Security Chaos and Proliferation of Small Arms

Misuse of Weapons by Armed Groups and Security Personnel

Field Update

14 September 2006

Colonel in the General Intelligence Killed and 2 Children Injured by Shots Fired in Wedding Celebrations in El-Bureij and Khan Yunis

PCHR’s preliminary investigation indicates that at approximately 21:00 on Wednesday, 13 September 2006, Mohammad Nour Methlej (55, from Gaza), a colonel in the General Intelligence Apparatus, and the child Mohammad Kamal Weshah (13, from El-Bureij) were brought to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir El-Balah. Methlej was suffering from a bullet wound in the back; and Weshah was injured by a bullet in the right hand. Methlej later died of his wound; while Weshah’s condition remains moderate. Both were attending a wedding celebration in Bloc 10 in El-Bureij refugee camp. A young man started to fire during the celebration. He pulled the trigger before aiming in the air; and hit the victims.

A day earlier, the child Mona Mohammad Mohammad El-Astal (8, from Khan Yunis) was injured by a bullet in the abdomen as she was in her home. The injury occurred as gunshots were fired in a wedding celebration in a nearby house. The child was taken to Naser Hospital in Khan Yunis, where here injury was listed as moderate.

PCHR is concerned over the continued falling of victims, mostly children, due to firing guns during wedding celebrations. The Centre calls upon the Palestinian National Authority, represented by the Attorney-General, to seriously investigate these crimes and bring the perpetrators to justice. The Centre calls upon Palestinians to stop all forms of firing guns during weddings, as this gunfire is a direct threat to the lives of civilians.