PA DENIES REPORT OF HAMAS DETAINEE RELEASE,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JERUSALEM 001406 SIPDIS NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE, NSC FOR ABRAMS/SINGH/PASCUAL E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/01/2018 TAGS: KWBG IS PGOV PTER ASEC SUBJECT: PA DENIES REPORT OF HAMAS DETAINEE RELEASE, ACKNOWLEDGES INTERNAL MISCOMMUNICATIONS Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary. After press reported that PA President Mahmud Abbas (Abu Mazen) ordered the release of all Hamas members arrested in the West Bank since July 25, PM Salam Fayyad told the Consul General July 31 that the PA has not ordered a mass release and PA security forces (PASF) will continue to arrest Hamas activists to disrupt terrorist operations. Fayyad and PA security commanders said the press report was a miscommunication that was not coordinated between the PM's office and Abbas' staff (who were with the President in Jordan). The PA National Security Forces (NSF) commander told POL FSN that the IDF used the report of the release to deny an NSF request to bring 200 reinforcements to Hebron to deal with planned Hizb al-Tahrir demonstrations. End summary. Press: Abbas Orders Release of All Arrested Hamas Members -------------- ¶2. (U) WAFA (the official PA news agency) reported late July 31 that President Abbas had ordered the release of all Hamas members detained in the West Bank (citing 400) since the July 25 bombing attack in Gaza. The statement also said many detainees had already been released, that the PA will abide by the rule of law in all cases and that President Abbas is working with Arab countries to end Palestinian political divisions and resume national dialogue in Cairo. Fayyad: No Mass Release, Message Not Coordinated; PASF: We Learned of Statement in the Press -------------- ¶3. (C) PM Fayyad subsequently told the Consul General on July 31 that the report implying a mass release was false. He said he instructed the NSF, Preventive Security (PSO) and General Intelligence (Mukhabarat) to follow his previous guidance to disrupt Hamas activities by detaining and questioning its members, and releasing them if there is no evidence that they are involved in unlawful activity. He said the PA only has about 200 Hamas members in custody (and thus could not possibly release 400),and they remain jailed except for a small number (including Nablus city council members and al-Najah University staff) who were released following their arrests by "overzealous" PA security officers. Fayyad emphasized that the arrests are not "retaliation" for Hamas arrests of Fatah members in Gaza, but part of the PA's ongoing strategy to disrupt security threats in the West Bank. ¶4. (C) PA security chiefs (NSF commander MG Thiab Ali (Abu al-Fatah),PSO Chief Ziad Hab al-Rih and Deputy Mukhabarat Chief BG Aql Sa'adi) told POL FSN late July 31 that they learned of President Abbas' "order" through the media, and will continue to follow PM Fayyad's guidance to disrupt militant plans by detaining Hamas members. Separately, NSF contacts told PolOff July 31 that the PA has arrested "a couple hundred" Hamas members since July 25, and had already released many of them after interrogation if they were not involved in militant activity. IDF Cites Abbas Statement in Denying NSF Request for Hebron Reinforcements -------------- ¶5. (SBU) NSF Commander MG Ali told POL FSN late July 31 that the Hebron IDF DCO told Hebron NSF commander BG Samih al-Sayfi that the IDF denied the NSF's request to bring in 200 reinforcements to control planned demonstrations by Hizb al-Tahrir, basing the denial on press reports of President Abbas' release order. (Note: The IDF had not given the NSF final approval for request prior to July 31. End note). MG Ali commented that he does not understand what President Abbas sought to achieve in issuing the release order, as it angered the IDF and is not likely to influence Hamas' behavior. Comment -------------- ¶6. (C) The statement by President Abbas' office, likely a botched attempt to pressure Hamas to end its arrest campaign against Fatah leaders in Gaza, failed to achieve its objective, angered the GOI and PM Fayyad, and put the PA security chiefs in the awkward position of having to respond to inaccurate and damaging press sourced to the PA's commander-in-chief. Fayyad told the Consul General that the release report hurts the PA, because it implies that PASF JERUSALEM 00001406 002 OF 002 arrests of Hamas activists are a "tit-for-tat" response when the PA is stressing that arrests are part of a broad security campaign to disrupt security threats and are being carried out in accordance with PA law. WALLES