Field Update

On Sunday, 04 November 2012, a Palestinian was killed by an
internal explosion in al-Nussairat refugee camp in central Gaza Strip.  Two other Palestinians were killed in similar
circumstances on Thursday, 01 November 2012. 
These incidents are part of the phenomenon of proliferation of weapons
and assaults on the rule of law prevailing in the occupied Palestinian
territory (oPt).  

According to investigations conducted by Palestinian Centre for
Human Rights (PCHR) and statements of eyewitnesses, at approximately 18:20 hrs
on 04 November 2012 Tawfiq Ahmed Saidam, 50, a smith, was killed when a
shrapnel from a bomb explosion hit his chest and abdomen, when he was in a yard
near the National Club in al-Nussairat refugee camp.  His body was transported to al-Aqsa Martyrs
Hospital in Deir al-Balah, and on Monday morning the body was transferred to
the forensic medicine department at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.  Police sources stated that they have opened
an investigation.

In a separate incident, at approximately 17:00 hrs on Thursday, 01
November 2012, a 24-year-old member of an armed Palestinian organization was
admitted to Martyr Abu Yousef al-Najjar Hospital in southern Gaza Strip town of
Rafah after being severely injured by shrapnel shells.  He was transferred on the same day to the
European Gaza Hospital in Khan Yunis due to his serious condition.  According to police sources, he was injured
as a result of the explosion of a fuse he mishandled inside his house in Canada
neighborhood in Rafah.

Earlier on the same day, at approximately 11:40 hrs, Mohammed
Yousef al-Gharam, 24, a resident of al-Shouka village in east of Rafah, was injured
by shrapnel shells that hit his left hand as a result of an explosion in a
tunnel near the Egyptian border, in south of Rafah.  The police have opened an investigation and
according to them, al-Gharam was injured due to the explosion of a fuse he found
inside the tunnel.

PCHR is concerned about the increasing number of victims resulting
from internal explosions, which are part of the phenomenon of proliferation of
weapons and assaults on the rule of law in the oPt.  PCHR calls upon the Attorney General to
seriously investigate such incidents and calls upon the Gaza government to take
necessary measures to ensure protection of civilians.