US embassy cable - 05TELAVIV1395

C O N F I D E N T I A L TEL AVIV 001395 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/06/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, PHUM, ASEC, KWBG, IS, GAZA DISENGAGEMENT, ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN AFFAIRS 
SUBJECT: ICRC REP ON POST-THREAT ACTIONS 
 
 
Classified By: Pol/C Norm Olsen for reasons 1.4(b) & (d) 
 
1.  (C) ICRC Head of Delegation Francois Bellon and Deputy 
Head Carlos Batallas met March 1 with Polcouns, Legatt and 
Poloff to review details and follow-up of a reported 
potential threat to ICRC members inside the Gaza Strip. 
Legatt had conveyed to the ICRC February 26 a non-specific 
report he had received suggesting that an ICRC employee had 
been detained by unknown persons inside the Gaza Strip, and 
that any ICRC personnel sent to Gaza to assist in the 
detainee's retrieval would be a target for a 
kidnapping/terror.  Legatt cautioned that this information, 
received from GOI contacts, was uncorroborated and its 
credibility unknown.  Legatt later received information from 
PA officials that a Red Crescent employee had been detained 
by the Palestinian Authority in the Gaza Strip and 
subsequently released, which may have corroborated the 
earlier GOI information. 
 
2.  (C) Bellon voiced thanks for the warning, however 
non-specific, and said that he had immediately undertaken 
communications with Gaza leaders of PIJ, Hamas and the 
Popular Resistance Committees to convey his concern and seek 
their assurances that they had not undertaken any action 
against ICRC personnel.  Bellon noted that the PRC, in 
particular, has various cells, but said it was clear from his 
discussions that "none of the known actors" were behind the 
reported threat.  The concern, he said, is that a single very 
small cell may be determined to disrupt the peace process. 
Bellon recalled to emboffs a threat that the ICRC received 
via the GOI during the hudna, or cease-fire, in early July, 
2003, identifying the ICRC as a soft target.  He added that 
half of the ICRC Gaza staff remained outside of the Gaza 
Strip as of March 1, and that he would be reviewing 
conditions to determine when they might return. 
 
3.  (C) Bellon added that in discussions with now-Interior 
Minister Nasser Yusif, immediately after receiving Legatt's 
warning, Yusif cited the possibility that a single individual 
could be at fault.  Yusif agreed, Bellon said, that there 
would be very strong repercussions if any action occurred 
against the ICRC, and agreed to enhance police vigilance 
around ICRC facilities in the Gaza Strip.  Bellon said that 
"the ICRC usually enjoys high acceptability" in conflict 
situations.  He  noted that an ICRC withdrawal from the Gaza 
Strip prior to disengagement would be "very painful," and 
suggested that the U.S. could help by calling on the 
Palestinian Authority to ensure the safety of ICRC personnel 
from future attack or detention. 
 
 
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