US embassy cable - 04TELAVIV1742

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 TEL AVIV 001742 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/22/2009 
TAGS: KWBG, KPAL, PREL, PTER, GZ, IS, ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN AFFAIRS, GAZA DISENGAGEMENT 
SUBJECT: HAMAS CHARGES USG CULPABILITY IN YASIN KILLING; 
HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS MARCH IN GAZA PROCESSION 
 
 
Classified By: Pol/C Norm Olsen, per 1.4(b) and (d). 
 
THIS IS A JOINT MESSAGE FROM EMBASSY TEL AVIV AND CONGEN 
JERUSALEM. 
 
1.  (S/NF) Summary: Hamas leaders have responded to the IAF's 
assassination of Hamas leader Shaykh Ahmad Yasin March 22 by 
vowing retaliation against Israel and blaming the USG, saying 
&The Zionists did not take such a step without the approval 
of the terrorist U.S. Administration.  Therefore, it should 
bear responsibility for this crime.8  In Gaza City, hundreds 
of thousands of Palestinians marched in a funeral procession 
over four kilometers long.  In addition to Yasin, two 
bodyguards and four other Hamas members were also killed, and 
Yasin's two sons and 17 others were wounded in the IAF 
missile attack.  A senior IDF source told A/DATT that the IDF 
had evidence that Yasin was behind the decisions to escalate 
the number of attacks against Israel, including those 
targeting infrastructure, and to use women as suicide 
bombers, with the ultimate goal of creating the image that 
Hamas had pushed the IDF out of Gaza once Israel executes a 
unilateral withdrawal.  In clashes with the IDF in the West 
Bank and elsewhere in the Gaza Strip, three Palestinians were 
killed and a total of 29 were injured.  End Summary. 
 
2.  (SBU) The IDF succeeded in killing Hamas spiritual leader 
Shaykh Ahmad Yasin in the early hours of March 22, as Yasin 
was leaving morning prayers at a mosque in the Zeitoun area 
of Gaza City.  According to IDF sources, IAF helicopters 
fired at least three missiles at Yasin's vehicle at 0510 
hours March 22, killing Yasin, two bodyguards, and four other 
Hamas members (Note: UNRWA and Israeli media claimed that the 
four were passersby.  End note.).  Yasin's two sons, along 
with 17 others, were wounded; Israeli media claimed that one 
of Yasin's sons died subsequently of his injuries.  According 
to GOI sources, the attack was planned after two Palestinians 
from Gaza carried out the March 14 suicide attack in the port 
of Ashdod that killed ten Israelis and wounded 20.  Defense 
Minister Shaul Mofaz had also told the Israeli cabinet March 
21 that the IDF had developed plans to "severely weaken" 
Hamas ahead of an Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. 
 
3.  (S/NF) A senior IDF source told A/DATT March 22 that the 
IDF had evidence that Yasin was directly responsible for 
ordering the recent increase in attacks in Gaza and in 
Israel, including those targeting infrastructure, as well as 
the use of women as suicide bombers, with the ultimate goal 
of taking credit for pushing the IDF out of Gaza.  The IDF 
source said the IDF had acted against Yasin in order to stop 
the escalation, prevent Hamas from developing an image as 
successfully forcing Israel out of Gaza, and to ensure that 
Hamas would not become the preeminent power in Gaza after 
Israel withdraws. 
 
4.  (SBU) Following the attack, the IDF completely closed the 
Gaza Strip and closed traffic through the main internal 
checkpoints in the middle of the Strip.  In Gaza City, at 
1000 hours an estimated 40,000 people were waiting outside 
the al-Shifa hospital to escort Yasin's body to the funeral, 
and flags from all Palestinian organizations were reportedly 
in evidence.  By 1300, the crowd in Gaza City had swelled to 
an estimated several hundred thousand and eyewitnesses said 
the procession stretched over four kilometers down the 
four-lane Omar al-Muktar street, from Palestine Square to 
al-Nasser Street.  One contact noted the absence of any PA 
security officials on the streets in Gaza City, ostensibly to 
avoid any possible confrontations with mourners or Hamas 
militants.  PA security officers did, however, join the 
funeral procession as an honor guard. 
 
