Ref: 107/2018

On Tuesday evening, 02 October 2018, Sami Saleem Mohamed Moghannam (37), from Yatta, south of Hebron, succumbed to wounds he sustained on 28 September 2018 when Palestinian security officers opened fire at him. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) expresses its deep concern over the incident and follows up the declared investigations, stressing the importance of publishing the results in public and taking the necessary legal measures.

According to PCHR’s investigations, at approximately 22:00 on Friday, 28 September 2018, a joint patrol form the Palestinian police and security services opened fire from a close range at a vehicle travelling slowly in al-Berka area in Yatta, south of Hebron. The vehicle was travelled by 3 persons; 2 of them sustained serious wounds and were identified as Sami Moghannam, who was hit with a live bullet to the back of his head, and ‘Alaa Dababssah (34). Both of them were taken to al-Ahli Hospital in Hebron, where Sami stayed in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) until his death was declared on Tuesday, while ‘Alaa was taken to Soroka Hospital in Israel, where he so far receives medical treatment. The third passenger was detained by the Israeli police and questioned before being released after 2 days.

Loay Zreiqat, Spokesperson of the police, said to media that 2 civilians, from Yatta, were wounded during a mission for the Palestinian security services to arrest 2 dangerous wanted suspects involved in armed robbery and drug promotion and dealing. He added that the security services opened an investigation into the incident and the corpse of the person killed was kept in order to transfer it to the Forensic Medicine Department.

PCHR points out that this incident is the second of its kind within 2 months as the Palestinian security services previously killed ‘Odah Ibrahim Hasan (24), during a security campaign carried out against illegal petrol stations in Arab al-Jahalin Bedouin Community, east of al-Izzariyah village in occupied Jerusalem on 10 August 2018.

PCHR stresses the right and obligation of the Palestinian Authority to apply the law and pursue the crime but with its commitment to the shooting standards that oblige the security officers to use a firearm only in the cases of self-defense or imminent danger according to the principle of disproportionality stipulated in the international standards. PCHR calls for opening impartial investigation into the incident, publishing the results and taking necessary legal action.