Field Update

On Friday early morning, unknown persons set fire to the office of Palestinian
Businessmen Association (PBA) in Gaza City, which resulted in extensive material
damage to the building.  Additionally,
US$ 6,000 was robbed.  This attack is
part of continuous violations of the rule of law in the occupied Palestinian territory
(oPt).

According to investigations conducted by the Palestinian Centre for
Human Rights (PCHR), at approximately 2:00 on Friday, 1 November 2013, unknown
persons set fire to the head office of the Palestinian Businessmen Association
in Jamal Abdel Nasser Street (Thalathini), opposite to al-Azhar University Park
in Gaza City. This attack resulted in extensive material damage, as the fire affected
the furniture, offices, computers, fax, camera and printer of PBA. Ali Hassan
al-Hayek, Chairman of the PBA’s Board of Directors, stated to a PCHR
fieldworker that he called the Civil Defense and Police Investigation Bureau when
neighbors told him that the building was on fire, before Civil Defense managed
to extinguish the fire.

Lieutenant Colonel Ayyoub Abe Sha’r, spokesman of the Palestinian police,
told a PCHR fieldworker that the fire was caused by an arson attack, and that US$
6,000 was stolen from the office, adding that the police inspected the place
and opened an investigation into the incident.

PCHR strongly condemns this attack which is part of the continuous
violations of the rule of law, and calls upon the Public Prosecution to open a
serious investigation into the attack and bring the prosecutors before
justice.