Security Chaos and Proliferation of Small Arms
Clashes between Armed Groups or with Security Forces
Field Update
22 March 2006
1 Citizen Killed and 3 Injured in Armed Clashes in Gaza
One citizen was killed and 3 were injured, among them 2 policemen, in an armed clash between a clan and the police in Gaza city. The incident, which occurred this morning, took place after the kidnapping of a policeman.
PCHR’s initial investigation indicates that at approximately 10:45 on Wednesday, 22 March 2006, an armed school student called Salama El-Oweidat (16) led a group of students in an effort to suspend school in the Nile Secondary School for Boys in Sabra neighborhood in Gaza City. They did this under the pretext of marking the anniversary of the martyrdom of Ahmad Yassin. However, the school principal and teachers prevented him from doing so. The policeman Ashraf Mansour, who was in the vicinity of the school, intervened to take El-Oweidat and his companions out of the school, and called for police reinforcements. The argument between the police and El-Oweidat escalated, and the latter fired shots from his pistol at the school gate. The police subdued El-Oweidat and arrested him.
Gunmen from El-Oweidat family came to the school and kidnapped the policeman Ashraf Mansour. They fired their guns during the kidnapping. As soon as the police learned of the kidnapping, a force was dispatched to the area where the policeman was held, in El-Oweidat clan residences in Sabra neighborhood in Gaza City. The police clashed with the gunmen. The citizen Eyad Mohammad Suliman El-Deiri (18) was killed by a bullet to the head in the exchange of fire. In addition, the citizen Yunis El-Shinbar (22) was injured by a bullet in the leg. He was taken to Shifa Hospital for treatment. Also, 2 policemen were also injured. The first is Nabil Abu Amra (22) who sustained shrapnel injuries to the head. He was taken to Shifa Hospital for treatment. The second policeman is Khalid Hamdi Arshi (20). He suffered a bullet injury to the chest, and was taken to Al-Quds Hospital for treatment.
PCHR learned that the kidnapped policeman was released at approximately 15:00. Furthermore, the police released the detained youth, Salama El-Oweidat.
PCHR is concerned about the continuation of these dangerous attacks, which constitute a continuum of the state of security chaos in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The Centre calls upon the PNA, represented by the Attorney-General, to investigate these attacks, and to bring the perpetrators to justice.
