Field Update

On Wednesday morning, 26 October 2011, three
children from Beit Hanoun town in the north of the Gaza Strip were injured
while playing with a suspicious object near their house. This incident is part
of the state of misuse of weapons plaguing the Occupied Palestinian Territory
(OPT).

According to investigations conducted by the
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), at approximately 09:45 on Wednesday,
26 October 2011, Mohannad Mahmoud Abdul Hadi al-Kafarna, 14, who sustained
shrapnel wounds in the left hand, the left foot, the face and the chest; his
sister Rowaa, 9, who sustained light wounds from shrapnel in the abdomen and
the chest; and their cousin Bilal Faraj Abdul Hadi al-Kafarna, 11, who also
sustained light wounds from shrapnel in the abdomen and the chest, arrived at
Beit Hanoun Public Hospital. The three children were injured while playing with
a suspicious object in the cemetery of Beit Hanoun, north of Gaza, near their
house. Medical sources described the
wounds of Rowaa and Bilal to be between light and moderate, while the same
sources described the wounds of Mohannad to be between moderate and serious. Mohannad was transferred to Kmal Edwan
Hospital in Beit Lahia for treatment.

The Palestinian police stated that they
headed to the explosion scene and opened investigations into the incident. They said that the explosion was likely
caused by a detonator of a bomb.

PCHR is concerned over this incident which is
part of the state of misuse of weapons plaguing the OPT, and calls upon
competent authorities to take necessary measures to ensure the non-recurrance
of such incidents.