US embassy cable - 05TELAVIV5132

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 TEL AVIV 005132 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
NEA FOR DIBBLE 
NSC FOR ABRAMS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KWBG, KPAL, PREL, ECON, EAID, IS, GAZA DISENGAGEMENT, SItrep 
SUBJECT: CORRECTED COPY:  DISENGAGEMENT SITUATION REPORT, 
AUGUST 18 
 
This is a joint message from Embassy Tel Aviv and Consulate 
General Jerusalem. 
 
This message is sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect 
accordingly. 
This message conveys information as of 1700 hours local time. 
 
1.  (SBU) Summary:  On the fourth day of disengagement, IDF 
soldiers and police focused on evacuating Kfar Darom, Kfar 
Yam, and Neve Dekalim.  The security forces encountered some 
resistance in these settlements, particularly from young 
infiltrators from outside of the Gaza Strip who barricaded 
themselves in synagogues.  The evacuations are going faster 
than the GOI had anticipated, however, and demolitions of 
homes may begin as early as Sunday.  The killing of four 
Palestinians by an Israeli settler at Shilo in the West Bank 
on August 17 provoked a total of five rockets attacks aimed 
at Israeli targets, according to UNRWA.    End Summary. 
 
2. (SBU) SETTLER EVACUATION STATUS 
 
-- The Disengagement Authority and the Israeli Police 
assessed that the evacuations would be over by Monday or 
Tuesday of next week, earlier than expected.  They told a 
ministerial committee today that 70 percent of Gaza,s 
settlers have already been evacuated.  They also told the 
committee that the demolition of houses in Kerem Atzmona 
outpost, Rafah Yam, Gan Or, Peat Sadeh, and possibly Dugit 
would begin on August 21.  Gabi Golan in the PM's office told 
Economic Counselor that the demolitions will be carried out 
by private Israeli companies; Emboffs will arrange a meeting 
with these companies with Special Envoy Wolfenson,s team and 
World Bank experts to determine how the different types of 
rubble will be handled.  Golan estimated that demolishing the 
homes, and removing infrastructure and goods left behind, 
would take another month. (Note:  Golan said 500 families 
left without packing their belongings.  End note.)  Public 
buildings other than synagogues and holy places would not be 
destroyed. 
 
-- PM Ariel Sharon has stated that no Palestinians would 
enter evacuated areas until the last soldier leaves, 
according to Israeli press reports.  Sharon said he was 
concerned about looting of property left behind and asserted 
that the PA could not be relied on to prevent this.  (Note: 
Palestinian workers were to have been able to access the 
settlement greenhouses in order to care for them and the 
crops.  Special Envoy Wolfensohn's team is working on access 
for these workers.  End note.) 
 
-- Disengagement protestors blocked the Kissufim road and 
destroyed the fence that runs along it.  The police arrested 
a disengagement opponent who was suspected of trying to light 
a bus on fire. 
 
-- Despite the fact that a significant number of residents 
have already left Neve Dekalim, between 1,000 and 2,000 
residents and youths from the West Bank remained holed up 
today in the synagogue compound. 
 
-- In Kfar Darom, security officers were forced to enter the 
settlement through a side gate because disengagement 
opponents blocked the main entrance.  Thousands of troops 
went into the settlement with anti-riot gear and wooden bats, 
according to press, and surrounded the synagogue where 
hundreds of opponents had barricaded themselves in.  Many of 
the opponents, as in the case of Neve Dekalim, were youths 
from outside of the Gaza Strip, not the settlement,s 
residents themselves.  In fact, the majority of the residents 
returned to their homes mid-day, leaving 400 infiltrators in 
the synagogue alone. 
 
-- In Kfar Yam, some 500 infiltrators barricaded themselves 
in a kindergarten and in a synagogue.  They threw stones at 
soldiers, and set tires on fire, and a soldier was lightly 
injured by a bottle. 
 
-- Golan told EconCouns that 300 families remained in the 
areas to be evacuated, but all have secured permits allowing 
them to stay until Monday, August 22, at the latest.  These 
remaining families are concentrated in the settlements of 
Atzmona, Netzarim, and Ele Sinai.  Golan stated that 
synagogues in Kfar Darom and Neve Dekalim will be cleared of 
activists and settlers by this evening.  Golan asserted that 
most of the 2,000 Israelis remaining are under eighteen years 
old, are resisting for the purposes of demonstrating, but do 
not intend to hurt people or property. 
 
