Security Chaos

Attacks on Non-Governmental Organizations

Field Update

9 December 2007

Raids on El-Maghazi Service Club and Fatah Office in the Central Gaza Strip

In the early morning hours of last Friday, gunmen from Naser Salah El-Deen Brigades raided El-Maghazi Service Club in El-Maghazi refugee camp and the Fatah Office for the Central Gaza Strip in El-Bureij refugee camp. They claimed that the action is a protest message for not receiving their salaries from the government in Ramallah.

PCHR’s preliminary investigation indicates that at approximately 00:00 on Friday, 7 December 2007, gunmen from Naser Salah El-Deen Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, raided El-Maghazi Service Club in the center of El-Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. They broke the locks on entrance and inner doors; and they fired heavily in the Club’s grounds. The gunmen informed the Club’s administration that the raid was a message to the government in Ramallah for cutting off their salaries.

And at approximately 2:00, gunmen from the same group raided the Fatah Office at the entrance of El-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. The gunmen stole a computer and some furniture.

PCHR strongly condemns these attacks, which are a continuation of the security chaos plaguing the OPT. The Centre calls upon the PNA, represented by the Attorney-General, to seriously investigate these attacks and to prosecute the perpetrators.