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Viewing cable 04TELAVIV1643, HOME DEMOLITIONS IN GAZA - HIGH HUMANITARIAN TOLL

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
04TELAVIV1643 2004-03-17 10:42 2011-08-30 01:44 CONFIDENTIAL Embassy Tel Aviv
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TEL AVIV 001643 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/16/2009 
TAGS: EAID ECON GZ IS KWBG PHUM PREF PREL PTER ISRAELI PALESTINIAN AFFAIRS GAZA DISENGAGEMENT
SUBJECT: HOME DEMOLITIONS IN GAZA - HIGH HUMANITARIAN TOLL 
AS IDF ACTS AGAINST TUNNELS AND WIDENS BORDER 
 
REF: A. TEL AVIV 513 
 
     B. TEL AVIV 6070 
 
Classified By: DCM Richard LeBaron, reasons 1.4 (B) and (D). 
 
1.  (C) Summary/Comment: Humanitarian conditions in Rafah 
rank among the worst in the Palestinian territories.  In the 
past three years, over 10,000 persons in Rafah have been made 
homeless by IDF home demolitions.  The donor community has 
spent millions of dollars responding to this ongoing 
humanitarian emergency and many donors believe the 
humanitarian toll caused by these demolitions is 
disproportionate to the security gains achieved by Israel. 
For example, during the major October demolitions, the IDF 
discovered three arms smuggling tunnels, but close to 1,500 
persons were made homeless.  The IDF maintains it has 
considered technical/engineering solutions to the tunneling 
problem but there are no viable alternatives to home 
demolitions at this time. 
 
2.  (C) Comment: As the Israelis consider withdrawal from 
Gaza, issues in Rafah are among the most difficult to manage. 
 At the top of their security worries is smuggling of more 
effective weapons.  Rafah is often the scene of pitched 
battles between Palestinian militants and the IDF, with a 
tank incursion going on as we write.  In this environment, we 
see no evidence that the IDF is thinking about the longer 
term consequences of home demolitions for the Palestinians, 
for international donors, and much less for creating a more 
stable environment in Gaza that could improve Israel's 
security.  The Israeli focus now is on "teaching the 
terrorists a lesson," to disabuse Palestinian militant groups 
of the notion that their actions forced Israel to leave Gaza. 
 The policy, especially if the violence in Gaza escalates, 
will have consequences for stability and recovery in Gaza 
after the Israeli pull-out.  (End Summary/Comment) 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
Over 10,000 Made Homeless; Donors Pay Millions 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
3.  (U)  Since October 2000, over 10,000 people have been 
made homeless in Rafah, according to UNRWA.  The breakdown is 
as follows: Number of homes demolished - 1,075; Number of 
families affected - 1,968; Number of persons affected - 
10,092.  Roughly two thirds of all those currently homeless 
in Gaza are from Rafah.  The rate of home demolitions in 
Rafah has increased dramatically over the past three years. 
In 2001, an average of 12 homes were destroyed per month.  In 
2002, the average was 35 per month; and in 2003, the average 
increased to 70 per month. 
 
4.  (U)  The international relief community has responded to 
the needs of the homeless by providing emergency aid in the 
form of cash and in-kind assistance such as blankets and 
tents.  From October 2003 to February 2004, UNRWA provided 
roughly USD 564,000 in cash to 1,347 families to assist them 
in finding temporary housing.  Due to the deteriorating 
humanitarian conditions, the World Food Program (WFP) is now 
providing food to 5,469 families in Rafah, compared with 
3,472 in August 2003. 
 
