SENIOR AL-AQSA MILITANT KILLED IN BALATA CAMP

C O N F I D E N T I A L JERUSALEM 000106

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE, NSC FOR ABRAMS/SINGH/PASCUAL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/18/2018
TAGS: KWBG PINS IS PTER PGOV
SUBJECT: SENIOR AL-AQSA MILITANT KILLED IN BALATA CAMP


Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Senior al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades militant Ahmad
al-Sanakra was shot and killed in an IDF operation early
January 18, according to PA security contacts. Sanakra,
brother of top-level al-Aqsa militant Ala'a Sanakra, was
wanted by the Israelis since 2004 and was previously wounded
twice in IDF operations against him.


2. (C) Preventive Security (PSO) contacts told ConGen
Political Specialist that the PA included Sanakra on lists
submitted to the GOI requesting amnesty for fugitives who
disarmed and submitted to monitoring, but the GOI refused to
include him and demanded his arrest. Security contacts say
Sanakra had refused to disarm or surrender to PA authorities
when many al-Aqsa militants (including his brother Ala'a)
accepted amnesty terms in recent months. Contacts said
Sanakra told them that he did not trust the GOI to uphold its
commitment to stop targeting fugitives who accepted the
amnesty's terms, and he, therefore, retained caches of
weapons and ammunition.

Comment
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3. (C) While Ahmad Sanakra was not officially accepted in
the PA-GOI amnesty/disarmament deal for fugitives and
violated its terms, his killing may complicate PA efforts to
keep the fugitives deal together. Sanakra was an "outlaw
hero" in Nablus for leading gunbattles against the IDF in the
Nablus Muqata'a in July 2006 and for repeatedly escaping IDF
arrest attempts. His killing will be seen by many
Palestinians, especially Nablus residents, in the context of
ongoing IDF operations in Nablus which Palestinians believe
undermine public confidence in PA security efforts.
WALLES