GAZA: HANIYAH REENTERS AFTER INSPECTION; RAFAH OPEN

C O N F I D E N T I A L JERUSALEM 000033 SIPDIS SIPDIS NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE, NSC FOR ABRAMS/DORAN/WATERS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/05/2017 TAGS: PREL KWBG PTER IS KPAL SUBJECT: GAZA: HANIYAH REENTERS AFTER INSPECTION; RAFAH OPEN REF: A. A) 06 JERUSALEM 5060 ¶B. B) JERUSALEM 28 Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) Haniyah Returns to Gaza, Complies with Inspection -------------- ¶1. (C) PA Prime Minister Haniyah (accompanied by Foreign Minister Mahmud al-Zahar, Interior Minister Sa'id Siyam and acting PLC speaker Ahmad Bahar) entered Gaza through the Rafah border crossing January 4 at 1645 local, according to EU-BAM Operations Chief Patrick Delval. Delval said that Egyptian customs officials inspected Haniyah,s bags and those of his party upon their arrival at al-Arish airport at ¶1130. PA General Administration of Crossing and Borders head Nazmi Muhanna told Delval that he had been present at the inspection at al-Arish and confirmed that neither Haniyah nor any member of his party had large sums of money in their possession. ¶2. (C) At the Egyptian side of the crossing, four vehicles from President Mahmud Abbas' office picked up Haniyah's party and took them through Rafah crossing. PLO Negotiations Chief Sa'eb Erekat had provided EU-BAM vehicle and passenger information on January 3. Delval noted that Haniyah,s personal luggage (four suitcases in the trunk of the vehicle provided by Abu Mazen to transport Haniyah) was not inspected on the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing. His party's luggage, however, was x-rayed by Palestinian crossing personnel. These arrangements were consistent with the agreement reached at a meeting of Israeli, Palestinian and USG and EU-BAM representatives on January 3 (Ref B). Haniyah Plans Mideast Tour in Near Future -------------- ¶3. (U) While Haniyah completed the Hajj in Mecca as he had planned, he delayed an anticipated trip to Qatar, Kuwait and Jordan until next week, according to press comments by Haniyah's political advisor Ahmad Yusif. Haniyah wants to concentrate on formation of a national unity government (NUG),based on the "National Conciliation Document," in coming days, Yusif said. Rafah Crossing Status -------------- ¶4. (C) Rafah crossing is open January 5 from 0800 to 1700 local, and processed about 1,800 total travelers to/from Egypt on January 4, according to EU-BAM. WALLES