5.  (U)  The above measures -- tents, food, blankets -- are 
temporary, stop gap measures designed to address immediate 
needs.  Permanently re-housing those who have been made 
homeless is costing millions and is complicated primarily by 
a lack of funding, but also by a shortage of land.  To date, 
UNRWA has invested USD 17.2 million in its re-housing 
program, and the agency says it needs an additional USD 26 
million to re-house all affected refugee families. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
Relief Agencies Report: Rafah at Breaking Point; 
Cannot Absorb More Demolitions 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
6.  (C)  At the March 9 Humanitarian and Economic Policy 
Group (HEPG) meeting, OCHA Country Representative David 
Shearer reported that the relief community and its 
Palestinian partners are adept in coping with the first 72 
hours after wide-scale demolitions.  However, the assistance 
community had thus far been unable to adequately address the 
principal need -- permanent re-housing.  Shearer underscored 
that in OCHA's view the humanitarian costs in Rafah have been 
disproportionate to the security gains made by Israel.  He 
noted that the IDF had only discovered three tunnels in its 
October 2003 operations that demolished well over 100 homes. 
Stuart Shepherd, the OCHA Gaza representative, said that the 
local coping mechanisms -- moving in with relatives, relying 
on temporary shelters provided by the municipality -- have 
been exhausted.  Rafah he said, can not absorb another round 
of demolitions. 
 
7.  (C)  WFP Country Director Jean-Luc Siblot reported that 
the entire Rafah Area is highly food insecure and distributed 
a map indicating that most of Rafah fell within their highest 
statistical band of food insecurity-- "40 percent or more of 
the population."  Siblot said, "Rafah should be treated as an 
'emergency'.  There is no area in the Occupied Palestinian 
Territories more in need of more focused attention."  Siblot 
noted that on his March 8 visit to Rafah, WFP provided food 
to a family of 12 -- all living in a one-room garage. 
"Living situations like this cannot continue," he concluded. 
 
8.  (C)  Sam Rose of UNWRA reported that it is experiencing 
difficulties in finding suitable land for re-housing and in 
securing the financing necessary for construction, with the 
latter being far bigger obstacle.  Rose speculated that 
donors have been reluctant to respond because of the 
perception by some that the GOI is systematically 
"transferring" the Rafah population.  An official from the 
European Commission's Humanitarian Office (ECHO) said that 
the perception of "transfer" may be an issue for some donors. 
 In addition, however, some donors were concerned by the cost 
of the "high-quality" houses that UNWRA is providing.  Rose 
replied that UNWRA is cognizant of this concern and has 
reduced its costs from USD 22,000/ new unit to "about half 
that."  Rose's comments prompted a round of dark humor 
lauding the advantages of "economies of scale." 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
IDF Says No Technical Solution To Stopping Tunneling 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
9.  (C)  The IDF Southern Command does not believe there is a 
technical solution to the tunnel problem in Rafah.  The depth 
of the tunneling, combined with the make-up of the soil in 
the area, defeat most seismic/engineering solutions.  The IDF 
G-2 for Southern Command has made an exhaustive study of the 
geology in the region and maintains a "counter-tunneling" 
working group solution.  In this group's view, home 
demolitions are the only viable solution at this time.  The 
IDF believes that unabated tunneling would drastically 
increase Palestinian weapons smuggling capabilities, perhaps 
to include surface-to-surface rockets and surface-to-air 
missiles, although it is worth noting that there have been no 
large caches of weapons or cases of more sophisticated 
weapons discovered so far in IDF anti-tunnel operations.  In 
addition, the IDF demolished a significant number of homes to 
widen the security buffer between Egypt and Gaza in order to 
increase its ability to operate in the area and to make 
tunnelling more difficult.  The IDF is still considering 
about how to grapple with new ways of addressing these 
security threats in a post-withdrawal environment, with much 
greater emphasis on the role of Egypt, and a continuing 
debate about whether and how the IDF could continue to 
control the Philadelphia Strip. 
 
--------------------- 
Next Steps for Donors 
--------------------- 
 
10.  (C)  OCHA is preparing a needs assessment focused on 
Rafah which will be presented at the next HEPG meeting in 
April.  While the assessment will focus on a range of issues 
including, water, sanitation, and food, we expect that the 
overwhelming need will be funding for re-housing. 
 
********************************************* ******************** 
Visit Embassy Tel Aviv's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/telaviv 
 
You can also access this site through the State Department's 
Classified SIPRNET website. 
********************************************* ******************** 
KURTZER