GAZA EVACUEES DESCRIBE "ORDEAL," ASSERT WAR

UNCLAS CAIRO 000104

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

FOR NEA, NEA/IPA, NEA/ELA AND CA/OCS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PARM PGOV PTER KPAL CASC IS EG XF
SUBJECT: GAZA EVACUEES DESCRIBE "ORDEAL," ASSERT WAR
STRENGTHENED HAMAS


1. (SBU) Summary: Three Palestinian-American familes
evacuated from Gaza into Egypt on January 19 described for us
their "horrifying ordeal" trying to survive Israeli attacks.
They recounted the emotional trauma both they and their
children experienced in the face of "primitive" living
conditions and constant Israeli attacks. One Amcit noted
that his family fled from "unlivable" conditions in Gaza City
to the relative safety of Rafah where there was some food and
electricity. This Amcit told us he believed that Gazans were
on the verge of revolting against Hamas before the war
because of the dire economic conditions, but that the Israeli
attacks had strengthened Hamas. End summary.


2. (SBU) On January 20, we spoke to three
Palestinian-American families who exited Gaza through the
Rafah crossing into Egypt January 19, with embassy
assistance. The families went through consular processing at
the embassy January 20 in order to travel to the U.S., and we
expect that all family members will receive the requisite
documents to leave for the U.S. in the coming weeks. Two of
the Amcit husbands described how they had lived in the U.S.
separated from their families, in one case for three years,
while they waited in vain for Israel to allow their families
to leave Gaza for Immigrant Visa interviews at Embassy Tel
Aviv or CG Jerusalem. They plan now to return to their
businesses in the U.S. with their families. The third
family, a young married couple, plans to live in North
Carolina with the wife's Amcit mother, and the husband, a
physics student, hopes to continue his studies in the U.S.

--------------
Surviving the War
--------------


3. (SBU) The families described their experiences in Gaza
during the Israeli attacks as a "horrifying ordeal," living
on the run as they tried to avoid air strikes and sustain
themselves. One of the Amcit husbands, a 33 year-old who
owns a cell phone company in Miami, told us how he and his
wife, who is three-months pregnant, fled their home in Gaza
City for the relative safety of Rafah where his sister lives.
He said that Gaza City had become "almost unlivable," with
constant Israeli barrages and acute shortages of necessities.
He noted that his mother, who remained in Gaza City during
the war, went without food and electricity for two weeks. In
Rafah, he said, there was some electricity, food and water,
but also constant danger from Israeli aerial bombardment of
the Philadelphi Corridor, and missile strikes on the homes of
Hamas supporters. He told us that in Rafah food shops
located away from the Philadelphi Corridor continued to
operate throughout the war.


4. (SBU) Another Amcit, a 43 year-old husband and father of
three small children who owns a food business in Houston,
became emotional when recounting his family's experiences in
Khan Younis during the war. He told us that his children
were horrified by the nightly Israeli bombings, and that his
wife, who was in shock from the attacks and the death of her
nephew in an Israeli strike, was unable to comfort them. He
and wife told us that they lived in fear of an Israeli
missile killing them at any time. Without gas or electricity
and unable to venture outdoors due to the fighting, the
family was forced to cook over open fires inside their
apartment. He noted that since June 2008, the family did not
have any cooking gas because of the economic blockade on
Gaza, but they had been able to cook over "primitive" open
fires outdoors "like our parents and grandparents did in the
1940's and 50's."

--------------
Life Under Hamas Rule
--------------


5. (SBU) The 33 year-old Amcit told us that Gazans' anger at
Hamas was on the rise before Israel's attacks began. He
commented that although the overall Gazan economy markedly
deteriorated after June 2007 because of the embargo, the
increase in smuggling allowed Gazans new access to certain
luxury goods. He said that the acute economic difficulties
resulting from the embargo had caused "most Gazans to oppose
Hamas" although people were afraid to take any action because
of the climate of fear that Hamas had created. He described
Gaza as "at the breaking point" before the war, and predicted
that Gazans "would have revolted against Hamas." However, he
asserted, the war strengthened Hamas by making the population
much more sympathetic to the Hamas leadership. He commented
on the irony that Israel's attempt to damage Hamas had only
made the organization more powerful. "Hamas is much stronger

now," he opined. He speculated that the majority of Gazans
opposed the rocket fire by Hamas and other Palestinian groups
into Israel for only bringing "despair and destruction to
Gaza." He told us that even during the war, Gazans did not
view the rockets as defending them, but as only prolonging
their suffering.


6. (SBU) This Amcit told us that Hamas' hold on power in Gaza
was tenuous enough that the organization was wary of creating
additional problems for itself by strictly mandating Islamic
practices. He said women were free to drive and work, and
that Hamas did not "want to push it." He noted that Hamas
has been able to provide basic public services during its
rule, but that, in retrospect, the Palestinian Authority (PA)
was more efficient, although Gazans hated the personal
corruption of PA officials who "lived in villas and drove
luxury cars." He commented that Hamas brought order to Gaza
by dealing harshly with tribal feuds. He explained that
Hamas' summary executions of those accused of tribal killings
had succeeded in decreasing the number of tribal clashes. He
expressed hope that the new U.S. administration would
pressure both Israel and the Palestinians to engage in a
"truthful peace process" that will bring results. What most
Gazans want now, he commented, is for their children to be
able to sleep at night without enduring F-16 raids.
SCOBEY