Field Update

On Friday, 25 February, unknown persons tossed
a homemade bomb at the home of Dr. Maher Ayad in Gaza City. No casualties were
reported. In addition, Dr. Ayad received threats following the explosion. This
incident is part of the security chaos and misuse of weapons plaguing the
occupied Palestinian territories (OPT).

According to investigations conducted by the
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), at approximately 19:30 on Friday,
25 February 2011, an explosion took place near the home of Dr. Maher Issa Ayad,
a surgeon and a medical director at the Ahli Hospital, in the Remal
neighborhood in the west of Gaza City. Dr. Ayad rushed to his garage where the
explosion had taken place. He found shrapnel of a bomb that had detonated on
his brother’s dark blue Daewoo car, which is the model and color as his own
car. In addition, Dr. Ayad received an text message on his mobile phone which
stated: “If you do not end your hatred, injustice and preaching, the
response will be greater and no one will be useful to you.” The message
was sent from an Israeli mobile number.

The police arrived at the house and examined
the scene. The police suggested that the explosion was created by a homemade
bomb; they opened investigations into the incident.

PCHR strongly condemns the targeting of Dr.
Ayad’s home and the threats toward him and notes that this incident constitutes
part of the security chaos plaguing the OPT. PCHR calls upon the Attorney
General to open serious investigations into the incident and to bring the
perpetrators to justice.