5.  (SBU) Immediately following the attack, Hamas official 
Ismail Haniyah said that "Sharon has opened the gates of 
Hell, and nothing will stop us from cutting off his 
(Sharon's) head."  When asked in an interview with al-Jazeera 
whether a response to Yasin's killing was imminent, Abd 
al-Aziz Rantisi responded that the "Izzadin al-Qassam 
Brigades (militant wing of Hamas) will decide," but that 
Hamas action was not merely a response, but the "beginning of 
the battle."  In Gaza, one militant announced that "a new 
Intifada begins today." 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
PA Statements Denounce Attack, Call for Unity 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
6.  (SBU) There has been an immense outpouring of grief and 
anger throughout the territories.  In the official PA 
statement, PA Chairman Yasir Arafat condemned the 
assassination and called on Palestinians to close ranks and 
show strength and unity.  Arafat ordered three days of 
national mourning in the West Bank and Gaza in honor of 
Yasin.  PA Prime Minister Ahmad Quraya, echoed the thoughts, 
adding that the assassination would &escalate the 
operations, which ) with regret ) Israel plans for.8 
Quraya, appealed to the Quartet and the USG to intervene, 
arguing there had been &enough disregard for Palestinian 
blood.8  PA Foreign Minister Nabil Sha,ath said &there is 
no struggle between Fatah and Hamas.  Shaykh Ahmad Yasin is 
respected by every Fatah member...."  All three statements 
referred to the Yasin assassination as crossing &all red 
lines.8 
 
------------ 
Inside Hamas 
------------ 
 
7.  (C) Among Gaza contacts, Abd al-Aziz Rantisi is viewed as 
a possible interim leader of Hamas, at least in the short 
term.  According to Hamas-affiliated journalist Ghazi Hamad, 
the organization will convene a consultative council in the 
coming weeks to choose a new permanent leader.  He opined, 
however, that in the nearer term, the focus will remain on 
immediate retaliation for Yasin's death, a position borne out 
by statements from Hamas and other militant leaders 
(Jerusalem septel).  Ha'aretz columnist and 
Palestinian-watcher Danny Rubenstein opined that Yasin's 
death would increase support for Hamas among Palestinians. 
Furthermore, with Yasin's death, the possibility that the PA 
would ever try to rein in Hamas was gone as any efforts to 
this end would be viewed as collaboration with Israeli 
security forces. 
 
---------------- 
Israeli Reaction 
---------------- 
 
8.  (C) In meetings March 22 with DOD Under Secretary Dov 
Zakheim, Minister of Defense Shaul Mofaz said that Israel had 
"done the right thing," and would "continue to fight terror." 
 He referred to Shaykh Yasin as "the Palestinians' bin 
Laden."  Deputy PM Ehud Olmert, however, noted to Zakheim in 
a separate meeting that Yasin's killing could make it more 
difficult to carry out the coordination with the PA necessary 
ahead of the planned withdrawal.  Opposition MK Efraim Sneh 
had a different take, telling Zakheim that Yasin's 
assassination was "not a clever move", because it will 
accelerate the ongoing power shift in Gaza further in favor 
of Hamas and away from the PA now that people have more 
sympathy for Hamas.  Sneh further claimed that the Sharon 
government was "doing nothing" to encourage moderate 
Palestinians to take over in Gaza and opined that, had the 
GOI done more to bolster Abu Mazen, there could have been a 
"sea change" in Gaza for the better. 
 
9.  (SBU) Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu (Likud) said in 
an interview with Israel Radio March 22 that the IDF action 
would make it clear that there is "no immunity for terror." 
While acknowledging that there could be an upsurge in 
terrorism in response, Netanyahu stressed that in the long 
term, the effect would be to rein in Hamas.  Minister of 
Agriculture, and fellow Likud member, Yisrael Katz said that 
the IDF action rehabilitated Israel's deterrent capability. 
NRP MK Gila Finkelstein agreed that Yasin had been a "marked 
man," but only regretted that his elimination had to be 
linked with the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. 
 
