Ref: 87/2023

Date: 27 July 2023

Time: 16:00 GMT

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) strongly condemns the death of Shadi ‘Atiyah ‘Abdel Hamid Abu Quta (48) after the wall of his house fell on him during its demolition by the Khan Younis Municipality bulldozer accompanied by two municipal police officers.

‘Ezz Abu Quta, the victim’s brother, said to PCHR’s fieldworker:

“At around 10:00 on Thursday, a Khan Younis Municipality bulldozer accompanied with 2 police officers and a municipal employee arrived to demolish the exterior wall of the house, where I live with my brother Shadi. My brother who was outside the house tried to warn the officers to stop the demolition as there were members of the family behind the wall, which is 8 meters long and 2.5 meters high separating the house from the street, but they did not respond to him. The bulldozer rammed the wall from the northern side, and one of the officers pushed my brother to the wall and asked the bulldozer’s driver to continue the demolition. When the driver lifted the bulldozer’s blade and pulled the wall to the street, part of the wall fell on my brother. Only in few moments, I rushed to the street, and the police officer along with the bulldozer driver fled while my brother was under the rubble bleeding from his head. Neighbors called for an ambulance that arrived and took him to Naser Hospital. After resuscitation efforts for 20 minutes, he was announced dead.”

Lawyer Fadel ‘Atallah said to PCHR’s fieldworker that the family had hired him to appeal a demolition notice issued by Khan Younis Municipality, and the family received it last June. Accordingly, we appealed the notice before the Magistrate’s Court in Khan Younis, and a hearing was held with the attendance of the municipality. Only 3 days ago, the judge decided to refer the case to the Administrative Court, but no hearing has been scheduled yet.

Following the incident, the Public Prosecution announced in a statement that it has opened investigation immediately after the death of Shadi Abu Quta, who died when Khan Younis Municipality was removing encroachments to open a street in Joret al-‘Aqqad area in Khan Younis. The Prosecution said that under the direct supervision of the Attorney General, it has taken many measures, including referring the deceased to the Forensic Medicine to identify the death causes, writing down eyewitnesses’ statements, and assigning the General Investigation and Criminal Evidence Services for inquiry and inspection procedures.

The Public Prosecution announced that the bulldozer driver was detained while others who were supervising the encroachment removal are being investigated.

Khan Younis Mayor and the whole municipal council declared their resignation and the Governmental follow-up committee in Gaza declared that it has formed a commission of inquiry from the competent bodies to conclude its work and present recommendations within 72 hours while it has assigned the Ministry of Local Governance to run the affairs of Khan Younis Municipality until the investigation is over.

PCHR strongly condemns Abu Quta’s death and calls upon the Public Prosecution to open a serious investigation into the incident, particularly when police officers and municipal employees insisted on demolishing the wall despite the presence of the abovementioned citizen near the wall, ignoring what the threat was to his life.

PCHR calls for investigation into implementation of the demolition and its compliance with the legal procedures especially that the case has been referred to the Administrative Court.

With respect to the steps taken by the governmental bodies, PCHR still believes in the importance of conducting a serious and impartial investigation, publishing the results to the public, ensuring accountability and access to effective remedy for the victim and taking strict measures that guarantee nonrecurrence of such incidents which the Gaza Strip’s governmental bodies are fully responsible for.