AMB. WOLFF MEETS WITH UNSCO SERRY ON GAZA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 USUN NEW YORK 000160 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/18/2019 TAGS: PREL PGOV KWBG KPAL IS EG SUBJECT: AMB. WOLFF MEETS WITH UNSCO SERRY ON GAZA Classified By: Ambassador Susan E. Rice for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Robert Serry met with Ambassador Wolff on February 18 to discuss Gaza. Serry was pessimistic on the chances for a durable cease-fire in Gaza given Israel's linking of the cease-fire to Israeli CPL Shalit's release and news that Palestinian reconciliation talks scheduled for February 22 had been postponed. Serry's staff explained the circumstances behind the disappearance of the unexploded Israeli ordnance from a Hamas police compound in Gaza before a UN Mines Action Team had received Israeli government permission to dispose of it. The UN had called for the return of the unexploded ordnance for safe disposal. Serry also pressed for a re-invigorated Quartet effort on Gaza, saying that Egypt cannot do it alone. He raised whether a post-reconciliation Palestinian national unity government with individual ministers who subscribe to the PLO principles would be acceptable to the Quartet in lieu of Hamas' acceptance of the three Quartet conditions. End summary. Concern with Israel linking cease-fire to Shalit release & lack of Pal reconciliation -------------- ¶2. (C) UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and the Secretary General's Personal Representative to the PLO and Palestinian Authority Robert Serry met with Ambassador Wolff on February 18 after Serry's briefing and consultations with the Security Council. Serry voiced strong concern that a durable cease-fire continues to be elusive. He said that it was particularly unhelpful for Israeli Prime Minister Olmert to link now Israeli CPL Shalit's release to the Israeli signing of a cease-fire deal. He noted that the Egyptians do not like this linkage and that Hamas knows there will be no large-scale re-opening of the crossings without Shalit's release. Serry said the deal had been to focus on a "tahdiya" with limited re-opening of the crossings and only broader re-opening once Shalit is released. Serry also expressed concern about recent reports that the February 22 Palestinian reconciliation talks had been postponed, largely because of the lack of a durable cease-fire. Serry said that it is in no one's interest but Hamas' to go back to the "siege" where Hamas can exert control over limited supplies and reactivate its social network. Serry noted how the UN was trying to facilitate PA activity in Gaza recently. UNDP had helped PA Prime Minister Fayyad distribute cash to those who had lost their homes during the conflict. Missing unexploded ordnance in Gaza -------------- ¶3. (C) Ambassador Wolff raised the February 17 press reports about unexploded Israeli ordnance in Gaza that had gone missing before a UN Mines Action Team was able to dispose of it safely. Serry's staffer Robert Dann briefed that the UN Mines Action Team was given access to a Hamas police compound on February 4 where they observed 11 unexploded aerial bombs stored in an unsafe manner. They then attempted to dispose of them but had to seek Israeli government permission. While securing permission, the bombs went missing. According to the Hamas police at the site, Israeli drones were flying in the area. The Hamas police, fearing an air strike on the facility, abandoned post and left the ordnance unguarded. When they returned, they found the ordnance missing and reported it to the UN. The UN then informed the Israelis who Dann said, leaked the matter to the press. While the UN has not pointed a finger at anyone, it has called for the materiel to be returned. Dann confirmed that the UN itself did not have a suitable compound in Gaza to store the unexploded ordnance. UNSCO seeking re-invigorated Quartet; Egypt cannot do it alone -------------- ¶4. (C) Serry who will next travel to Washington to meet with Department and NSC interlocutors pressed for the Quartet to be re-invigorated and called for a debate within the Quartet on a number of issues. He noted Ambassador Rice's reference to a Palestinian unity government (post-Palestinian reconciliation) that would have to abide by the Quartet's three conditions -- reject violence, recognize Israel's right to exist, and abide by past agreements. He noted the Quartet's reference last year to the PLO principles as an important step to meeting the three conditions and wondered if the Quartet would be willing to engage with a government whose individual members were committed to the PLO principles. This would not require Hamas, as a movement to readjust, he said, but would enable a Palestinian national unity government to engage the international community. Serry said he would raise this question in Washington. USUN NEW Y 00000160 002 OF 002 ¶5. (C) Serry also voiced support for more regular Quartet envoy meetings and even a small Quartet secretariat. He urged that the Quartet be used more, convinced that "Egypt cannot do this on its own." Rice