Ref: 4/2021

Date: 10 January 2021

Time: 16:00 GMT

A Palestinian male was killed, and 7 other citizens were wounded in two separate incidents in Jenin and Nablus that took place over the weekend. Firearms were used in both incidents; one was attributed to a family dispute while the motives for the other incident remain unknown.

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) expresses its deep concern over the two incidents and stresses the importance of launching a serious investigation and having its results published to the public with due course of law.

On Saturday, a Palestinian male was killed, and a child was wounded after being shot with live bullets during an armed family dispute in Balata refugee camp, east of Nablus.

According to PCHR’s investigations, at approximately 18:10 on Saturday, 09 January 2021, a family dispute broke out between (R) and (Sh) families in Balata camp, east of Nablus, where firearms were heavily used. This incident is the second in an intra-family dispute that started on 31 October 2020 where (H. R.), 35, was killed and 6 other persons from the two families were wounded.  During last night’s dispute, one of the parties attacked (H. R.) family’s house and set it ablaze. As a result, a member of (H. R.) family attacked a vehicle belonging to a Palestinian customs officer, from the family of the attacker, and opened fire at it while parking in the camp market and fire was exchanged between both parties. As a result, Mahmoud Suliman Khalil Marshoud (59), was shot and injured with a live bullet in the chest while present in front of his grocery shop; and Hitham Mohammed Bahnajawi (15) was shot and injured with a live bullet in his waist. Both of them were taken to Rafidia Governmental Hospital in Nablus for treatment. An hour later, Marshoud was pronounced dead in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), while Bahnajawi’s health condition was classified as stable.

In the aftermath of the shooting, riots erupted between citizens and Palestinian security services who arrived at the scene to control the dispute.

In a separate incident last Friday, 6 persons, including 3 children and a woman, were injured in a shooting that occurred at the western entrance to Qabatiya village, southeast of Jenin.  According to investigations, gunmen traveling in a car stopped another vehicle by the village’s entrance; the gunmen stepped out of the vehicle and opened fire directly at all those inside the other vehicle. As a result, 5 persons were wounded, including 3 children who were inside the vehicle, and a woman passing by was injured as well.  All those injured were taken to Soliman Governmental Hospital in Jenin for treatment, and their condition ranged between mild and moderate.

The injured persons were identified as: Mohammad Ziad Ahmed Nazzal (17) sustained a live bullet injury in the right thigh; Mohammad Husain Ahmed Kamil (22) sustained two live bullet injuries in the right thigh and right shoulder; Riyadh Ahmed Majed Abu al-Rub (17) sustained a live bullet injury in the right thigh; Marouh Yasser Khuzaimiah (17) sustained a shrapnel injury in the right shoulder; Mohammad Hatem Mohammad Khuzaimiah (41), a National Security military officer, sustained a shrapnel injury in the right shoulder; and Ahlam Nafe’a Jadallah Karam, from Nablus, sustained a shrapnel injury in the shoulder, while she was passing by.

Afterwards, Lo’ay Izreiqat, Spokesperson of the Palestinian Police, stated that the security services arrested one of the gunmen in the Qabatiya village shooting and seized bladed weapons and munitions found in several houses.

PCHR notes with concern the increase in murder crimes resulting from manifestations of social violence, including family disputes, since the beginning of 2021, as 5 persons were killed to date.  Four persons from al-Rajabi Family were killed in a family dispute last week in Kafr ‘Aqab, north of occupied Jerusalem; 3 were killed instantly while another succumbed to his wounds 2 days ago.

PCHR expresses its concern over the ongoing incidents of weapon proliferation and condemns the use of firearms in family and personal disputes that jeopardize the right to life, the rule of law, and the Palestinian civil peace. Thereby, PCHR calls upon the Palestinian Cabinet to take serious and immediate steps to curb the state of weapon proliferation in the West Bank and impose the rule of law to protect civil peace especially with the recent increase of murder cases.