US embassy cable - 05TELAVIV5956

C O N F I D E N T I A L TEL AVIV 005956 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/03/2010 
TAGS: PREL, PINS, KWBG, KPAL, GAZA DISENGAGEMENT, ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN AFFAIRS 
SUBJECT: PA-HAMAS CONFRONTATION IN GAZA 
 
Classified By: DCM Gene A. Cretz.  Reason 1.4 (B/D) 
 
1.  (C) Summary: Clashes took place in Gaza City on October 2 
between Palestinian Authority (PA) policemen and Hamas 
gunmen. Three Palestinians were killed -- a senior police 
officer and two civilians -- while at least 51 were wounded, 
many of whom were bystanders.  Two police stations in Gaza 
City were badly damaged.  Palestinian police protested at an 
October 3 Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), firing 
volleys in the air from within the PLC compound in Gaza. 
Separately, elements of Faruq Qaddumi's "Popular Army" shot 
and killed a taxi driver in Khan Yunis.  End Summary. 
 
2.  (C) A reliable Ministry of Interior (MOI) contact told 
poloff that the PA had instituted checkpoints on many roads 
in the Gaza Strip on October 2.  At one such checkpoint, PA 
police had asked for identity cards from the armed passengers 
of one vehicle.  The occupants, the contact reported, refused 
to provide identification and called Hamas militants to the 
scene -- near the Shaykh Radwan area of north Gaza City.  The 
encounter reportedly escalated into gunfire between Hamas 
members and the PA police.  UNRWA reported that one Hamas 
member was shot in the leg and a police car ran over and 
killed a girl, one of two civilian casualties.  (UNRWA said 
there was a conflicting report that a PA officer jumped a 
queue at an ATM machine where a Hamas member was waiting, 
sparking confrontation.)  In any event, the confrontation 
escalated.  Hamas elements fired three rocket-propelled 
grenades at the PA police station at the Shati Refugee camp 
along the seashore near Shaykh Radwan, killing the 
Palestinian police officer in charge of the station and 
another civilian.  The Shaykh Radwan police station was 
torched during the confrontation, according to UNRWA. 
 
3.  (C) The Follow Up Committee of the National and Islamic 
Factions met late on October 2 in Gaza to contain the crisis, 
according to press reports and the MOI contact.  He said the 
crisis ended at 0130 on October 3 when "Hamas decided to 
retreat," and summarized the impact of the day's events as 
"an opportunity for the PA to step forward to control the 
street."  The PA police arrested eight Hamas members, but the 
contact predicted they would be released October 4. 
 
4.  (C) On October 3, UNRWA reported gunfire during the 
funeral of the PA policeman, which resulted in two injuries. 
UNRWA indicated that shots were fired by members of the 
funeral procession and returned by Hamas, but an NGO contact 
reported that his colleagues had informed him that Hamas had 
initiated the gunfire.  Separately, PA police entered the 
compound and building of the Palestinian Legislative Council 
in protest over the absence of PA assistance to the policemen 
during their clash with Hamas, according to UNRWA.  Firing in 
the air outside the building disrupted the session, but 
caused no injuries. 
 
5.  (C) In Khan Yunis, an unrelated confrontation between 
forces of Faruq Qaddumi's "Popular Army" and taxi drivers 
blocking a road in an apparent protest of fuel price hikes 
resulted in the shooting of two drivers, one of whom died as 
a result. 
 
 
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JONES