PA CLAIMS SUCCESSES IN PUBLIC ORDER/ANTI-HAMAS

UNCLAS JERUSALEM 001279 SENSITIVE SIPDIS NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE AND IPA, NSC FOR ABRAMS/PASCUAL/SINGH E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KWBG PTER PGOV IS SUBJECT: PA CLAIMS SUCCESSES IN PUBLIC ORDER/ANTI-HAMAS CAMPAIGN IN QALQILIYA AREA ¶1. (SBU) Summary. National Security Forces (NSF),police and General Intelligence (GI) contacts told PolOff and POL FSN July 16-17 that the PA has arrested 17 Hamas activists and criminals in an intensification of ongoing security efforts in Qalqiliya and villages near Tulkarm and Salfit. Security commanders report dispersing scattered protests against NSF patrols and dismantling/flattening 31 stolen/unregistered vehicles July 15-17. They said increased activity levels will start tapering off by July 20 and then focus on maintaining security improvements. End summary. NSF, Police Ramp Up Anti-Hamas, Public Order Efforts; 17 Arrested -------------- ¶2. (SBU) National Security Forces (NSF),police and General Intelligence (GI) contacts told PolOff and POL FSN July 16-17 that the PA has arrested 17 Hamas activists and criminals in the greater Qalqiliya area, including Area B villages near Tulkarm and Salfit. According to Qalqiliya NSF commander BG Faysal al-Bishtawi, the NSF arrested Hamas activist Ahmad Abd al-Qadr Da'as and four other Palestinians in Qalqiliya on July 16. He said the NSF also dispersed Hizb al-Tahrir (Liberation Party) and Hamas protesters who sought to prevent the NSF from crossing the tunnel that connects Qalqiliya and Habla village. PA police report confiscating and dismantling/flattening 31 stolen/unregistered vehicles July 15-17 as part of this security campaign. ¶3. (SBU) The NSF detained seven residents of Baqat al-Hatab (Area B, east of Qalqiliya) for obstructing the PA's patrols and vehicle inspections, and confiscated two rifles and ammunition from them. (Note: The named arrestees were Rushdi Samara, Ahmad Amr, Qusay Barghuthi, Abd Jamal Farid, Ibrahim Sa'id Barghuthi, Abd al-Hafiz Ali Muhammad and Rushdi Wasif. End note). ¶4. (SBU) GI contacts report detaining five Hamas activists in villages around Qalqiliya, Tulkarm and Salfit July 14-16, naming the arrestees as: Mahmud Assi, Ibrahim Mustafa Awad Miri, Ibrahim Abd al-Aziz Musa Assi, Umar Abd al-Aziz Musa Assi, and Adnan Abd al-Latif Jamal. Campaign Relies Mostly on Local Resources -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Senior NSF officers told PolOff July 17 that the campaign is an intensification of ongoing security efforts and relies almost exclusively on existing local security personnel and resources. They said they expect increased security activity to start tapering off by July 20, and will then focus on maintaining security improvements. LAPENN