Security Chaos and Misuse of
Weapons

Misuse of Weapons by Armed Groups
or Servicemen

Field Update

On Saturday, 30 January 2009,
Bassam ‘Awni Hamad, from al-Nussairat, was wounded when gunmen fired at him on
the grounds of an old clan dispute. In a
separate incident, Khader Shehada Sha’afout, from Gaza city, was wounded on
Thursday, 28 January 2010, he was fired at by gunmen on the grounds of a
personal quarrel. These two attacks are
part of the state of security chaos and misuse of weapons plaguing the Occupied
Palestinian Territory (OPT).

According to investigations
conducted by PCHR and according to statements given by the wounded, at
approximately 20:00 on Saturday, 30 January 2010, gunmen in a Subaru white car
fired at Bassam ‘Awni Hamad, 46, while sitting with his brother Hisham near
their house in al-Nussairat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. Hamad was wounded by two bullets to the right
foot. He was transferred to al-Aqsa
Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah where medical sources described his wound as
moderate. Hamad stated that the shooting
was on the ground of a clan dispute and that the gunmen, who included a police
officer, are members of the same family.

In a second incident, at
approximately 20:00 on Thursday, 28 January 2010, gunmen fired at Khader
Shehada Sha’fout, 30, a
taxi driver, while he was near Helles Building in the west of Gaza City. The shooting was motivated by a personal
dispute. Sha’afout was wounded with
three bullets to the feet. According to
statements given by Sha’fout to a PCHR fieldworker, a dispute arose between him
and a number of persons after he had transported a person in his taxi. Members of the naval police who were in the
scene intervened in order to terminate the dispute and called the police. Police officers attempted to terminate the
dispute cordially. Sha’fout added that a
motorcycle driven by two gunmen and a white Isuzu D-Max pickup driven by five
gunmen arrived at the scene. The gunmen stepped down and started firing into
the air. They then chased Sha’fout. They
violently beat him and then fired several bullets to his feet. Sha’fout stated that a police officer who was
in the scene transferred him in his car to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City for
medical treatment.

PCHR strongly condemns these two
attacks which are part of the state of security chaos and misuse of weapons
plaguing the OPT. PCHR calls upon the
Attorney-General’s office open serious investigation into these attacks and to
bring perpetrators to justice.