Field Update 

During
the two past weeks, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) documented a
series of incidents relating to security chaos and misuse of weapons in
different parts of the Gaza Strip. One boy was killed and eleven persons
sustained injuries in these incidents. 

The
last incident documented by PCHR took place on 18 February. In this incident, a
dispute erupted between a member of al-Kurd family and a member of Abu Naser
family in al-Zawayda in central Gaza. One of the parties to the dispute
indiscriminately opened fire from a Kalashnikov. Farid Mohammed al-Hawajri, 60,
was wounded by a bullet to his left hand while returning home in al-Zawayda.
The police arrived at the scene and arrested the person who opened fire and
confiscated the firearm.

 On 17 February, Mustafa Samir al-Falit, 5,
sustained shrapnel wounds in the face when a “homemade” rocket fell
on his house in the Um Dheir area of southern Deir al-Balah. The child was
transferred to al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital for treatment. His wounds were
described as light. The “homemade” rocket destroyed a room in
al-Falit’s house and caused damage to an additional four neighboring houses.
The police arrived at the scene, examined the scene and collected the remains
of the rocket.

On
16 February, a dispute erupted between members of the Abu Athreh and Zannoun
families in Rafah city. A member of the Abu Athreh family threw grenades. Seven
members of the Zannoun family sustained shrapnel wounds as a result. The
wounded were transferred to Abu Yousef al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah, where their
wounds were described as moderate to serious. The police arrived at the scene and
attempted to arrest the person suspected of throwing the grenades but failed to
do so.

According
to police sources, the person suspected of throwing the grenades sustained
serious wounds half an hour after the eruption of the dispute, when one of his
grenades exploded when he was in the Kherbat al-Adas area of eastern Rafah
city. This person was transferred to Naser Hospital in Khan Younis.

On
13 February, a veiled person, accompanied by five other persons, opened fire
from his pistol from a short distance at Aed Saber al-Akhras, 17, who was in a
hairdressing salon owned by Jawdat al-Asfar in Yebna refugee camp in Rafah,
southern the Gaza Strip. Al-Akhras was wounded by five bullets to his legs. He
was transferred to Abu Yousef al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah and later referred to
the European Hospital in Khan Younis, as his injuries were described as
serious. The police arrived at the scene and opened an investigation into the
incident.

On
12 February, Mohammed Raed Dughmush, 12, was killed by a bullet to the head.
Dughmush was standing on a balcony of his house in al-Mughrabi Street in
al-Sabra neighborhood, south of Gaza city, while one of his relatives was
playing with a firearm near Dughmush’s house. A bullet fired from the firearm
wounded Dughmush and killed him. The police arrived at the scene and arrested
the person who opened fire.

PCHR notes with grave concern that casualties continue to be caused
by the misuse of weapons and that these incidents constitute part of the state
of security chaos plaguing the occupied Palestinian territories. PCHR also
calls upon the government in the Gaza Strip to open investigations into the
reported incidents, bring perpetrators to justice, exert efforts to ensure the
non-recurrence of such incidents and to provide protection for civilians.