HAMAS ALLEGEDLY EXECUTES SEVEN FATAH PRISONERS IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L JERUSALEM 002322 SIPDIS NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE AND IPA; DRL FOR HARRIS/JOHNSTONE; NSC FOR ABRAMS/RAMCHAND/PASCUAL E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2018 TAGS: PREL PHUM PTER KWBG IS SUBJECT: HAMAS ALLEGEDLY EXECUTES SEVEN FATAH PRISONERS IN GAZA; THREE OTHERS MISSING Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (SBU) Summary. Fatah contacts told PolFSN on December 30 that, in the wake of IAF bombings on December 28, Hamas executed seven Fatah members who had been held prisoner at al-Saraya prison in Gaza City. Three additional Fatah members are reportedly missing. Local human rights organizations did not have information to confirm the alleged executions. End Summary. West Bank Fatah Receives Report: Seven Executed by Hamas; Three Others Missing -------------- ¶2. (C) West Bank Fatah member Jamil al-Dik and PA General Intelligence officer Salim Qaysi told PolFSN on December 30 that Fatah officials in Gaza had reported to PA leadership that seven Fatah members who had fled al-Saraya prison in Gaza City in the wake of IAF bombings on December 28 were executed by Hamas. They said Yassir Zanun, Yassir Nussayrat, and Hasan al-Zant were executed not far from al-Saraya by unidentified Hamas militants. Later on December 28, they said, Hussayn al-Tahir and Shadi Ahmad, convicted by Hamas of collaboration with Israel, were shot and killed in Jabalia refugee camp north-east of Gaza City. A sixth person, Salih Abu Salah, was believed to have been pursued by Hamas militants to al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City and shot after arriving there. Finally, Nasir Muhana, a Fatah activist affiliated with Samih al-Madhun (killed in 2007 in clashes with Hamas),was also reportedly killed while fleeing al-Saraya. ¶3. (C) Al-Dik and Qaysi said three of Fatah's rank-and-file who were accused of shooting at Ismayil Haniyah's convoy near Rafah crossing in 2006 are also missing: Zaki al-Sakani, Ahmad Hussayn Munis, and Ashraf Abu Ghayth. All were reportedly being held at al-Saraya prior to the airstrikes. Hamas Avoids the Question; Human Rights NGO Unable to Verify -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum, in an interview on Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV December 29, said the deceased were criminals and collaborators, not political prisoners from Fatah. He did not address the allegation that the prisoners had been assassinated. ¶5. (C) Risa Zoll, International Relations Director at Israeli human rights NGO B'tselem, told Poloff on December 31 that B'tselem is aware of press reports referencing similar incidents, but is unable to verify the account given by the Fatah-affiliated contacts. Fatah contacts said they have not yet publicly condemned Hamas for the killings because of the difficulty verifying the circumstances of the prisoners' killings. WALLES