VZCZCXRO0653
PP RUEHROV
DE RUEHJM #0317/01 0550929
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
P 240929Z FEB 09
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4169
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC PRIORITY

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 JERUSALEM 000317 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE AND IPA. NSC FOR SHAPIRO/PASCUAL 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/24/2024 
TAGS: AFSN PGOV PREL PTER PHUM KPAL KISL EG IS
SUBJECT: IMPRESSIONS FROM GAZA-BASED LES 
 
Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1.  (S) Summary.  ConGen RSO LES who lives and works in Gaza 
City, said that Hamas remains in firm control of Gaza.  He 
notes that local support for Hamas has decreased since the 
December 2008 - January 2009 conflict, but decreased support 
for Hamas does not mean increased support for the current PA 
leadership.  Gazans feel that the PA failed them during 
hostilities, and PA efforts to distribute aid are not visible 
enough to counter this impression.  He said reconstruction 
has not begun in Gaza because materials are not available, 
and the tunnels, which resumed operating shortly after the 
temporary cease-fire, appear to have been shut from the 
Egyptian side, raising the price of goods.  End Summary. 
 
HAMAS IN CONTROL OF GAZA, 
BUT POPULARITY DECREASING 
------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (S) ConGen RSO LES Saji al-Mughani, who lives and works 
in Gaza, told ConGenOffs during a February 18 visit to 
Jerusalem that Hamas remains firmly in control of the Gaza 
Strip.  He told ConGen offs that the Hamas leadership remains 
intact, and that it uses media outlets (TV, radio, and 
newspapers) to project an image of strength.  He said Hamas 
recruits fighters, even among non-religious Gazans, by 
offering work, money, weapons, and prestige. 
 
¶3.  (S) Al-Mughani described Hamas as working hard to appear 
professional and provide security, adding that there are more 
foreigners affiliated with relief agencies and international 
organizations in Gaza now than before.  He has not seen any 
evidence of Iranians in Gaza.  Gaza's clans are "finished," 
al-Mughani said, explaining that Hamas confiscation of 
weapons left the clans unable to challenge its hold on power. 
 While various armed groups continued to launch occasional 
rocket and mortar attacks on Israel, al-Mughani asserted that 
Hamas could halt such attacks if it wants to. 
 
¶4.  (S)  Al-Mughani said Hamas's popularity has decreased 
since the end of hostilities, largely because Gazans blame 
Hamas for the conflict with Israel.  He said Gazans believe 
Hamas's "Muslim Brotherhood agenda" has trumped the 
Palestinian cause, and they resent the way Hamas leaders 
abroad have promoted "resistance" from a comfortable 
distance.  He believes many Gazans who voted for Hamas in 
2006 now regret it, even though they refrain from publicly 
criticizing Hamas out of fear of retribution.  Al-Mughani 
explained that, during the December 2008 - January 2009 
fighting, Hamas "kept people scared" by issuing house arrest 
orders to those deemed a threat.  Plain-clothes Hamas 
security personnel "made examples" of those who failed to 
comply.  Hamas security personnel rounded up and roughed up 
"hundreds" of Gazans for making critical or irreverent 
remarks, he said. 
 
¶5. (S) Hamas operates interrogation rooms in hospitals, 
clinics, former NGOs, and residences, al-Mughani said.  He 
described Gaza City's Shifa Hospital as "an operations center 
for Hamas" and said it was a virtual "closed military zone" 
during the December 2008 - January 2009 fighting.  Anyone 
attempting to visit patients during the conflict was subject 
to scrutiny from Hamas security personnel. 
 
SUPPORT FOR THE PA STAGNANT 
--------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (S) Most Gazans would like to see the PA return to Gaza, 
according to al-Mughani, but Hamas's unpopularity does not 
translate into support for the current PA leadership.  He 
said Gazans believe President Abbas (Abu Mazen) and other PA 
officials failed to support them during the conflict.  He 
said the PA has not capitalized politically on its 
compensation program for Gazans who lost their homes.  UNDP 
has undertaken damage assessments and is handing out cash, he 
said, but Gazans credit the UN, not the PA, for this support. 
 Al-Mughani said that Hamas, in contrast, distributes 
assistance through very visible ceremonies: flags, flowers, 
candy for children, and the Hamas "Minister of Economy" 
handing cash directly to home owners. 
 
RECONSTRUCTION YET TO COMMENCE, AID 
DISTRIBUTION ALONG POLITICAL LINES 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (S) Al-Mughani said that there is no visible 
reconstruction in Gaza because no reconstruction materials 
are available.  He said the IDF leveled Gaza'a cement 
factories -- along with its entire industrial zone in the 
north -- as it withdrew.  Al-Mughani said NGOs in Gaza are 
 
JERUSALEM 00000317  002 OF 002 
 
 
affiliated with one faction or another whether overtly or 
discreetly, and tend to deliver assistance to that faction's 
constituency.  Thus, he said, Hamas believes that 
international aid is going through PA-affiliated NGOs and 
that Hamas supporters will not benefit. 
 
TUNNEL OPERATIONS IN RAFAH 
-------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (S) Al-Mughani said much of Gaza's cement was used to 
construct tunnels.  He said entrepreneurs could make an NIS 
20,000 (roughly USD 5,000) "contribution" to the Rafah 
Municipality in return for Hamas's approval and cooperation 
on tunnel construction.  Tunnel operators record the goods 
they smuggle into Gaza and pay taxes on those goods.  Certain 
goods, such as pharmaceuticals, are not taxed because they 
contribute to "the greater good."  He said the tunnels are 
lit and well-ventilated.  Most are more than 30 feet 
underground, on the Gaza side, largely insulated from the 
effects of Israeli bombardment.  Many tunnels have ceilings 
high enough to allow a grown man to stand, he said. 
 
¶9.  (S) Al-Mughani said that some tunnels continued to 
operate during the Israeli airstrikes, and that many others 
began operating again within days after the temporary 
cease-fire.  He said it is clear to Gazans when the tunnels 
are operating because of changes in the cost of fuel and 
other goods.  Within ten days of the temporary cease-fire, 
the price of fuel was NIS 2 per liter.  However, starting 
around February 12, the cost rose to NIS 5 per liter, and 
then fuel disappeared almost entirely from the markets. 
Al-Mughani said this indicated that Egypt is cracking down on 
smuggling.  He said, however, that tunnels with entrances 
hidden inside private homes are harder to close. 
 
WALLES