Security Chaos and Misuse of
Weapons
Misuse of Weapons by Armed
Groups or Servicemen
Field Update
31 January 2010
PCHR Demands Investigations into the
Injury of Two Civilians by Unknown Gunmen in the Gaza Strip
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.
