On Saturday, 19 January 2019, a woman was killed after she was mistakenly hit with a live bullet to the head in her house in al-Zawiydah village, in the center of the Gaza Strip. This is part of state of the proliferation of weapons and the assault of the rule of law in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt).

According to investigations conducted by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), at approximately 22:00 on Saturday, 19 January 2019, F. M. (21), from in al-Zawiydah village, arrived at al-Aqsa Hospital after being hit with a live bullet to the head.  The bullet mistakenly unleashed from a firearm her brother mishandled inside her house. Doctors declared her death after attempts to save her life.

Police said to PCHR’s fieldworker that the police opened an investigation, arrested the accused person, seized the weapon, and transferred the dead body to the Forensic Medicine Department. The police added that the preliminary information indicates that the incident occurred by mistake after her brother mishandled a weapon .The police also said that the investigation is ongoing according to legal requirements.

PCHR notes with concern the increasing number of causalities due to the use and mishandling of weapons. It should be noted this is the third incident of its kind in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). Since the beginning of this year, a 5-year-old child has been killed in Balata Camp in Nablus and another woman has been killed in similar circumstances in al-Buriej Camp in the central Gaza Strip. PCHR also calls upon the competent authorities to take the necessary measures to protect the civilians from the danger of weapons.