SPIEGEL OUTLINES HUMANITARIAN COORDINATION SYSTEM

C O N F I D E N T I A L TEL AVIV 002927 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/26/2016 TAGS: PGOV PREL KWBG IS SUBJECT: SPIEGEL OUTLINES HUMANITARIAN COORDINATION SYSTEM Classified By: Ambassador Richard H. Jones for Reasons 1.4 (B) and (D). ¶1. (C) Defense Minister advisor BG (res) Baruch Spiegel told the Ambassador July 26 that he is working to eliminate the confusion remaining within the IDF on the implementation of humanitarian corridors as agreed by Secretary Rice and PM Olmert July 25. He said that the guidelines the army received following the Secretary's meetings were not entirely clear, although the were instructed to engage Embassy officials on the humanitarian corridors. He noted that the IDF and UN relief official Kevin Kennedy already have worked out an SOP for humanitarian convoys. The IDF has established a Humanitarian Resource Coordination Center (HRCC) that will handle with the UN necessary deconfliction for the majority of relief organizations operating in Lebanon. The HRCC will deal separately with the ICRC, which wishes to handle its own coordinaton with the IDF through ICRC Israel Rep Dominick Stillhart. The Ambassador said that the USG is looking for the IDF to establish, in coordination with relief agencies, half a dozen corridors by which humanitarian supplies and displaced persons can safely move. ¶2. (C) Spiegel said that the weakest link in the communications/liaison chain is that with the actual ground forces in Lebanon, and said that he is pressing for an "HRCC forward" element to be established inside the conflict zone, possibly in Bint Jubayl. Establishment of that element will require agreement by the ICRC and UN to work with the unit, he added. Currently, forward liaison is handled by a special IDF civil affairs unit for humanitarian operations that is headed by a colonel and consists of reserve officers who are all Arabic speakers. He compared it to the Civil Administration, which performs a similar role for the Occupied Territories. The IDF's "advance operations headquarters" has already assigned a lieutenant colonel to serve as its liaison officer to UNIFIL. Spiegel said he wants to see this element expanded, and that UNIFIL, with its existing resources and experience, and ongoing liaison relationship with the IDF, could take the lead for organizing UN operations south of the Litani. ¶3. (C) Separately, Spiegel commented, without offering specific casualty figures, that the fighting in Lebanon is not going smoothly, and that two brigades remain fully engaged round the clock. He said that in one village Hizballah fighters have holed up in a mosque and that the IDF is under orders not to destroy it. He said that the IDF attack on a UNIFIL position, in which four UNIFIL personnel were killed, was a tragic mistake. ¶4. (C) COMMENT: Spiegel is out in front on facilitating humaniarian relief and is pressing his counterparts in the IDF to implement the type of assured access that the Secretary and PM Omert agreed to in their July 25 meeting. SIPDIS We intend to weigh in to support his efforts to professionalize and bring to the field -- not just the policy level -- a commitment to facilitate our humanitarian, evacuation and other relief operations. END COMMENT. ********************************************* ******************** Visit Embassy Tel Aviv's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/telaviv You can also access this site through the State Department's Classified SIPRNET website. ********************************************* ******************** JONES