Field Update

On Sunday, 13 April 2014, Tariq
Abu Hamdah sustained shrapnel wounds to his abdomen and lost his left hand
fingers due to the explosion of a suspicious object he was playing with in his
family’s house in Khan Yunis.  This
incident is part of the phenomenon of the proliferation of weapons in the
occupied Palestinian territory (oPt).

According to investigations
conducted by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), at approximately
08:40 on Sunday, 13 April 2014, Tariq Mohammed Abu Hamdah (11), from Khan Yunis
in the southern Gaza Strip, arrived at Nasser Hospital in the city as he sustained
shrapnel wounds to the abdomen and lost his left hand fingers due to the
explosion of a suspicious object in his family’s house.  According to information provided to PCHR by
the child’s father, Tariq was wounded in one of the house rooms due to the
explosion of an object.  The medical
sources described his wounds as moderate.

The Palestinian police arrived at
the house and collected shrapnel of the suspicious object and opened an investigation
into the incident to identify its circumstances.

PCHR condemns this incident, which
is part of the state of proliferation of weapons and assaults against the rule
of law in the oPt.  PCHR calls upon the
government in Gaza to take necessary measures to protect civilians and spare
them the dangers arising from weapons and suspicious objects.