Security Chaos and Proliferation of Small Arms

Using Weapons in Personal and Clan Disputes

Field Update

27 April 2006

3 Citizens Killed and 2 Injured in Personal and Clan Disputes in 2 Days

Over the past 2 day, 3 citizens were killed and another 2 were injured in personal and clan clashes in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. One of the victims is a resident of the city of El-Taiba in Israel. He was killed in Qalqilya over a financial dispute. The other 2 were killed in 2 separate incidents of clan disputes in the Gaza Strip.

PCHR’s initial investigation indicates that at approximately 13:00 on Wednesday, 26 April 2006, Jihad Ali Mohammad Abu Jam’, a 39-year old resident of the city of El-Taiba and a bearer of an Israeli ID card, was killed when an unknown assailant fired at him in the market area in Qalqilya. The incident took place over a financial dispute with a Qalqilya resident. The victim was immediately taken to UNRWA’s Qalqilya Hospital. Medical sources informed PCHR’s fieldworker that Abu Jam’e was hit by 2 bullets in the chest and neck that killed him instantly. He was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital.

And at approximately 13:30 on the same day, a number of gunmen gathered in a disputed lot of land in the town of Jabalia in the north of the Gaza Strip. The ownership dispute was between members of Abu Eida and El-Sawalha clans. The gunmen fired at members of El-Sawalha clan in the area. Khaled Abdel Rahim El-Sawalha (30) was killed instantly by a bullet to the abdomen. His father (60) was injured by a bullet to the right leg; and his brother Rabie (23) was injured by a bullet in the right arm. The injured were taken to Kamal Odwan Hospital in Beit Lahya, where their conditions were listed as moderate.

In the evening of Tuesday, 25 April 2006, medical sources in Shifa Hospital announced the death of Rami Mohammad El-Najjar, a 20-year old resident of El-Mawasi area west of Khan Yunis. He died as a result of wounds sustained in a clan dispute 4 days earlier. PCHR’s initial investigation indicates that at approximately 13:30 on Friday, 21 April 2006, a dispute erupted between members of El-Najjar clan over the distribution of an inheritance. Sticks and sharp objects were used in the clash, which took place in El-Mawasi area to the west of Khan Yunis. During the clash, Rami was hit with a sharp object over the head. He was taken to Naser Hospital in Khan Yunis, and from there to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City due to the severity of the injury.

PCHR is gravely concerned over the increase of internal violence, including the use of weapons in personal and clan disputes. This is a continuum of the security chaos and misuse of weapons plaguing the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). The Centre reiterates its call to the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), represented by the Attorney-General, to investigate these crimes, and to bring the perpetrators to justice.