Field
Update

On
Wednesday, 5 May 2010, Batoul Kalloub, 6, from Jabalya refugee camp, was killed
and Waleed Dawwas, 15, from Beit Lahia, was wounded in two separate incidents
due to the misuse of weapons.  These
incidents are part of the state of security chaos and misuse of weapons prevailing
in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT).

According
to investigations conducted by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR),
at approximately 14:20 on Wednesday, 5 May 2010, the body of Batoul Hussein
Salem Kalloub, 6, who lives in al-Tawbah mosque area in Jabalya refugee camp, was
brought to Martyr Kamal ‘Edwan Hospital in Beit Lahia town in the
northern Gaza Strip, as she was hit by three bullets to the chest.  The body was taken to Forensic Medicine Department
at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.  In their
testimony to PCHR, the child’s relatives said that she and her brother, Abdul
Karim, 9, were in a room on the third floor. 
The family suddenly heard sounds of gunfire, due to which they hurried
up and found out that Batoul was wounded in the chest.  They added that the two children were
apparently playing with a gun belonging to their brother.

In a
separate incident, at approximately 17:20, on Wednesday, 5 May 2010, Waleed
Fareed Ibrahim Dawwas, 15, from al-Shaima’ area in Beit Lahia town in the
northern Gaza Strip, was wounded by two bullets to the stomach and chest, as he
was playing with a gun owned by a member of the family.  Dawwas was immediately transported to Martyr
Kamal ‘Edwan Hospital to receive medical treatment.  Medical sources described his wound as serious,
so he was taken to the intensive care unit.

The police
arrived at the scenes of the two incidents and started investigations.

PCHR is
deeply concerned regarding the increase of such incidents, which are part of
the state of security chaos and misuse of weapons in the OPT, and calls upon
the competent authorities to take necessary measures to ensure their non-recurrence.