Filed Update

On Thursday evening, a citizen died after receiving a live bullet that was mistakenly unleashed from his firearm while cleaning it. Also, in Ramallah, another person died in an explosion that occurred in a carpentry workshop in Betunia village last Tuesday. Those incidents are part of state of misuse of firearms, security chaos, and assault on the rule of law in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt).

In the fist incident, at approximately 23:30 on Thursday, 30 March 2023, a young man (M. B. H.) (34), from Jenin camp, was injured with a live bullet in his head that killed him.

According to investigations, the young man was in one of the village’s alleys and carrying his firearm when a bullet was mistakenly unleashed from his weapon and settled in his head. He was then taken to Jenin Governmental Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

In a previous incident on Tuesday, 28 March 2023, an explosion occurred inside a carpentry workshop in Betunia village, west of Ramallah, and killed one person. The civil defense crews and police rushed to the scene after receiving a phone call from the villagers. While extinguishing the fire, the civil defense crews recovered a dead body that was completely burnt and took it via a Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) ambulance to the Palestine Medical Complex and then to the Forensic Department in al-Quds (Abu Dis) University. It turned out later that the dead body belonged to (M. Z. T.) (48), from Abu Qash village in northern Ramallah, and he worked as a cleaner.  The police and public prosecution opened an investigation into the incident.

It is worth noting that a similar explosion occurred inside the same carpentry six months ago without causing any injuries.

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) calls upon the authorities to take serious and immediate action to cease the state of misuse of firearms and impose the rule of law in order to maintain civil peace, especially in light of the recent ongoing murders in the oPt.