Field Update
On Thursday, 15 July 2010, unknown gunmen attacked a wedding
party being held for Baker al-Shawwaf on land belonging to his family in the ‘Abassan
village. The attackers carried guns and
clubs and dispersed the participants by force, which constitutes part of
the state of security chaos and the misuse of weapons currently prevailing in
the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT).
According to investigations conducted by the Palestinian Center
for Human Rights (PCHR), at approximately 23:45, on Thursday, 15 July 2010,
eight masked gunmen carrying guns and clubs attacked a wedding party being held
for Baker Abdul Qader al-Shawwaf, 25. The party was held on a 10-donum[1] piece
of land belonging to his family in the ‘Abassan village, to the east of Khan
Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip. The gunmen
threw two sound bombs near the party and then started firing into the air to
disperse the participants, after which they attacked the remaining participants
with clubs and set fire to the party stage.
According to testimonies of eyewitnesses, the police arrived
immediately, whereupon a dispute erupted between the police and the family organizing
the party. The police attempted to
disperse the family members using clubs and gun butts and the family members threw
stones at them in return. The police
arrested sixteen persons, including the bridegroom’s father and two of his
brothers. They were released on
Saturday, 17 July 2010. The police chief
in the eastern area stated to PCHR that the police initiated an investigation
in the attack on the wedding party and that they arrested four suspected
persons. He added that the persons
arrested are juveniles and adhere to radical ideas.
PCHR strongly condemns this attack, which is part of the
state of security chaos and the misuse of weapons currently prevailing in the
OPT and calls upon the Attorney-General to seriously investigate the attack,
publish its results, and bring the perpetrators to justice.