VZCZCXRO2157
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHJM #0719 1101459
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 201459Z APR 07
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7294
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY

UNCLAS JERUSALEM 000719 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE; NEA/IPA FOR 
WILLIAMS/SHAMPAINE/BELGRADE; NSC FOR ABRAMS/DORAN/WATERS; 
TREASURY FOR NUGENT/HIRSON 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD ECON PREL KWBG IS
SUBJECT: NEW TARQUMIYA CROSSING FACILITY 
 
REF: JERUSALEM 607 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  On April 18, USAID, USSC, and Econoffs 
walked through the new Tarqumiya crossing facility under 
construction 300 meters inside the West Bank.  The new 
commercial crossing terminal will use a container scanner 
that will allow containers to be transferred between 
Palestinian and Israeli vehicles.  The crossing includes 
lanes for Israeli-plated vehicles, a crucial feature for 
Hebron businesses, and a new passenger checkpoint modeled on 
the Qalandia crossing.  End Summary. 
 
New Facility Will Use USAID-funded 
Scanners and Infrastructure 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) On April 18, USAID, USSC, and Econoffs walked 
through the new crossing facility under construction 300 
meters inside the West Bank near the Palestinian town of 
Tarqumiya.  The crossing is the closest one to Hebron and is 
the primary commercial crossing in the southern West Bank. 
When complete in several months' time, the new commercial 
crossing facility will include a mobile scanner for 
containers, pallet scanners, a back-to-back transfer platform 
for small trucks, and a large lot for container exchanges 
between Palestinian and Israeli trucks.  USAID is financing a 
mobile scanner, one pallet scanner, and associated 
infrastructure and installation costs.  Tarqumiya will also 
have a new passenger checkpoint, capable of processing 2,000 
people per day and modeled on the Qalandia crossing. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) All Palestinian-plated trucks carrying exports to 
Israel, except for small trucks, will be scanned by a mobile 
scanner with the capacity of 150 trucks per day, according to 
USAID.  Small trucks will transfer their cargo on an elevated 
platform where manual or K-9 inspection will occur.  After 
scanning, trucks needing a secondary check would move to one 
of two enclosed "rooms" where cargo would be manually or K-9 
inspected or sent through a pallet scanner.  Once the 
scanning process is complete, trucks would move to a large 
lot for "side-by-side transfers," where containers or pallets 
would be moved from Palestinian vehicles to Israeli vehicles 
via cranes or forklifts. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Aggregates will be transferred in a separate area 
in the "dump-and-shovel" method, and petroleum products will 
transfer between trucks via pipes through a barrier.  Plans 
eventually call for petroleum products to flow between the 
two sides through a system of underground pipes. 
 
Through Lanes for Israeli-Plated Vehicles 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Hebron business owners have previously told 
Econoffs that large marble blocks, a major local export, 
currently transit Tarqumiya on yellow-plated Israeli vehicles 
without inspection (reftel).  The new facility includes lanes 
for Israeli-plated vehicles, which would accommodate these 
shipments. 
WALLES