10.  (SBU) However, support was not universal within the GOI. 
 Minister of Interior Avraham Poraz (Shinui) said in an 
interview with Israeli media March 22 that he had opposed the 
cabinet decision to target Hamas leaders because such action 
was likely to increase terrorism inside Israel, a view also 
held by Yossi Beilin, head of the newly formed Yachad Party 
and architect of the Geneva Accords.  Calling the policy of 
targeted killings "neither legitimate nor effective," Beilin 
asserted that the policy has not eliminated terrorism but has 
instead cost hundreds of lives.  Meretz MK Yossi Sarid 
agreed, saying that killing Yasin would only escalate the 
violence.  Israeli Arab MK Ahmad Tibi called Yasin's killing 
"madness", while Hadash MK Mohammad Barakeh said in a 
statement to the press that the GOI had turned into "a wild 
gang which is exposing Israel to frightening terrorism." 
 
--------------------------------------------- --------------- 
Attack Prompts Clashes in the WB, East Jerusalem and in Gaza 
--------------------------------------------- --------------- 
 
11.  (SBU) Hours after the assassination, Israeli troops 
killed one Palestinian and injured seven others during 
clashes in the Balata refugee camp.  A Palestinian journalist 
covering the clashes was also killed.  Near Rachel's Tomb in 
Bethlehem, three Palestinians were injured, one of them 
seriously, when the IDF fired on protesters who reportedly 
threw Molotov cocktails at the troops.  At least 14 
Palestinians were injured in clashes with the IDF in Halhul 
and Hebron, and several shooting attacks at IDF targets were 
reported in Hebron, Nablus, and near Bethlehem.  Clashes also 
broke out between Palestinians and Israeli police near 
Damascus Gate and the Mount of Olives in East Jerusalem. 
Inside the Old City of Jerusalem, a group of Palestinians 
attacked an Israeli youth; three of the attackers were 
arrested.  No injuries were reported in any of the Jerusalem 
events. 
12.  (SBU) All schools were closed in the West Bank, Gaza, 
and East Jerusalem after the assassination, in accordance 
with the three-day mourning period announced by Arafat. 
Roughly 3,500 Palestinians gathered in Nablus and about 1,000 
Palestinians assembled in central Ramallah to protest the 
assassination.  Hundreds of Palestinians demonstrated in 
Tulkarem and Qalqilya.  Several wake houses were opened 
throughout the West Bank and Gaza to mourn Yasin, with Arafat 
announcing that he would receive condolences in his office 
from 1800-2000 hours. 
 
13.  (SBU) During clashes with the IDF in Khan Yunis, two 
Palestinians were killed and five others were wounded, and 
four Palestinians were injured in similar clashes in Abu 
Khouli.  Palestinians also fired anti-tank missiles and 
mortars on settlements in Gush Katif, and a missile was fired 
at the Erez Crossing.  No injuries were reported in either 
incident.  In Rafah, some 25,000 people demonstrated on the 
main street, as Hamas leaders there called for a "military 
show of strength." 
 
----------------------------- 
Hamas Points a Finger At U.S. 
----------------------------- 
 
14.  (SBU) In a statement March 22 and posted on the AFP 
website, the al-Qassam Brigades  blamed the USG for Yasin,s 
assassination, saying &The Zionists did not take such a step 
without the approval of the terrorist US Administration. 
Therefore, it should bear responsibility for this crime.8 
Hamas leader Abd al-Aziz Rantisi added that &the Islamic 
nation should wake up and shake the land under the feet of 
those Zionists and those who back them from the Americans.8 
Islamic Jihad leader Ramadan Shallah referred repeatedly to 
the &U.S. missiles8 used in the attack. 
 
 
 
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