Ref: 159/2014
Date: 05 December 2014
Time: 12:00 GMT

On Thursday evening, 4 December 2014, four Palestinian female civilians, including 3 children and a woman, were wounded due to the explosion of a suspicious object in the family’s house from the remnants left by the Israeli forces in the latest offensive on the Gaza Strip. The injuries of two children were described as serious.

According to investigations conducted by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), at approximately 16:00 on Thursday, 04 December 2014, a suspicious object exploded in a house belonging to the family of Abu Mer’ie near ‘Asqoulah intersection in al-Zaytoun neighborhood in the center of Gaza City. As a result, 4 female civilians, including a woman and child from the family living in the house and 2 children from the neighbors, were wounded. The injuries of two of them were described as serious. The wounded civilians were identified as:

1. Raghad ‘Adel Hamoudah Kuheil (4), sustained shrapnel wounds in the abdomen and her condition was serious;
2. Her sister, Sabah ‘Adel Hamoudah Kuheil (3), sustained shrapnel wounds in the right hand;
3. Alaa’ Yousif ‘Ali Abu Mer’ie (al-Isawwi) (17), who is married and 4-month pregnant and has a 1-year child; a p art of her right arm was amputated, and she sustained shrapnel wounds in the right eye, face and chest. Her condition was serious; and
4. Shaza Ibrahim Mohammed Abu Mer’ie (13), sustained burns in the feet.

According to the testimony of Alaa’ Abu Mer’ie, the family came back to their house, which was targeted in the beginning of the latest offensive on the Gaza Strip, a couple of days ago to repair it in order to live in it. The 70-square-meter house, which belongs to her father-in-law Ibrahim Mohammed Abu Mer’ie, is comprised of a ground floor and it is roofed with tin. Abu Mer’ier added to a PCHR fieldworker that she found an oddly shaped piece of metal. She picked it up from the ground and looked at it. She then put it back on the ground, so it exploded.

According to PCHR’s documentation, Israeli forces bombarded the Gaza Strip with thousands of tons of bombs and explosives and many of which did not explode. Despite the Palestinian efforts during and after the offensive to seize those explosives, it is clear that many of them still threaten the lives of Palestinian civilians.

PCHR demands civilians to be cautious and avoid dealing with suspicious objects, and to notify the competent authorities as soon as possible. PCHR also Calls upon the international community to provide the necessary technical assistance to the competent authorities to deal with these objects and protect Palestinian civilians.