Field Updates

21 June 2020

In two separate incidents overt the past two days, 2 citizens, including a woman, were killed and 3 others were injured in Jenin and Badou village in occupied East Jerusalem. One of those incidents was on ground of a family dispute and the other was on grounds of an old revenge. On Sunday morning, 21 June 2020,  a citizen was found dead in Jenin, as his body was shot and had signs of stab wounds from a sharp tool in an incident that appears to be on grounds of an old revenge. Also, in Badou village, north of occupied East Jerusalem, a female citizen was killed on 19 June 2020, after being run over with a vehicle, and 3 others were shot and injured with live bullets in a family dispute in which gunfire was heavily used. These incidents fall under the state of proliferation of weapons and assault on the rule of law in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt).

In early hour on Sunday morning, 21 June 2020, Ali Rasmi Ali Hamad (28), from Yatta city in Hebron, was found dead on the roof of his house in Khelat al-Souha neighborhood in Jenin with signs of live bullet shots in his head and stab wounds with sharp tools. Hamad’s dead body was referred to Dr. Khalil Suleiman Governmental Hospital in Jenin.

Jenin’s Mayor, General Akram al-Rajoub, stated for the media that preliminary investigations indicate that the killing was on grounds of an old revenge with citizens from Hebron. Al-Rajoub also said that he instructed security services to reveal the circumstances of the incident, as the police and Public Prosecution opened investigation. The victim’s dead body was referred to the Forensic Medicine Department.

In another incident, in the early dawn hours on Sunday, 19 June 2020, a woman was killed after being run over and 3 others were wounded in a family dispute in Badou village, north of occupied East Jerusalem. According to investigations conducted by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) and eyewitnesses’ statements, a big dispute erupted after 2 citizens kidnapped a man from al-Led city due to a family  dispute between them. At approximately 06:00, the kidnapped person’s mother and sisters attacked several homes of the kidnappers’ family, which led to a huge dispute between both sides at the scene. During the dispute, a vehicle ran over Samia Abdul Kareem Isamil Hmaidan (51), causing her death. After her death, Samia’s sons headed to the houses of the kidnappers’ relatives and opened fire at them. As a result, Khalid Husain Khadour (54) was shot and injured with 4 live bullets in his feet and his brother Alaa (40) and his sister Suha  were also shot with live bullets. Khadour and his siblings were transported to Ramallah Hospital for medical treatment.

The Palestinian police issued a statement following the incident affirming that the Public Prosecution and a crew of  investigators arrived at the scene and that the victim’s dead body was referred to Forensic Medicine Department to identify the cause of death. The police spokesperson, Loai Irzeiqat, highlighted that police and security services’ forces headed to Badou village to control the dispute and a number of persons involved in the incident were arrested.

PCHR is deeply concerned over the increasing number of attacks that violate the rule of law in the occupied Palestinian territory, and calls upon the competent authorities to enforce more stringent measures in the face of the increasing manifestations of the use of weapons outside the rule of law, especially in recent times, which resulted in the death and injury of several Palestinians.