IDF TENTATIVELY APPROVES 150 NSF TROOPS FOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L JERUSALEM 001719 SIPDIS NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE. NSC FOR ABRAMS/RAMCHAND/PASCUAL E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/22/2017 TAGS: KWBG PGOV PREL PTER PHUM KPAL IS SUBJECT: IDF TENTATIVELY APPROVES 150 NSF TROOPS FOR HEBRON, NEW POLICE STATIONS NEAR JENIN Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles, per reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary. National Security Forces (NSF) West Bank Commander Diab al-Ali Abu al-Fatah told PolSpec that the IDF has tentatively approved the transfer of 150 NSF officers to Hebron. The IDF also approved three new Palestinian police stations in villages near Janin. End Summary. IDF OFFERS TENTATIVE APPROVAL FOR 150 NSF PERSONNEL IN HEBRON -------------- ¶2. (C) NSF West Bank Commander Diab al-Ali Abu al-Fatah told PolSpec that IDF West Bank Commander Gadi Shamni offered tentative approval for transfering 150 NSF personnel from Jericho to Hebron to support PASF forces already operating there. Shamni asked the PASF to submit an official request containing all logistical details to the Israeli District Coordination Liaison (DCL) before receiving final approval, Abu al-Fatah said. He said the IDF and PASF agreed that the new force will consist of NSF officers trained in Jordan, and that it will carry 150 AK-47 rifles. IDF APPROVES THREE NEW PALESTINIAN POLICE STATIONS IN VILLAGES NEAR JANIN -------------- ¶3. (C) Abu al-Fatah met with Shamni and Head of the Israeli Civil Administration for the West Bank Yoav Mordechai on September 14. Also attending were Palestinian security chiefs, including Palestinian Chief of Civil Police Hazem Attallah, Head of the Palestinian Preventive Security Organization (PSO) Ziad Hib al-Rih, and Chief of Military Intelligence (Istikhabarat) Majid Farraj. Abu al-Fatah said that Shamni authorized the PASF to open new police stations in the Area A villages of Zababdah and Jaba'a, and that the IDF is considering allowing a police station in the Area B village of Yabad. All three villages are near Janin. IDF PROMISES TO LOOK INTO TREATMENT OF NSF PATROL IN HEBRON -------------- ¶4. (C) Abu al-Fatah said that Shamni also promised to look into a September 12 incident in Hebron in which IDF officers tried to order an NSF patrol to leave an area near the border between the Palestinian-controlled H1 and Israeli-controlled H2 areas. According to Abu al-Fatah, Shamni agreed that the PASF was operating within its jurisdiction in H1. Abu al-Fatah said NSF and IDF soldiers engaged in a fist-fight after an IDF soldier attempted to take an NSF officer's weapon. The IDF withdrew when the scuffle attracted Palestinian residents to the scene. The IDF returned later with more troops, Abu al-Fatah said, and detained two NSF officers for several hours. WALLES