shalom first served as a crossing for the
Israeli military. With the GOI,s disengagement from Gaza,
Kerem Shalom was redesigned to serve as an international
crossing for goods coming from Egypt and destined for the
Gaza Strip, in one direction only. Since March 22, Kerem
Shalom has also processed humanitarian assistance from Egypt.
Since that time, some 15-20 truckloads per day of
humanitarian supplies from Egypt have entered Gaza at Kerem
Shalom. There are days when there is no cargo coming into
Gaza from Egypt, and the crossing is not used. GOI officials
would also like to use Kerem Shalom for the importation of
goods from Israel to Gaza. A USAID-funded, fully-operational
scanner is on site, but not yet in use.


7. (C) According to Israel Airport Authority officials, the
GOI has designated an as-yet undeveloped area within the
crossing where goods from Gaza could be unloaded prior to
being transferred to Israeli trucks. Palette scanners would
be used to check the cargo. With the current configuration,
the crossing cannot simultaneously process both Egyptian
traffic and Gaza export cargo and thus would have to be
closed to all traffic from Egypt during the inspection and
transfer of Gaza cargo. The maximum amount of outbound Gaza
cargo that could be handled under this regime is 30-35
shipments a day, according to GOI IAA officials.

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EREZ
--------------


8. (C) Erez is the only crossing in use for general
pedestrian traffic between Gaza and Israel. Since March 12
it has been closed to Palestinian workers. (Note: According
to sources at COGAT, MOD Peretz is likely to lift the ban in
the near future. In February, around 3,700 workers had been
crossing daily. End note.) However, VIPs, families of
prisoners in Israeli jails, and humanitarian cases may still
use the crossing. Erez terminal manager Shlomo Saban told
econoff that an average of two ambulances cross every day
into Israel. Erez is also designed for exports of goods into
Israel, primarily, although not exclusively, from the Erez
industrial zone, a secured area in Gaza formerly administered
by the GOI but largely inactive since the disengagement.
According to General Bazelel Traiber, the MOD official in
charge of the Erez crossing, 300 plus trucks/day can be
processed when the vehicle scanners are in place. Between
20-40 can be processed each day without scanners.


9. (C) Although open 24 hours, the peak times for pedestrian
traffic are 0100 hours to 0800 hours. Pedestrians go through
a metal detector and a scanner that produces a 3-d hologram
image. Each scanner system is connected to multiple
operators. Males and females go through separate lanes, so
that only someone of the same gender scans a particular
pedestrian. Traiber said that in other countries, such as
Mexico and Singapore, where this same scanner system is in
operation, passengers are given the option of a strip search
rather than going through the scanner. Traiber said that
security considerations preclude giving people that option
here.


10. (C) The GOI is building a huge, air-conditioned terminal
to handle the pedestrian traffic at the cost of NIS 130
million (approximately USD 28 million). The completed
terminal will be equipped so that pedestrians can go through
three different checks ) a metal detector, a hologram
scanner, and a check of biometric indices. Traiber said that
a lack of funding has forced the GOI to halt construction on
all facilities at Erez, except for the pedestrian terminal.
Saban said that construction on the terminal should be
completed by May or June with a formal opening in July or
August. Currently 60 employees work at Erez, 20 of which are
security guards from the private security firm, Sheleg Levan.
After the new terminal opens, there will be 200 employees at
Erez. General Traiber said that there also have been
discussions regarding construction of a train station that
would connect Erez to Ashdod.

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SUFA
--------------


11. (C) Sufa is the main terminal for aggregates into Gaza.
Israeli trucks enter Gaza every other day to drop aggregate
in a large open lot just over the Green Line. Palestinian
trucks are allowed into the open lot the following day to
load aggregate for distribution within Gaza. Sufa has also
been used on a limited basis as a transit point for basic
food commodities shipments when Karni/al-Mintar has been
closed for extensive periods. In April 2006, it was used
for importing humanitarian supplies into Gaza, including 85
truckloads of wheat flour from the World Food Program and 11
trucks containing 400 tons of humanitarian assistance form
Jordan,s King Abdullah. Over a two-day period April 16-17,
3,000 tons of wheat was imported into Gaza through Sufa.

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NAHAL OZ
--------------


12. (U) Nahal Oz is used solely for the importation of
petroleum products into Gaza. Israeli trucks pump the fuel
into underground holding tanks at the crossing. The fuel is
then transferred via a cross border pipe.

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