Security Chaos and Proliferation of Small Arms
Misuse of Weapons by Armed Groups and Security Forces
Field Update
25 May 2006
A Preventive Security Officer Killed and His Guard Injured in an Explosion in his Car in Gaza
On Wednesday evening, 24 May 2006, Nabeel ‘Omar Hudhud, 37, from the al-Remal neighborhood of Gaza City, who is chief of the Preventive Security Service in the central Gaza Strip, was killed and his guard, Jameel Majed al-‘Arabeed, 27, was injured, when an explosion occurred in their car in the west of Gaza City.
According to investigations conducted by PCHR, at approximately 18:30 on Wednesday, 24 May 2006, an explosion occurred in a car, in which Hudhud and al-‘Arabeed were traveling on the coastal road from the central Gaza Strip to Gaza City. The two were seriously injured. They were evacuated to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. Later, medical sources announced that Hudhud had died from his injuries.
According to security sources, the Preventive Security Service has initiated an investigation into the explosion, which killed Hudhud. Initially, there were rumors that the explosion was part of the recent tensions between the Fatah and Hamas movements, but soon there were indications that the explosion was accidental and had resulted from an unidentified object inside the car.
Following the explosion, a number of gunmen went to Shifa Hospital and tension spread around the hospital, when a unit of the executive force recently established by the Ministry of Interior entered the building, but the situation was controlled and no casualties or damage was reported. Moreover, a number of members of the Preventive Security Service closed the road near the headquarters of the service in the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood in the south of Gaza City and opened fire into the air.
PCHR is gravely concerned over the continued number of deaths and injuries resulting from the misuse of weapons, which has become a prominent feature of the ongoing security chaos in the region. PCHR calls upon the Palestinian National Authority to take preventive measures to prevent such incidents and safeguard the safety of citizens.
