Gunmen Opened Fire at 2 Civilians and Kidnapped One of them in Gaza City

Field Updates

On Saturday, 14 March 2020, unknown gunmen opened fire at 2 civilians in central Gaza City, wounding both, and kidnapped one of them, forced him to step into a vehicle and dropped him to at al-Zaytoun neighborhood area, south of Gaza City, where they beat him. This incident is part of security chaos, proliferation of weapons and assault on the rule of the law in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt).

According to investigations conducted by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) and statement of lawyer Karam Mansour (26), at approximately 08:00 on Saturday, 14 March 2020, masked gunmen fired about 20 live bullets at Karam and his nephew Abdul Ra’ouf Fathi Mansour (34), from Beit Lahia Housing project, when they were in front of Mansour Printing House in the Centre of Gaza City. Karm’s nephew, Abdul Ra’ouf fired 3 live bullets at the gunmen and the latter opened fire back at them, shooting and injuring Abdul Ra’ouf with 4 live bullets in his leg and sustained a minor wound in his head. The gunmen kidnapped lawyer Karam and forced him to step into their vehicle, and heavily beat him. Lawyer Karam was found half an hour later, east of al-Zaytoun neighborhood, southeast of Gaza City. The lawyer was transferred via an ambulance to al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City and his nephew Abdul Ra’ouf was also there. Doctors classified their injuries between moderate and serious. The lawyer and his nephew were later referred to al-Awdah Hospital in Jabalia to continue their medical treatment. The Palestinian police arrived and took the statement of Mansour and his nephew Abdul Ra’ouf and opened an investigation into the incident. According to PCHR’s information, this incident was due to a family dispute.

PCHR condemns this incident, which is a flagrant attack on the rule of law in the oPt and demands the Public Prosecutor to open a serious investigation into the matter and prosecute perpetrators.