VZCZCXYZ0000
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHJM #3519 2211413
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 091413Z AUG 06
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4132
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC PRIORITY

UNCLAS JERUSALEM 003519 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE, NSC FOR ABRAMS/DORAN/WATERS, USAID 
FOR KUNDER/MCCLOUD/BORODIN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL ASEC CASC KPAL KWBG PHUM
SUBJECT: MGGZ01 - JERUSALEM AUGUST 9 SITREP 
 
 
¶1.    (SBU) Summary.  Three Qassam rockets were fired from 
northern Gaza into Israel on August 8.  The IDF responded 
with shelling, resulting in at least two injuries.  In the 
West Bank, an Israeli air strike August 9 in the Jenin 
refugee camp killed two Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) 
activists, including the head of the PIJ military wing in 
Jenin.  Palestinian media reported that 5-6 rockets that 
originated in Lebanon landed in open fields in the northern 
West Bank near Jenin.  The Rafah, Karni/al-Mintar, and Nahal 
Oz crossings remain closed on August 9.  End summary. 
 
Military Developments 
--------------------- 
 
¶2.    (SBU) Overall violence in the Gaza Strip remains low 
for a second day in a row, August 8-9.  Palestinian 
militants, however, launched three Qassam rockets on August 8 
from northern Gaza in the direction of the Western Negev. 
There were no reported injuries or damage.  The military wing 
of Hamas and the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claimed 
responsibility for the rocket launches.  The IDF responded to 
the rocket fire by shelling areas in northern Gaza, injuring 
at least two Palestinians. 
 
¶3.    (SBU) In the West Bank, Israeli aircraft fired missiles 
August 9 at two houses in the Jenin refugee camp, killing two 
wanted PIJ activists, including the head of the PIJ military 
wing in Jenin.  The apparent target of the Israeli air strike 
was the head of the PIJ military wing for the West Bank, 
Husam Jaradat, who escaped without injury.  The IDF also 
conducted raids into villages near Jenin in search of 
suspected militants.  The IDF arrested two wanted PIJ and 
al-Aqsa militants in separate operations on August 8.  During 
both operations, the IDF clashed with gunmen and Palestinians 
throwing stones, resulting in at least four injuries.  IDF 
units operating in the Balatah and Askar refugee camps in 
Nablus resulted in at least three Palestinian injuries and 
the arrest of one Fatah activist.  The IDF arrested an 
additional three Palestinians overnight August 8-9 in 
Ramallah and Bethlehem. 
 
¶4.    (SBU) Palestinian media reported August 9 that 5-6 
rockets originating from Lebanon fell into open areas near 
Faquah village, east of Jenin, causing no injuries or 
property damage.  Arab and Israeli media also reported August 
9 that an Israeli air strike on the Ein al-Hilweh refugee 
camp in Lebanon, which killed four Palestinians, targeted the 
headquarters of senior Fatah militia leader Munir Mouqdah. 
 
¶5.    (SBU) Israeli authorities on August 9 discharged from 
an Israeli hospital Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) 
Speaker Aziz Dweik following complaints of chest pain on 
August 7.  Dweik was returned to the Ofer prison facility. 
PA Deputy Prime Minister Naser Eddin al-Sha'er said August 8 
that lab samples of a suspicious powder discovered in an 
envelope delivered to the Prime Minister's office in Ramallah 
have been sent to Amman for additional testing.  Laboratory 
testing has failed to reveal the nature of the substance, 
which hospitalized several personnel at the Prime Minister's 
office. 
 
Humanitarian Update 
------------------- 
 
¶6.    (SBU) The Rafah crossing remains closed August 9.  The 
Karni/al-Mintar and Nahal Oz crossings are closed August 9, 
as they were August 8, for unspecified security reasons, 
according to both PalTrade employee Mohammed Skeik and 
Gaza-based USAID staff.  Both crossings were last open August 
¶7. 
 
¶7.    (SBU) All ten electricity feeder lines from Israel into 
Gaza are operational on August 9. 
 
WALLES