Security Chaos

Misuse of Weapons by Armed Groups and/or Security Personnel

Field Update

6 April 2008

Palestinian Killed and Policeman Injured in 2 Security Chaos Incidents

Last Friday, the teenager Mahmoud El-Shobaki from Daraj Quarter in Gaza City was killed when he mishandled a firearm. And in a second incident, a Policeman was injured in a clash with members of Dughmosh clan in Gaza City.

PCHR’s preliminary investigation and eyewitness accounts indicate that at approximately 18:30 on Friday, 4 April, the teenager Mahmoud Ahmad El-Shobaki (19) was killed by a bullet to the head. The bullet was fired when the victim mishandled an assault rifle. The victim was with one of his friends on the roof of his house in Daraj Quarter in Gaza City. Sources at Shifa Hospital stated that the victim was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital.

In another incident at approximately 15:30 on Saturday, 5 April, a Policeman for the dismissed government in Gaza called Hamdi Hamed El-Sakani (24) was injured by a bullet to the right thigh and shrapnel to the right shoulder. He was injured in an armed clash with members of Doghmush clan in Tal El-Hawa Quarter in Gaza City. The injured policeman informed PCHR’s fieldworker that he went with three other policemen on a mission to arrest a suspected criminal from Doghmush clan. When they saw the suspect, they disembarked from their vehicle to make the arrest; however, members of the clan fired at the policemen, who returned fire. He was injured as a result. El-Sakani stated that the suspect was arrested later during the day.

PCHR is concerned over the continued falling of victims due to the misuse of weapons; and calls upon concerned parties to enforce mechanisms to ensure that these incidents do not recur.