On Friday afternoon, 22 March 2013, 7 children sustained moderate
injuries by an explosion of a home-made bomb fuse they mishandled, near the
area they live in, in al-Salam neighborhood in Rafah in the south of the Gaza
Strip. This incident is part
of the phenomenon of the proliferation of weapons in the occupied Palestinian
territory (oPt).

According to
investigations conducted by PCHR, at approximately 15:30 on Friday, 22 March
2013, 7 children, 6 of whom are from al-Sha’er family, sustained shrapnel injuries
throughout their bodies, by an explosion of a home-made bomb fuse they
mishandled near their house in al-Salam neighborhood in the south of Rafah in
the southern Gaza Strip.  The injured
children were transported to Martyr Abu Yousif al-Najjar Hospital in the town
to receive medical treatment.  The
medical resources described their wounds as moderate, 4 of the children were
transferred to the European Gaza Hospital in Khan Yunis to complete the
treatment.  The injured children were
identified as:

1- Anwar ‘Awwad al-Sha’aer, (7);

2- His brother, Mahmoud, (8);

3- Abdel rahman Amin al-Sha’aer, (7);

4- His brother, Mahmoud, (5);

5- ‘Awad Talal al-Sha’aer, (10);

6- Ahmed Jihad al-Sha’aer, (8);and

7- Abdel Rahman Yousif Qeshta, (9),
whose injury resulted in the amputation of his right hand.

Palestinian police resources
stated to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) that the 7 children
sustained injuries by an explosion of a home-made
bomb fuse they mishandled, after they found it in a vacant tract of land.

PCHR strongly condemns this incident which is part the phenomenon of the
proliferation of weapons of and assaults against the rule of law prevailing in the (oPt) and calls
upon the concerned authorities to take necessary measures to protect
the lives of Palestinian civilians and their property to ensure the
non-recurrence of such incidents.