Security Chaos and Proliferation of Small Arms
Armed Clan and Personal Disputes
Field Update
6 August 2006
2 Killed and 9 Injured in Clan Clashes in Gaza City and Nuseirat
PCHR’s preliminary investigation indicates that at approximately 18:00 on Saturday, 5 August 2006, four gunmen in a car fired at an electrical appliances shop in Naser Street to the east of Maqoussi Housing Towers, north of Gaza City. Basil Abdel Hai Meqdad (26) was killed by 2 bullets in the abdomen and chest; and Ahed Mohammad Hamada (25) was killed by a bullet to the head. Both were residents of Beach refugee camp. They were in shopping at the store at the time of the attack. It seems that Meqdad was the target in a clan dispute. The store owner, Bassam Gherab (31), and Mohammad El-Herbawi (28) were also injured in the attack.
And in another incident at approximately 14:20 on Friday, 4 August 2006, a dispute broke out between El-Louh and Zaqout clans in Nuseirat refugee camp. The dispute escalated into an exchange of fire between the two clans. Five members of El-Louh clan were injured, one of them seriously, and were taken to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir El-Balah. Two members of Zaqout clan were injured and taken to Naser Hospital in Khan Yunis. The injured are:
– Rami Hafeth El-Louh (25), seriously injured by a bullet in the abdomen;
– Mahmoud Hafeth El-Louh (27), injured by a bullet in the pelvis;
– Mohammad Hafeth El-Louh (23), injured by shrapnel in the chest;
– Khalil Tal’at El-Louh (24), injured by shrapnel in the chest;
– Hafeth Mahmoud El-Louh (48), injured by shrapnel in the hand;
– Shadi Abdel Rahman Zaqout (22), injured by a bullet in the right hand; and
– Adham Mustafa Zaqout (25), suffered bruises all over the body
PCHR is extremely concerned over the continued forms of internal violence and the use of arms in personal and clan disputes, which are a continuum of the security chaos plaguing the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The Centre calls upon the Palestinian National Authority, represented by the Attorney-General, to seriously investigate these incidents and to bring the perpetrators to justice.