3.  (SBU) STATUS OF INDIVIDUAL SETTLEMENTS 
 
The following is an outline of the evacuation of the Gaza 
Strip and West Bank settlements as of 1700 August 18, 
according to IDF reports and Israeli media. 
 
Atzmona:  No updates available. 
 
Kerem Atzmona (outpost):  100 percent evacuated as of 1600 
hours, Wednesday, August 17. 
 
Bedolah:  100 percent evacuated as of 1500 hours, Wednesday, 
August 17. 
 
Dugit:  100 percent evacuated as of approximately midnight 
Tuesday, August 16. 
 
Ele Sinai:  Press reports indicate that there are 30 
remaining families in the settlement, indicating that an 
estimated 44-54 families have left voluntarily. 
 
Gadid:  An IDF officer at the COGAT Operations Center in Gaza 
told econoff that she expects the settlement to be 100 
percent evacuated by the end of today. 
 
Gan Or:  The IDF continued evacuating the settlement today. 
By 1600 hours, press reports indicated that hundreds of 
infiltrators remained as well as two families. 
 
Ganei Tal:  100 percent evacuated as of Wednesday, August 17. 
 
Kfar Darom:  By noon, 200 residents had been evacuated, and 
by around 1400 hours, press reported that 80 percent of the 
residents had been evacuated.  Police Commissioner Moshe 
Karadi said in the afternoon that the IDF may wait to 
evacuate the 400 infiltrators in the synagogue until tonight 
or tomorrow, although CNN at 1700 hours was showing poilce in 
riot gear removing opponents. 
 
Kfar Yam:  The IDF continued evacuating the settlement today. 
 There were 15 families remaining and an unspecified number 
of infiltrators.  By approximately 1530 hours, most of the 
residents had left voluntarily. 
 
Morag:  100 percent evacuated as on Wednesday, August 17. 
 
Netzarim:  All of the estimated 64 families in the settlement 
agreed with the IDF to leave voluntarily by Monday, August 22. 
 
Netzer Hazani:  All of the estimated 46 families that are 
remaining in the settlement had agreed with the IDF to leave 
voluntarily by today, and were boarding buses after prayers 
at approximately 1530 hours.  Many young infiltrators were 
still present, however. 
 
Neve Dekalim:  Approximately 70 families remained in the 
settlement as of this morning, and the IDF continued the 
evacuation, expecting to finish by the end of the day.  The 
security forces drove around with loudspeakers at 
approximately 1530 hours announcing that it was time to 
evacuate. 
 
Nissanit:  At approximately 1100 local time, the COGAT 
Operations Center in Gaza confirmed that the settlement was 
not completely evacuated, despite press reports to the 
contrary.  An IDF officer told econoff that there were an 
unspecified number of families present that infiltrated 
during the evacuation process, and that security forces were 
present to evacuate by force.  A separate IDF officer later 
told econoff at 1530 that the evacuation was 100 percent 
complete. 
 
Peat Sadeh:  100 percent evacuated as of Tuesday, August 16. 
 
Qatif:  No updates today.  There are approximately 58 
families remaining. 
 
Rafah Yam:  100 percent evacuated as of Tuesday, August 16. 
 
Shelo/Shalev:  100 percent evacuated as of Tuesday, August 16. 
 
Tel Qatifah:  100 percent evacuated as of 1430 on Wednesday, 
August 17. 
West Bank Settlements: 
 
Gannim:  100 percent evacuated as of Tuesday, August 16. 
According to the UN, the GOI is currently dismantling some of 
the infrastructure. 
 
Homesh:  No updates available. 
Kaddim:  100 percent evacuated as of Tuesday, August 16. 
According to the UN, the GOI is currently dismantling some of 
the infrastructure. 
Sa Nur:  No updates available. 
 
4.  (SBU) SECURITY SITUATION 
 
-- Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmud Abbas called 
upon the Palestinian public not to be provoked into violence 
by the murder of four Palestinians by an Israeli extremist as 
this response would play into the hands of extremists wishing 
to halt the withdrawal from Gaza. 
 
-- According to LTG Ward,s team, PA civil police are 
deployed throughout the Gaza Strip, properly equipped with 
new public order gear and communications equipment.  They 
rotate every 24 hours and are dominating areas that might 
otherwise serve as launch points for terrorist attacks. 
-- Kidnapping: French Channel 3 journalist Mohammad Luoati, 
seized by gunmen on August 15, is still being held August 18. 
 There is no news as to his whereabouts.  According to press 
reports, the PA Ministry of Interior has called upon 
Palestinians to provide any information that would help in 
locating Luoati. 
 
