Ref: 29/2014
Date: 12 March 2014
Time: 12:20 GMT

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns an incident in which 3 Palestinians, including a civilian, were killed 9 others, including 5 women and 2 children, were injured, as armed persons mishandled explosive devices in two inhabited houses in Beit hanoun and Gaza City on Tuesday, 11 March 2014. PCHR calls upon the government in Gaza and its security services to take the necessary measures to protect civilians and spare them the dangers arising from using and dealing with weapons in populated areas.

According to the investigations conducted by PCHR, the first incident took place at approximately 16:45 on Tuesday, 11 March 2014, when an explosion occurred on the third floor of an inhabited house belonging to ‘Abdel Sattar Mohammed Ismail in al-Na’aymah Street in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip. As a result, 3 persons, including a passerby, were killed; 8 others were injured, including 2 women and 2 children; and extensive damage was caused to the aforementioned house and partial damages in around 10 nearby houses. The passerby identified as Mohammed Taysir Ismail (26) was killed as a result of the scattered glass of the house windows. The injured civilians were identified as: Riwa’ Yousif Ismail (27) sustained shrapnel wounds and bruises throughout her body; Mohammed Belal Ismail (3); Lama Belal Ismail (1 year and a half); Mohammed ‘Awni Abu ‘Odah (24), a passerby; Khaled Hani al-Hamadin (19), a passerby and all sustained bruises throughout their bodies; and Badriyah Tawfiq Hamdin (53) was traumatized. The injured were taken to Beit Hanoun Hospital and Kamal ‘Odwan Hospital to received medical treatment. Medical sources at the hospitals said that their injuries ranged between minor to moderate.

According to Palestinian police sources that arrived at the scene to investigate into the incident, the explosion took place because armed persons mishandled an explosive device in an apartment on the third floor of the house.

In another incident, at approximately 18:00 on the same day, an explosion occurred in a house in al-Zawiyah market in al-Daraj neighborhood in the east of Gaza. As a result, the son, the wife and two daughters of the house’s owner were injured. According to eyewitnesses, the son of the house’s owner arrived at the house and sat with his mother and two sisters in a room. He had a suspicious object which exploded while mishandling it. The injured were taken to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City to receive medical treatment and medical sources described their injuries as moderate to serious.

In light of the above, PCHR:

1. Calls upon the government in Gaza to conduct an investigation into these two incidents and to take necessary measures to protect civilians and spare them the dangers arising from using and dealing with weapons; and
2. Notes that it had previously and repeatedly warned of the dangers of storing weapons and explosive materials and/or mishandling them in populated areas, which constitutes a constant threat to the lives of Palestinian civilians and a violation of human rights and international humanitarian law, that must be stopped.