Field Update

A child was wounded by shrapnel in her hand
while in her school yard in Izbat Beit Hanoun area in the north of the Gaza
Strip, when an explosion took place in a nearby military training site. This
incident is a part of the state of misuse of weapons and attacks on the rule of
law in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT).

According to investigations conducted by the
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), at approximately 10:30 on Tuesday,
19 September 2011, Abir Nizar Abdul Dayem, 12, was transferred to Kamal Odwan
Hospital in Beit Lahia in the north of the Gaza Strip, as she was wounded in
her right hand while she was in the yard of her school, Khalil Oweida Refugee
School in Izbat Beit Hanoun area in the north of the Gaza Strip. Medical
sources described the child’s wounds as moderate.

It should be noted that an explosion was heard
in a military training site used by one of the Palestinian armed groups. The site is nearly 300 meters from the
school. Shrapnel from the explosion
scattered in the vicinity.

PCHR views this incident, which is part of the
state of misuse of weapons and attacks on the rule of law in the OPT, with
grave concern and calls upon competent authorities to open serious
investigations into it. PCHR calls also upon competent authorities to enforce
necessary regulations to ensure the non-recurrence of such incidents and to provide
necessary protection to civilians.