Field Update

This morning, a Palestinian was killed by the explosion of a bomb
in Yibna refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah. In a separate incident, a heavy blast rocked
al-Saftawi neighborhood in the west of the northern Gaza Strip town of Jabalya
when a bomb exploded. These incidents
are part of the state of lawlessness and proliferation of weapons in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory.

According to investigations conducted by the Palestinian Center for
Human Rights (PCHR), at approximately 01:30 on Thursday, 11 August 2011, a
heavy explosion rocked an alley near al-Huda Mosque in Yibna refugee camp in
Rafah. As a result of the explosion, ‘Ali
Nayef ‘Abdul Hadi al-Hajj, 18, a member of the ‘Izziddin al-Qassam Brigades
(the armed wing of Hamas), was killed. The explosion also damaged two houses in the camp. The police arrived at the scene and opened an
investigation into the incident. The
‘Izziddin al-Qassam Brigades issued a statement indicating that ‘Ali al-Hajj
was killed by an internal explosion that occurred by mistake.

In the same context, at approximately 22:50 on Wednesday, 10 August
2011, a bomb was detonated by unknown persons on a space area in al-Saftawi
neighborhood in the west of Jabalya town. No casualties were reported. The
police arrived at the scene and opened an investigation. 

PCHR in concerned over increasing casualties resulting from the
misuse of weapons ad part of the state of lawlessness and proliferation of
weapons. PCHR calls upon concerned
authorities to investigate these incidents, to take necessary measures to
ensure the non-recurrence of such incidents and to provide protection to
civilians.