JENIN: QABATIYA REMAINS TENSE; IDF INCURSION ENDS

C O N F I D E N T I A L JERUSALEM 000764

SIPDIS

NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE, NSC FOR ABRAMS/SINGH/PASCUAL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/07/2018
TAGS: KWBG PINS IS PGOV PTER
SUBJECT: JENIN: QABATIYA REMAINS TENSE; IDF INCURSION ENDS
WITHOUT ARRESTS

REF: A. JERUSALEM 757

B. JERUSALEM 753

Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary. PA security forces (PASF) maintain
checkpoints in and around Qabatiya as of 1300 local May 7
amidst tensions over the May 6 shooting of bystander Mu'min
Kmayl and PASF arrest of two PIJ activists. West Bank
National Security Forces (NSF) commander MG Ali told local
press he established a committee to investigate the
bystander's shooting, but believes gunmen, not PASF, shot
Kmayl. About 100 new troops (Presidential Guard (PG) and
Preventive Security) entered Jenin from Jericho and Ramallah
late May 6 to reinforce security efforts. Jenin NSF
commander BG Sulayman Imran said PIJ activists shot by PASF
on May 6 were armed and "were attempting to obstruct
justice," and security forces acted properly in response. MG
Ali reported that the IDF entered eastern Jenin late May 6,
but left a couple hours later without making any arrests. He
said the NSF protested the incursion through the Jenin
District Coordination Office (DCO). PM Salam Fayyad also
protested the IDF incursion to the Consul General and USSC
LTG Dayton and asked that the Secretary pursue the matter
with Israeli MoD Ehud Barak. End summary.

High Tension in Qabatiya; NSF Orders
Investigation into Bystander Shooting
--------------


2. (C) PG/NSF/riot police maintain checkpoints in and around
Qabatiya as of 1300 local May 7 amidst tensions over the May
6 shooting of a bystander and PASF arrest of two PIJ
activists (ref A). West Bank NSF commander MG Ali told POL
FSN that about 100 new troops (PG and Preventive Security)
entered Jenin from Jericho and Ramallah late May 6 to
reinforce security efforts. West Bank NSF commander MG Thiab
Ali said much of the 400-man force that deployed to Qabatiya
had left the town following riots over bystander Mu,min
Kmayl's shooting. (Note: Kmayl remains in a Nablus hospital
listed as "clinically dead." End note). MG Ali said he
ordered forces back and personally accompanied them inside
Qabatiya. He told local press that he established a
committee to investigate the shooting, but believes gunmen,
not PASF, shot Kmayl.


3. (C) BG Sulayman Imran told POL FSN that the PIJ activists
shot by PASF on May 6 were armed and "were attempting to
obstruct justice" by releasing jailed PIJ members at the
Qabatiya police station. He said PASF acted properly in
shooting the PIJ activists in the feet and arresting them,
and "the PA will enforce the law against those who serve
foreign interests and spoil good relations between the
security forces and residents." A PIJ spokesman in Qabatiya
told local press that it supports the PA security campaign
but warned the PA "not to attempt to collect the weapons of
resistance."


PA Patrols 3 New Villages
--------------


4. (SBU) PA security deployed presence patrols to three
villages south of Jenin (Zababdah, Misilya and Marka) on May
7, and did not encounter any opposition.

IDF Incursion Ends; No Arrests
--------------


5. (C) MG Ali reported that the IDF entered eastern Jenin
late May 6, but left a couple hours later without making any
arrests. Ali said the NSF protested the incursion through
the Jenin DCO. PM Salam Fayyad told the Consul General and
USSC LTG Dayton in separate conversations on May 7 that the
incursion was highly damaging and inconsistent with Israeli
MoD Ehud Barak's undertakings during recent tripartite
meetings with Secretary Rice. Fayyad asked that Secretary
Rice call Barak to register concern about the incident.
WALLES