VZCZCXRO7723
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHJM #2318/01 3660854
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 310854Z DEC 08
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3631
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEADWD/DA WASHINGTON DC//DAS-ZD/DACS-ZK//
RUEAHQA/CSAF WASHINGTON DC//POLAD//
RHMFIUU/CMC WASHINGTON DC
RUENAAA/CNO WASHINGTON DC//POLAD//
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS 7469
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 4454
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 4302
RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 5796
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 4218
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 2788

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JERUSALEM 002318 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS BBG 
STATE FOR NEA, NEA/IPA, NEA/PPD 
WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE, SIT ROOM 
NSC FOR ABRAMS 
CMC WASHINGTON DC FOR POLAD 
 
JERUSALEM ALSO FOR ICD 
LONDON FOR HKANONA AND POL - TSOU 
PARIS ALSO FOR POL 
ROME FOR MFO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL KMDR KPAL KWBG KPAO IS
SUBJECT: JERUSALEM MEDIA REACTION (12/31): "Gaza is dying...what are 
Arabs waiting for?" 
 
------------- 
Main Stories: 
------------- 
All the Palestinian dailies lead with the ongoing Israeli offensive 
in Gaza, with black banner headlines reading "The Massacre in its 
Fourth Day" (Al Ayyam), "The Air Force Continues to Spread Death and 
Destruction in Gaza" (Al Hayat Al Jadeeda), and "The Air Force 
Destroys More Public Buildings and Grad Missiles [Hit] Beersheba" 
(Al Quds).  Above-the-fold photos in Al Ayyam and Al Hayat Al 
Jadeeda show demolished buildings in Gaza, while the one in Al Quds 
show Gazans lining up to buy bread.  Al Quds reports that according 
to an updated medical report from Gaza, 1750 Palestinians have been 
injured in the Israeli strikes and 387 killed-half of them 
civilians.  Al Ayyam reports that 23 Palestinians were killed, and 
120 injured, on the fourth day of the Israeli offensive in Gaza.  In 
further reporting, Al Ayyam states that the Israeli cabinet agreed 
to mobilize 2500 military reservists in an apparent preparation for 
a land offensive in Gaza, and cites AFP in quoting the Israeli 
Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai as saying that Israel is ready 
for weeks of combat against Hamas.   The paper also cites the 
Israeli radio quoting Israeli security sources that the next two 
days will be decisive in determining whether a land operation will 
be launched against Hamas in Gaza.  Al Quds reports on Hamas 
missiles hitting the Israeli city of Beersheba in the south, and 
adds that the Israeli woman who was killed by a Hamas rocket in 
Ashdod on Monday, December 29, was the sister of the Israeli 
Minister of the Interior, Meir Sheetrit. 
 
The three papers front-page US efforts to achieve a ceasefire in 
Gaza and report on a phone call yesterday between President Bush and 
President Abbas to discuss the requirements for a ceasefire, and add 
that Washington seeks to involve Egypt and Jordan in a long term 
truce agreement in Gaza, on the condition that Hamas commits to such 
an agreement first.  The front pages of Al Ayyam and Al Hayat Al 
Jadeeda quote Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak refusing to open the 
Rafah border crossing to Gaza "in order not to fall into the Israeli 
trap of sustaining Gaza's separation from the West Bank," and 
further report that Mubarak will not open Rafah without an 
international mechanism and the presence of Palestinian Authority 
police forces at the crossing.  Al Quds' front page reports that 
Egypt will present a draft action plan to the Arab states, proposing 
that the Rafah border crossing be opened after a ceasefire has been 
achieved, and operate under international or Arab mechanisms to 
ensure full compliance with the agreement. Al Quds further reports 
on a French proposal for a 48-hour ceasefire for humanitarian 
purposes, which is being considered by Israeli Defense Minister Ehud 
Barak, according to news agencies.  The paper also cites Reuters 
reporting that French President Nicholas Sarkozy, who will receive 
the Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on January 1 in Paris, 
might visit Israel next Monday to discuss the Gaza situation. All 
the papers report that the EU has demanded an immediate ceasefire on 
humanitarian grounds and that the EU will send a ministerial 
delegation to the region very soon. 
 
Al Ayyam carries on an inside page the full press release announcing 
the US donation of 85 million dollars to UNRWA for humanitarian 
assistance to Palestinian refugees.  Al Hayat Al Jadeeda front-pages 
a general report on Arab and international humanitarian assistance 
to Gaza, highlighting details of the US donation. 
 
An Al Quds inside page reports on a poll conducted by Near East 
Consulting, revealing that 58% of Palestinians oppose Hamas' 
declaration ending the truce with Israel, 68% support peace with 
Israel, 65% want Hamas to change its stance on Israel, 60% would 
 
JERUSALEM 00002318  002 OF 002 
 
 
re-elect PA President Abbas if elections were held, and 59% support 
Abbas remaining in the PA Presidency. 
 
All the papers report on rallies held in different Palestinian and 
world cities to protest against the Israeli offensive in Gaza. An Al 
Ayyam inside page reports on a small rally in front of the US 
consulate in Jerusalem, demanding US intervention to stop the 
Israeli attack.  Al Hayat Al Jadeeda reports on an inside page that 
the US Consul General Jake Walles met Saeb Erekat, head of the PLO 
Negotiation Department, in Jericho yesterday to discuss the ending 
of hostilities in Gaza. 
 
------------ 
BLOCK QUOTES: 
------------ 
 
1) An Al Quds editorial entitled "Gaza is dying... what are Arabs 
waiting for?" (12/31) comments that: "The way to end violence in 
Gaza is to release the Gaza Strip and the citizens there and end 
their suffering, and for the peace process to progress and bear 
fruit. As long as Israel does not prove its seriousness and 
credibility towards the peace requirements, violence and counter 
violence will continue, and there is danger that the violence will 
expand to include the Arab and Islamic world, and perhaps beyond. 
Aggression should stop, and the border crossings-starting with 
Rafah-should be opened." 
 
2) Hani Habeeb opines in Al Ayyam under the title "What's the need 
for an Arab summit?" (12/31): "The summit conference, if held, would 
not discuss the Israeli aggression, but would discuss a marginal 
issue, namely the Rafah crossing, with the intention of pointing the 
compass needle towards Cairo and holding it responsible for what has 
happened and is happening, although all parties understand that 
opening this crossing requires in the first place a clear consent, 
even if implicit, from Israel, which controls all the factors for 
using or not using this crossing, considering the current balance of 
power that is known to everyone. Perhaps moving the northern front 
and Hezbollah forces is the action that can ease the Israeli 
offensive on the Gaza Strip, but this front remains silent, just 
like the Syrian front!" 
 
WALLES