VZCZCXYZ0010
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHEG #0104/01 0211524
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 211524Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1413
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS CAIRO 000104 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR NEA, NEA/IPA, NEA/ELA AND CA/OCS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PARM PGOV PTER KPAL CASC IS EG XF
SUBJECT: GAZA EVACUEES DESCRIBE "ORDEAL," ASSERT WAR 
STRENGTHENED HAMAS 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  Three Palestinian-American familes 
evacuated from Gaza into Egypt on January 19 described for us 
their "horrifying ordeal" trying to survive Israeli attacks. 
They recounted the emotional trauma both they and their 
children experienced in the face of "primitive" living 
conditions and constant Israeli attacks.  One Amcit noted 
that his family fled from "unlivable" conditions in Gaza City 
to the relative safety of Rafah where there was some food and 
electricity.  This Amcit told us he believed that Gazans were 
on the verge of revolting against Hamas before the war 
because of the dire economic conditions, but that the Israeli 
attacks had strengthened Hamas.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) On January 20, we spoke to three 
Palestinian-American families who exited Gaza through the 
Rafah crossing into Egypt January 19, with embassy 
assistance.  The families went through consular processing at 
the embassy January 20 in order to travel to the U.S., and we 
expect that all family members will receive the requisite 
documents to leave for the U.S. in the coming weeks.  Two of 
the Amcit husbands described how they had lived in the U.S. 
separated from their families, in one case for three years, 
while they waited in vain for Israel to allow their families 
to leave Gaza for Immigrant Visa interviews at Embassy Tel 
Aviv or CG Jerusalem.  They plan now to return to their 
businesses in the U.S. with their families.  The third 
family, a young married couple, plans to live in North 
Carolina with the wife's Amcit mother, and the husband, a 
physics student, hopes to continue his studies in the U.S. 
 
----------------- 
Surviving the War 
----------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) The families described their experiences in Gaza 
during the Israeli attacks as a "horrifying ordeal," living 
on the run as they tried to avoid air strikes and sustain 
themselves.  One of the Amcit husbands, a 33 year-old who 
owns a cell phone company in Miami, told us how he and his 
wife, who is three-months pregnant, fled their home in Gaza 
City for the relative safety of Rafah where his sister lives. 
 He said that Gaza City had become "almost unlivable," with 
constant Israeli barrages and acute shortages of necessities. 
 He noted that his mother, who remained in Gaza City during 
the war, went without food and electricity for two weeks.  In 
Rafah, he said, there was some electricity, food and water, 
but also constant danger from Israeli aerial bombardment of 
the Philadelphi Corridor, and missile strikes on the homes of 
Hamas supporters.  He told us that in Rafah food shops 
located away from the Philadelphi Corridor continued to 
operate throughout the war. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Another Amcit, a 43 year-old husband and father of 
three small children who owns a food business in Houston, 
became emotional when recounting his family's experiences in 
Khan Younis during the war.  He told us that his children 
were horrified by the nightly Israeli bombings, and that his 
wife, who was in shock from the attacks and the death of her 
nephew in an Israeli strike, was unable to comfort them.  He 
and wife told us that they lived in fear of an Israeli 
missile killing them at any time.  Without gas or electricity 
and unable to venture outdoors due to the fighting, the 
family was forced to cook over open fires inside their 
apartment.  He noted that since June 2008, the family did not 
have any cooking gas because of the economic blockade on 
Gaza, but they had been able to cook over "primitive" open 
fires outdoors "like our parents and grandparents did in the 
1940's and 50's." 
 
--------------------- 
Life Under Hamas Rule 
--------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) The 33 year-old Amcit told us that Gazans' anger at 
Hamas was on the rise before Israel's attacks began.  He 
commented that although the overall Gazan economy markedly 
deteriorated after June 2007 because of the embargo, the 
increase in smuggling allowed Gazans new access to certain 
luxury goods.  He said that the acute economic difficulties 
resulting from the embargo had caused "most Gazans to oppose 
Hamas" although people were afraid to take any action because 
of the climate of fear that Hamas had created.  He described 
Gaza as "at the breaking point" before the war, and predicted 
that Gazans "would have revolted against Hamas."  However, he 
asserted, the war strengthened Hamas by making the population 
much more sympathetic to the Hamas leadership.  He commented 
on the irony that Israel's attempt to damage Hamas had only 
made the organization more powerful.  "Hamas is much stronger 
 
now," he opined.  He speculated that the majority of Gazans 
opposed the rocket fire by Hamas and other Palestinian groups 
into Israel for only bringing "despair and destruction to 
Gaza."  He told us that even during the war, Gazans did not 
view the rockets as defending them, but as only prolonging 
their suffering. 
 
¶6. (SBU) This Amcit told us that Hamas' hold on power in Gaza 
was tenuous enough that the organization was wary of creating 
additional problems for itself by strictly mandating Islamic 
practices.  He said women were free to drive and work, and 
that Hamas did not "want to push it."  He noted that Hamas 
has been able to provide basic public services during its 
rule, but that, in retrospect, the Palestinian Authority (PA) 
was more efficient, although Gazans hated the personal 
corruption of PA officials who "lived in villas and drove 
luxury cars."  He commented that Hamas brought order to Gaza 
by dealing harshly with tribal feuds.  He explained that 
Hamas' summary executions of those accused of tribal killings 
had succeeded in decreasing the number of tribal clashes.  He 
expressed hope that the new U.S. administration would 
pressure both Israel and the Palestinians to engage in a 
"truthful peace process" that will bring results.  What most 
Gazans want now, he commented, is for their children to be 
able to sleep at night without enduring F-16 raids. 
SCOBEY