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 -------------- ¶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