VZCZCXRO8214
PP RUEHROV
DE RUEHJM #2198 2971520
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 241520Z OCT 07
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9385
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY

UNCLAS JERUSALEM 002198 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE, NEA/IPA FOR 
GOLDBERGER/SHAMPAINE/BELGRADE; NSC FOR ABRAMS/SINGH/WATERS; 
TREASURY FOR HARRIS/LOEFFLER/NUGENT/HIRSON; BRUSSELS FOR 
LERNER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF ECON EAID PREL IS KWBG PHUM
SUBJECT: UN AGENCIES SEE CONTINUED TIGHTENING IN GAZA AND 
WEST BANK 
 
REF: JERUSALEM 2101 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary.  UN agencies reported to donors in 
Jerusalem on October 18 that the humanitarian and access and 
movement situation in the West Bank and Gaza continues to 
deteriorate.  UNSCO said that GOI officials had confirmed 
reports that Gaza's Sufa crossing would soon close 
indefinitely, further restricting capacity to import 
supplies.   OCHA said road obstacles in the West Bank have 
increased and disputed reports that the MoD has removed 24 
barriers.  UNSCO calculates that the separation barrier, if 
constructed according to latest plans, would result in 12 
percent of West Bank territory and 80,000-90,000 Palestinians 
in the "seam zone" between the barrier and Green Line.  End 
summary. 
 
Gaza Update:  Sufa To Close 
--------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) UNSCO Acting Head Lynn Hastings said that GOI 
Coordinator for Government Affairs in the Territories (COGAT) 
General Mishlev confirmed in an October 15 meeting that Sufa 
crossing would soon close indefinitely, leaving only one 
crossing - Kerem Shalom - open for the transport of 
humanitarian supplies into Gaza.  Kerem Shalom does not have 
the capacity, she said, to process the 170 truckloads of 
goods per day required to meet the needs of 1.5 million 
Palestinians in Gaza.  With only two days of meat and three 
days of milk stockpiled in Gaza, supplies are well below the 
WFP-recommended stockpiling minimum of 30 days.  Non-food 
items, such as thread, cloth, and paper, are not being 
permitted into Gaza.  UNRWA reports that its request to 
import paper to print textbooks for the next school semester 
was denied in writing.  Hastings also noted that only five 
patients per day on average leave Gaza for medical treatment, 
compared with fifty patients per day in June. 
 
West Bank Update:  Longer Barrier, More Obstacles 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Acting Head of OCHA Gwyn Lewis said GOI plans would 
leave about 12% of West Bank territory in the "seam zone" 
between the barrier and Green Line.  She estimated that 
80,000-90,000 Palestinians will be caught in the seam zone as 
the barrier is completed. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Lewis said OCHA's recent comprehensive resurvey of 
West Bank road obstacles showed a total of 563, a net 
increase of 31 over the prior tally dated end-July.  When 
asked, she disputed unconfirmed reports that the IDF had 
removed 24 obstacles.  Lewis said the IDF agrees that all 
objects included in OCHA's count exist, but disputes whether 
all should be labeled "obstacles."  She said the IDF has told 
OCHA the obstacles will not be removed, but that more 
bypasses, link roads, and tunnels will be constructed for 
Palestinians to facilitate movement.  Lewis concluded that 
the obstacles "look to become a permanent regime." 
 
Transition on Checkpoints "Confusing" 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Lewis told Refcoord in an aside that the transition 
of responsibility for West Bank checkpoints and terminals 
along the barrier from the IDF to private contractors is 
creating significant confusion on the ground.  The UN,s 
coordinated effort to push back on impending GOI policies 
that would further restrict the movement of UN staff and 
supplies in the West Bank is making little progress because 
of the various GOI actors involved, she said.  Both OCHA and 
UNSCO appealed to donors to support their effort to forestall 
these additional GOI restrictions. 
WALLES