-- Rocket Attacks:  There was only minor response overnight 
to the killing of four Palestinians by an Israeli settler at 
Shilo in the West Bank on August 17.  A total of five rockets 
were fired at Israeli targes in four separate incidents, 
according to UNRWA.  No injuries were reported and the IDF 
did not retaliate.  IDF reported five mortar shells and one 
Kassam rocket fired overnight:  one mortar shell near an IDF 
outpost in Morag; two mortar shells in Nir Am, near Erez 
Crossing; two mortar shells in the vicinity of Atzmona; and 
one Kassam rocket near Khan Yunis.  No injuries were reported. 
 
-- Rocket Attack Thwarted:  According to UNRWA, PA security 
forces thwarted the firing of two rockets by Islamic Jihad 
from Ariaba targeting Atzmona settlement. 
 
-- Terrorist Attack Thwarted:  The IDF announced late on 
August 17 that its forces and the Israel Security Agency 
(Shin Bet) had uncovered an Islamic Jihad terrorist cell 
which planned to carry out a terrorist bombing in the next 
few days by using an explosive belt against Israelis in Gush 
Katif.  Four of the cell members have been arrested:  three 
from Muassi and the other from Khan Yunis.  According to the 
IDF, the same cell was also responsible for a terrorist 
tunnel uncovered a month ago meant to have been used against 
Neve Dekalim. 
 
-- Mob Violence:  Anti-disengagement activists moved from 
Kfar Darom to Jafarawy and attacked a Palestinian home and 
burned two kiosks, according to UNRWA.  The IDF reportedly 
moved in fairly quickly and forced the mob back to the 
settlement. 
 
-- Heavily Armed Militants Celebrate:  According to Gaza 
contacts, heavily armed militants walked the streets of Gaza 
City on August 18 in celebration of the Israeli disengagement. 
 
5.  (SBU) PALESTINIAN REACTIONS 
 
-- The HAMAS spokesman in Gaza Strip, Sami Abu Zuhri, 
expressed his movement's condemnation of the August 17 
killings of four Palestinian laborers in the West Bank.  "Our 
message to the Israeli occupation forces and government is 
that if you pull out quietly then we won't hinder it simply 
because we want you out, and if you want things to go smooth 
then you have to stop such savage crimes against our people 
since we in HAMAS can't stay arms folded watching you 
slaughtering our people," Abu Zuhri said in an August 18 
radio interview with Ramallah Voice of Palestine. 
 
-- Hamas leader in the West Bank Sheikh, Hassan Yousef, said 
that the cease-fire agreement of the Palestinian factions 
will end at the end of the year. For quiet to continue, 
Israel must take a number of steps, including releasing 
Palestinian prisoners.  He told Israel Radio that if Israel's 
attacks continue, along with settlements and arrests, then 
terror attacks will also continue. 
 
6.  (SBU) GOI POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS 
 
-- Israeli FM Silvan Shalom told a Kuwaiti daily August 18 
that Gaza will not become a "prison" for Palestinians and 
that negotiations for safe passages were ongoing.  He warned 
that "if Gaza turns into a base for shooting missiles at 
Israel and increasing Palestinian attacks, it will be 
impossible to move on to another step and take a new risk." 
-- The West Bank settler who shot to death four Palestinians 
on August 17, Asher Weissgan, remarked "I hope someone else 
kills Sharon" as he headed for a court hearing on August 18. 
(Note: August 17, during a press conference on August 17, 
Sharon told the Israeli public to "strike me" rather than IDF 
soldiers involved in disengagement.  President Katsav 
interjected that Sharon meant "criticize me" rather than the 
literal meaning of Sharon's comment.  End Note.) 
 
7.  (SBU) BORDER CROSSINGS/HUMANITARIAN ACCESS 
 
-- Erez Crossing and Industrial Zone:  According to Gaza 
private sector contacts, Erez remains officially closed to 
Palestinians, but the IDF continues to allow a small number 
of people to pass based on humanitarian/medical grounds with 
prior coordination. 
 
-- Rafah Terminal: According to UNRWA, Rafah remains open in 
both directions. 
 
-- Abu Kholi junction:  Anti-disengagement activists delayed 
the night opening of the crossing on August 16, according to 
UNRWA, Abu Kholi was closed as scheduled in both directions 
at 0500 hours on August 17, and is expected to reopen at 
midnight. 
 
-- Karni Terminal: Karni remains open on August 18. 
 
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